Little Mac (SSBU)

Little Mac in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Universe	Punch-Out!!
Other playable appearance	in SSB4
Availability	Unlockable
Final Smash	Giga Mac Rush
Tier	E+ (81)

Little Mac (リトル・マック, Little Mac) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. He was officially revealed on June 12th, 2018 alongside Wario and the rest of the returning roster. Little Mac is classified as Fighter #49.

Kōsuke Toriumi reprises his role as Little Mac's voice actor, albeit via reused voice clips from Super Smash Bros. 4.

Little Mac is ranked 81st out of 82 on the Ultimate tier list, placing him at the bottom of the E+ tier, and also being ranked as the second-lowest ranked character in the game. This is a noticeable drop from his Smash 4 iteration, where he was ranked 43rd out of 54 at the lower end of mid-tier. Little Mac possesses a strong ground game thanks to his excellent ground mobility and numerous grounded kill moves. His smash attacks are especially strong as they have super armor on startup and very respectable speed for their power, making them decently unchallengeable. His tilt attacks are also very respectable, as forward tilt serves as a quick and capable kill move, while down and up tilts can be used to set up combos. Finally, his special moves have also seen improvements from the previous game, most notably to Jolt Haymaker, which no longer sends Little Mac into freefall.

To compensate for his strong ground game, however, Little Mac packs glaring weaknesses, most notably when it comes to fighting in the air. Although his recovery is improved from the previous game, it remains one of the worst among the roster due to his low double-jump height, being allowed only one Jolt Haymaker per airtime, and Rising Uppercut's pitiful travel distance in the air. His aerial game is also almost non-existent due to his aerial's poor damage and knockback as well as his special moves being weaker in the air. Finally, his average stature compared to the rest of the cast and lack of disjoints give him a notable range problem, which, when combined with his low overall shieldstun outside of down-angled forward smash and sweetspotted up smash, force him to play a linear, risky neutral game, while his high fall speed contributes to his vulnerability to combos, despite granting him decent survivability for a lightweight fighter.

Due to Little Mac's extremely polarized nature, he is considered a rather unpopular pick in the current metagame. Despite that, he has still garnered respectable results thanks to the efforts of players such as Peanut and Tarakotori.

How to unlock

Complete one of the following:

• Play VS. matches, with Little Mac being the 20th character to be unlocked.
• Clear Classic Mode with Mario or any character in his unlock tree, being the 3rd character unlocked after Bayonetta.
• Have Little Mac join the player's party in World of Light.

Little Mac must then be defeated on Boxing Ring (the Ω form is used in World of Light).

Attributes

Little Mac offers a simple, yet polarized fighting style, performing well on the ground, but poorly in the air. While Mac is rather small in relation to the majority of realistically proportioned characters, he is of average size among the entire cast. This can make him somewhat difficult to hit, but also means that most of his moves have short range, which makes spacing crucial for avoiding punishment.

Little Mac is a lightweight with very impressive ground mobility: he has the 8th fastest walking speed, the 3rd fastest dashing speed, and above-average traction, granting him effective out of shield options. He also has the 3rd fastest initial dash, which has a long duration of 15 frames, giving him a long pivot and an excellent dash dance that is surpassed only by Zero Suit Samus and Mythra. His sidestep and rolls are tied with Fox, Sheik and Zero Suit Samus' for the fastest in the game, with his rolls giving the third longest distance in the game behind Samus and Dark Samus. These stats overall translate to him having excellent ground coverage and makes it easy for Little Mac to keep up with and punish opponents contesting with him on the ground, while also giving him fast and effective grounded defensive options. He also has fast falling speed (tied with King Dedede for the 2nd fastest) and below-average gravity, which collectively give him good vertical endurance in spite of his status as a lightweight. Aside from his great air speed (tied with Mario, Donkey Kong, Sonic and Inkling's for 13th fastest) and his wall jump, which is the 4th highest, the rest of Little Mac's aerial attributes are notoriously poor: his jump is tied with Ryu and Ken's for the 5th lowest, his double jump is the 3rd lowest, his air acceleration is tied with Ganondorf for the 6th lowest, and his directional air dodge travels the least amount of distance. These attributes effectively force Mac to stay on the ground as often as possible to make the use of his excellent ground mobility.

Little Mac's greatest strength is his potent ground game. None of his grounded moves have more than 15 frames of start-up, whereas only his up smash has more than 30 frames of ending lag. Only five non-special moves (forward smash, back air, up smash, down smash and forward air) become active after frame 9, and only the former two after frame 10. His neutral attack, in particular, is tied with Zero Suit Samus' for the fastest move in the game, activating on frame 1 and its minimal ending lag and angles allow it to not only jab lock but also make it and Mr. Game & Watch's neutral attack the only ones in Ultimate that are capable of jab canceling reliably. Despite his somewhat light weight, Little Mac boasts superb KO potential: his forward tilt, dash attack and smash attacks boast high damage outputs and knockback scaling, yet are also fairly fast. Forward smash can be angled, with the downward variant dealing immense shield damage and the upward variant being one of Mac's most effective vertical KO options on the ground. Up smash's coverage allows it to serve as an effective anti-air, and its sweet spot also deals a lot of shield damage. Finally, down smash is a semi-spike with a fairly long range, allowing it to tech chase as well as edge-guard easily against careless or vulnerable recoveries. Besides their speed and strength, Little Mac's grounded moves are also difficult to interrupt, which combined with his high dashing speed gives him an excellent punish game. His tilt attacks boast anti-rebounding priority; this prevents them from clanking with opposing ground attacks provided they're within priority range, allowing Mac to punish opponents very quickly due to his own attacks' high speed. While his smash attacks have normal priority, they instead boast super armor during their use. This offers Mac a unique way of punishing attacks by tanking the hit while immediately retaliating - meaning devastating attacks such as most forward smashes can all be punished. These traits make him arguably the most difficult opponent to directly challenge on the ground for every other character in the roster, including himself.

Little Mac's special moves also have fair utility. Straight Lunge gains distance and power as it charges, deals heavy damage, and boasts light damage-based armor while charging, allowing him to withstand weak attacks before retaliating immediately afterward. As such, it is an effective tool against most infinites and multi-hit moves even while uncharged. The move can also be canceled by shielding, giving it utility for escaping certain combo moves such as Witch Twist, and it can be turned around when released, offering decent mix-up potential and a way to get out of combos. However, Straight Lunge's considerable ending lag limits its offensive utility as it can be easily intercepted or punished, while its defensive utility depends on the character and the attack. This makes it great defensively against characters with low damage output or with reliance on multi-hits, such as Sheik or Meta Knight, but it won't help against opponents with high damage output or on single-hit aerials. Jolt Haymaker propels Mac forward with a leaping punch that travels a fair distance, can be unleashed on command, grants brief intangibility during start-up, and does not lose power when used in mid-air. This makes it useful for tech-chasing, repositioning, and escaping or punishing laggy moves or projectiles, and making it Mac's only useful KO option while in the air and off-stage. Its hitbox is tall enough that it can often clip low-hanging platforms, and catch opponents who are attempting to platform camp him. Unlike in SSB4, it also does not render him helpless, making it a much less dangerous recovery move. Rising Uppercut grants brief intangibility on start-up and travels fairly high when used on the ground. This makes the move an effective combo breaker; combined with the last hit's high knockback scaling, it has a very fast startup and the fact that it doesn't lose power in the air, is also quite potent out of shield and for scoring aerial KOs. Slip Counter is an extremely fast counterattack, making it useful for escaping pressure, especially aerial combos. It is also one of the few counters that slides forward before attacking, allowing Little Mac to get closer to his opponent, or even recover horizontally in response to an edge-guard attempt.

Rounding out his specials, Little Mac has a unique fighter ability called the Power Meter. Displayed over his damage meter, the Power Meter fully charges by dealing 333% or receiving 100%. When fully charged, Straight Lunge is replaced by the KO Uppercut, which can KO any character before 40%. KO Uppercut is also unblockable (barring Witch Time), boasts fast startup, and leaps slightly into the air (allowing it to catch opponents on low platforms such as Battlefield's); combined with its immense power, this can quickly turn the tide of a match or further secure a lead if used successfully. It can be comboed into from down tilt at low percents, and is the ideal tech chase option for a defensive player who tends to roll away from Little Mac when placed under pressure. However, Mac loses the KO Uppercut if tumbled after a 4 second grace period (not including footstool jumping), forcing him to use the move quickly. KO Uppercut also has considerable end lag regardless of whether it hits or not, and its short leap can cause Mac to fall off the stage if used while next to an edge, almost guaranteeing an accidental self destruct if not reacted to. As a result, it is inarguably one of the riskiest, yet most rewarding attacks in the entire series.

While considerably weaker than the rest of the cast, Little Mac's air game is not completely useless and have limited perks, which can be utilized for initiating short combos. Neutral aerial is by far Little Mac's most effective aerial: it is the fastest aerial attack in the game and can be spammed, making it a decent combo breaker or to interrupt opponents when jumping from ledge. It can combo into itself, drag down opponents with him as a sacrificial K.O. option, and grant niche combo opportunities into other aerials or Rising Uppercut. It also features a slightly disjointed hitbox in Mac's pelvis, which causes weak upward knockback that is surprisingly excellent for combos thanks to the move's autocancel properties, which will allow it to combo into up tilt, up aerial, or Rising Uppercut. Forward aerial is a semi-spike and is decent for combos or edge-guarding, especially against poor recoveries; it can also initiate combos into Jolt Haymaker offstage as a powerful sacrificial KO. Up aerial is very fast and can autocancel in a full hop, allowing it to combo into moves like Rising Uppercut when landing. Back aerial is the worst of its kind in the game, but is a semi-spike, has fair spacing utility, and sets the opponent up for tech chase situations when used close to the ground. Finally, down aerial is an extremely fast, weak meteor smash that is mainly useful for locking floored opponents who miss a tech, which opens up devastating punishes courtesy of Little Mac's variety of grounded KO moves. It also acts as a highly situational meteor smash, although it is unlikely to be useful outside of surprise gimping. However, his aerials all have short range, poor damage output, and awful KO potential. While his neutral and down aerials can auto-cancel from a short hop, his forward, back, and up aerials cannot. This leaves Mac incredibly vulnerable in the air, as he has no means of properly defending himself beyond point-blank range without exhausting any of his special moves, which are limited to one use until he touches the ground. The low power of his aerials also makes them ineffective for flinching opponents, and Mac's only aerial KO options are indeed his special moves, which are highly likely to result in sacrificial KOs if misused off-stage. This also means that Mac is more severely affected by stale-move negation than most other characters, as he is effectively limited to using little more than half of his moveset in most situations, although his variety of powerful finishers can compensate it to a degree.

Little Mac sports a mediocre grab game; Mac's pummel is among the fastest, but his grabs, while having average range, have moderate startup lag and noticeable ending lag, and the ending lag and collateral hitboxes for his throws limit their ability to KO or start combos. However, they do have some uses: forward throw can followed into Jolt Haymaker from 0%, but requires a read due to the ending lag; down throw can combo into Rising Uppercut, but has some ending lag and is susceptible to DI; his back throw has decent power and can KO at around 130%, but its collateral hitbox weakens it; up throw can combo into Jolt Haymaker at low to mid percents, and forward throw can tech chase at the same percentages. Unfortunately, this translates to his throws having very limited use, as all of them apart from down throw are only effective for creating space. This severely limits Mac's options when attempting to utilize throws, and makes them a risky prospect in the first place when combined with his average grab attributes.

Alongside these setbacks, Little Mac is further held back by a slew of exploitable weaknesses. As expected, Mac's weak air mobility and high falling speed make him incredibly susceptible to gimps from meteor smashes, semi-spikes, and even footstool jumps, especially if he doesn't have his double jump. Compounding this, his directional air dodge has the least distance in the game, and his air dodge's ending lag is only average relative to the cast due to the universal changes to air dodges, since the ending lag depends on the character's falling speed and gravity. Thus, it is not only a situational option while in a disadvantaged state, but also poor as a normal recovery move. Mac can grab the ledge by using a directional air dodge if he is close enough, however, allowing him to cover the remaining distance to the ledge, making it very useful if combined with his double jump and special moves. His special moves are also considerably less effective while in the air. Straight Lunge loses much of its power when used in midair, and its long charge time makes it impractical for recovery. Aerial KO Uppercut is also significantly weaker and blockable, although it still has both KO and Recovery potential. While Jolt Haymaker and Rising Uppercut are Little Mac's most effective aerial KO options, they are very poor for recovery, offering poor travel distance, small edge sweet spots, and minimal intangibility. Jolt Haymaker does not cause helplessness, allowing Mac to follow up with a wall jump, directional air dodge or Rising Uppercut; however, it travels a mediocre distance and can only be used once before landing or grabbing the edge, leaving Mac one of the most vulnerable characters to edge-guarding as he is unable to use it again if he gets hit. Rising Uppercut loses roughly half its travel distance when used in midair, and while aerial Slip Counter can be a good response to an edge-guard attempt and get Little Mac back on stage, it loses its intangibility, can be predicted, and its end lag if unsuccessful is likely to result in Mac self-destructing or getting gimped by the opponent if used at a low enough altitude. As a result, it is most beneficial to attempt to recover horizontally, rather than vertically, which is nearly impossible depending on if Mac is merely launched, or (semi-)spiked. These traits result in Little Mac having more difficulty with recovering than most other characters, being commonly cited as one of, if not the worst, recovery of the cast overall. While his below-average gravity and high falling speed grant solid vertical endurance for a lightweight, they also make him very vulnerable to combos and juggling. Additionally, the super armor granted by Mac's smash attacks still causes him to take full damage and must be timed carefully to avoid being punished. These traits make Mac extremely prone to momentum shifts; his lacking air game and overall frailty allows opponents to easily combo or even zero-to-death him after one mistake, even if Mac was otherwise dominating the match.

Because of these issues, his neutral game, while decent, is predictable, and while he has a good approach due to his excellent mobility, Mac relies more heavily than most other characters on his shield and dodges for avoiding damage and general positioning, both of which can be predicted and easily punished if overused. His short range can be problematic against characters with long or disjointed attacks. While these issues can be mitigated with Mac's impressive ground speed, he also has trouble dealing with camping; his super armor and special moves provide options for dealing with projectiles, but he is still forced to approach, as he lacks projectiles of his own. His short jumps and weak aerial attacks also leave Mac especially vulnerable to platform camping, arguably more so than any other character in the game. While Mac is very effective at tech chasing due to his high ground speed, forward throw and wide, semi-spiking down smash, his combo potential is otherwise underwhelming, which combined with his linear neutral can sometimes make it difficult to safely rack up damage despite his attacks' high damage output. As a whole, Little Mac's poor combo game and lack of true KO confirms require him to win neutral exchanges more often in order to succeed, especially when trying to close out a stock since his most reliable KO options cannot be comboed into effectively at higher percentages outside of Jolt Haymaker or Rising Uppercut. Players must also be careful and know when to attack and play defensively, or else Little Mac could quickly lose the neutral game, and find themselves at a significant disadvantage.

Overall, Little Mac excels with a very specific, methodical playstyle that is reminiscent of a real-life boxer; a defensive bait and punish style, that entails keeping constant control of the middle of the stage, capitalizing on the opponent's mistakes, staying on the ground as much as possible, and utilizing his excellent ground mobility to his advantage. Because of his polarizing strengths and weaknesses, players must reach a higher than average level of play than most other fighters in order to use Little Mac effectively: he can be difficult to utilize despite his straightforward fighting style, as his severe disadvantage state forces him to play extremely carefully, despite his high mobility and power. Players must learn to utilize Little Mac's long rolls, fast air and fall speed, and super armor on smash attacks to approach projectile-based opponents, and take advantage of his powerful ground tools to condition opponents to make mistakes.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. 4

Despite being a lower mid-tier character in SSB4, Little Mac has received a mix of buffs and nerfs in the transition to Ultimate. While he has received good improvements both directly and from game engine changes, he also received heavy nerfs to his combo potential, and is mostly harmed by the universal engine changes, compared to most of the cast who benefit from said changes. As a result, he is considered to be nerfed overall.

Little Mac's biggest buff involves his notoriously poor recovery. Previously notorious for having one of the single worst recoveries in the game, it has been extended and has greater mix-up potential due to readdition of directional air dodges, Jolt Haymaker no longer causing helplessness while traveling more distance, and KO Uppercut granting recovery distance in midair. His attributes have also been modified, as he now has a considerably faster air speed which helps him recover easier, higher jumps which no longer make him as vulnerable to platform camping (while also improving his recovery), and the second-highest falling speed which makes it easier for him to return to the ground. His higher weight not only improves his endurance, but also allows him to benefit from rage more effectively despite its weakening, making him harder to KO when combined with his longer recovery.

Among other buffs, some of Little Mac's ground moves have been improved. His neutral attack is even faster, can jab cancel with more ease, and can now jab lock. His forward tilt connects better on aerial opponents, and down tilt has more range. All versions of forward smash have lost their blindspots, and up smash has more active super armor frames. Straight Lunge now gains damage while charging, can now be shield-canceled, can be turned around if needed, and deals a consistent 30% when fully charged. Aside from its helpless state being removed, Jolt Haymaker also has significantly improved safety on hit. The aerial version of KO Uppercut now has more knockback, improving its KO power (though it remains a highly situational KO option). His grabs have also received much more range and have lost their previous blindspots, no longer being the shortest in the game.

Little Mac also benefits heavily from some of the universal changes. Since the alterations to grounded movement have returned some of the aspects of dash dancing, this grants Little Mac one of the game's best dash dances. The ability to dash cancel into any grounded attack and the introduction of spot dodge canceling arguably benefit him more than any other fighter, as not only he now has access to all his grounded options at any time, he is able to avoid most laggy punishment options and retaliate immediately with his strong grounded game; both of these changes improve his hard punish game. The changes to shieldstun make it easier for him to punish aerial approaches out of shield and make his grounded attacks safer, benefitting his ground-based playstyle, while this is complemented by the universal nerfs to grabs and shield grabs, which now make him more difficult to punish out of shield without a sufficiently ranged move. The nerfs to defensive options (shielding, air dodges, rolls, and spot dodges) further improve his pressure ability and punish game, while he still possesses some of the best defensive options of the cast. Finally, the changes to jostle mechanics now make his attacks easier to sweetspot and much harder to whiff up close, such as Straight Lunge's infamous whiffs at point-blank range in SSB4.

However, the nerfs Little Mac has received to his strong grounded game and Jolt Haymaker are harsh enough to eclipse his useful buffs. His best moves for racking up damage are weaker as his neutral attack, the infinite and up tilt all deal less damage (with the latter being less safe at low percents); the former no longer has anti-rebounding priority, while the latter's lower damage makes it less likely to out-prioritize attacks. Down tilt has more ending lag, reducing its combo potential, especially beyond low percents and weakening most of his damage racking abilities while either narrowing or outright removing some of its KO confirms. Down throw has altered and increased knockback, making it better for combos at low percentages, but worse at high ones. As a result of these changes, Little Mac's grounded game has actually become worse despite his much easier access to his options, as he now has to deal slightly more hits and his moves have less followup potential, while he still lacks useful moves to edgeguard or attack offstage opponents with, apart from down tilt, down smash, and the newly buffed Jolt Haymaker. His recovery has also ironically become less consistent than before, as Jolt Haymaker can now only be used once before landing, making misuse or interception of it usually fatal for him; as a result, his offstage survivability still weighs on the opponent predicting one of few options he is able to use while recovering, especially his double jump.

In addition, despite some of the universal changes improving Little Mac, other indirect changes have harmed him just as much. The increased damage on edge attacks (since they now deal more than 8% throughout the cast) means Straight Lunge's armor can no longer withstand them, removing a mind game option. The nerfs to defensive options to become stale if overused, while letting Little Mac punish opponents more easily, make his defense more exploitable due to his awful aerial game making him reliant on dodges and shielding. The limitation to a single air dodge until a character gets hit or lands on the ground, as well as the higher ending lag on one, is especially notable, as this makes him even more susceptible to juggling if his air dodge is misused, and much more susceptible to gimping despite his improved recovery, as combined with the ability to use Jolt Haymaker once before landing makes it difficult to fully extend his recovery. The changes to jostle mechanics, while making his moveset more consistent, make it easier to corner Little Mac and read his fairly linear approach. However, the removal of perfect pivoting, the universal reduction of jumpsquats and landing lag are the changes that hinder him more than any other character: the former change eliminates his extremely strong micro spacing tactics, while the changes to dash-canceling do not fully compensate for this; the latter two changes benefit his terrible aerial game far less while strengthening most of the cast's aerial games to varying degrees, making him more vulnerable to combos and aerial rushdowns and limits him more to shielding a move or directly contesting them by making use of his smash attacks' super armor to muscle through them, which can be risky.

Overall, despite some changes to Little Mac's awful recovery, safety on shield and the ability to dash cancel moves, Little Mac has lost many of the tools that made him effective in the previous game such as his deadly hit confirms, and is now forced to contend with the rest of the cast's improvements due to the revamped game physics, which leads to a less rewarding and much more patient playstyle then ever before. All of this amounts to Little Mac performing worse than he did in SSB4.

Aesthetics

• As with all veterans returning from SSB4, Little Mac's model features a more subdued color scheme. His clothing now features simple detailing and his muscles are slightly more pronounced.
• Little Mac no longer has sixteen alternate costumes, only eight. Of the cut costumes, his blue and orange outfits have been removed, while Wire-Frame Mac has notably been reduced to just two outfits: his standard and sweatshirt outfits.
• Little Mac's alternate costumes no longer change his skin tone.
• For certain attacks, the visual trail textures will match the color of Little Mac's boxing gloves.
• Side taunt has been altered to have a significantly more noticeable glove-tightening and arm-swinging animation.
• Air dodge has an altered animation.
• Once KO Uppercut is used or lost, the Power Meter now shows the meter physically draining to zero, rather than cutting immediately to the lowest level.
• Little Mac now winces and frowns while clapping during the results screen.
• Doc Louis' quotes have been shortened in Little Mac's victory poses.
• Doc Louis no longer appears in Little Mac's victory pose during Team Battles.
• Little Mac's shadowboxing victory pose features less physical contact between him and Doc Louis, likely due to the latter's absence in Team Battles.
• Little Mac is much more expressive. He now scowls in many more animations, smiles in his down taunt, appears shocked when he gets hit, and looks pained when he is laying on the ground or tumbling.
• Little Mac's on-screen appearance in his wireframe alternate costume has him wear a green hoodie initially, which then turns pink when he throws it off as part of the animation, as opposed to it staying green throughout in Smash 4. This appears to be an oversight.

Attributes

• Like all characters, Little Mac's jumpsquat animation takes three frames to complete (down from 5).
• Little Mac benefits from the re-addition of directional air dodges, which grant him a new option to mix up his landings and giving him a new recovery option.
  • Air dodges have higher ending lag and can only be performed once before landing or getting hit, leaving Little Mac more susceptible to edgeguarding if he does not grab the ledge.
• Little Mac benefits significantly from the ability to dash cancel almost any grounded attack, increasing the versatility of his ground game.
  • In turn, Little Mac suffers from the removal of perfect pivoting due to his previous heavy reliance on the technique in Smash 4.
• As characters no longer dash through each other, many of Little Mac's moves now connect consistently better, most notably with forward smash, Straight Lunge, and KO Uppercut.
  • This change hinders his mixup options, as he can no longer run through opponents for a positional advantage.
• The strengthening of Stale Move Negation disproportionately affects Little Mac, due to his intentionally poor aerials reducing his options for using a variety of moves.
• Little Mac dashes much faster (2.24 → 2.464).
• Little Mac walks slightly faster (1.32 → 1.386).
• Little Mac's air speed is much faster (1 → 1.208), going from tied for 31st fastest in Smash 4 to tied for 12th in Ultimate. Among other things, this improves his recovery.
• Little Mac's max additional air acceleration is slightly higher (0.028 → 0.03).
• Little Mac jumps higher, now being able to reach the lower platforms of Battlefield with one full hop, and the top platform with both jumps. This improves his offstage survivability and prevents him from being camped as easily.
• Little Mac's falling speed (1.8 → 1.95) and fast falling speed (2.88 → 3.12) are much faster, now tied with King Dedede for the 2nd highest falling speed. This makes it easier for him to land safely, but makes him easier to combo.
• Little Mac's gravity is higher ( 0.08 → 0.09), now being around average instead of slightly below average. Combined with his faster falling speed, this allows him to land more safely, but slightly hinders his horizontal recovery and makes him easier to combo.
• As a result, he spends less time in the air after jumping (SH air time: 35→ 33) (FH air time: 51 → 44).
• Little Mac is heavier (82 → 87), now being slightly heavier than Sonic. This improves his survivability.
  • However, this makes him easier to combo when combined with his faster falling speed and higher gravity.
• Little Mac's spot dodge has more startup with a shorter duration (2-16 → 3-14), reducing its intangibility period by three frames.
  • However, it has slightly decreased ending lag (FAF 25 → 24), allowing Mac to act faster out of it.
• Back roll has more intangibility (4-12 → 4-14), but increased ending lag (FAF 27 → 33).
• Little Mac's air dodge has one more frame of intangibility (2-25 → 2-26).
• Little Mac's air dodge has much more ending lag ( FAF 31 → 50), going from the second fastest in Smash 4 to being merely average in Ultimate. It can also be used only once before landing.

Ground attacks

• The increase to shieldstun for grounded attacks benefit Little Mac more than everyone else, making his grounded attacks safer on shield.
• Neutral attack
  • Like most neutral attacks in the game, the first two hits of Mac's jab can jab lock due to their altered angles (85°/80° → 361°/180°), though it can be difficult to land on smaller characters.
    • Due to the universal improvements to neutral infinites, Little Mac's neutral infinite connects significantly better, as it could be escaped from relatively easily in SSB4.
    • Neutral attack's first and second hits have less ending lag (FAF 22 → 17), improving their jab canceling potential.
    • Neutral attack's third hit has slightly less ending lag (FAF 32 → 30).
    • All hits of neutral attack except for the infinite's finisher deal less damage (2% → 1.5% (hits 1-2), 7% → 5% (hit 3), 0.7% → 0.5% (infinite)).
    • Neutral attack no longer has anti-rebounding priority.
    • Neutral attack can no longer be edge canceled into KO Uppercut, as the universal change to neutral infinites prevents Mac from being pushed off edges while hitting opponents.
    • Holding down the standard attack button causes Little Mac to do his neutral attack, while mashing it causes him to perform his neutral infinite. Previously, the infinite would be initiated by holding down standard attack.
• Dash attack:
  • The changes to jostle mechanics prevents dash attack from whiffing close opponents.
  • Dash attack has a slightly altered animation where Little Mac punches slightly lower, while the animation length and hitbox duration both remain unchanged, allowing it to hit opponents at the ledge.
• Up tilt:
  • The removal of perfect pivoting significantly harms up tilt's overall versatility.
  • Up tilt deals less damage (9% → 6.5%).
  • Up tilt's base knockback was reduced, while its knockback scaling was increased (50 (base), 80 (scaling) → 25/120). This increases its knockback overall, but makes up tilt unsafe on hit at very low percents (as opponents can air dodge or attack out of it) while still not being strong enough to be a viable KO move.
    • The reduced damage output and altered knockback improves its combo potential at low and mid percentages.
  • Up tilt is less effective for out-prioritizing attacks with its anti-rebounding priority, due to the move's lowered damage.
• Forward tilt:
  • Forward tilt's second hit connects more consistently.
• Down tilt:
  • Down tilt's has a slighly altered animation where Little Mac stretches his arm more horizontally instead of towards the ground. As a result, its outermost hitbox has been moved further outwards (X offset: 3 → 4.4), noticeably improving the move's range and giving it a disjoint.
  • Down tilt has more ending lag (FAF 22 → 26), reducing its combo ability and followups with a majority of its followups only usable at low percents, while limiting its few consistent followups at higher percents (Jolt Haymaker and Rising Uppercut).
• All smash attacks cause the screen to shake.
• While using any smash attack, Little Mac voices out with his weak knockback voice clip if he takes damage during the move. This allows for a minor mindgame when Mac is hit during his super armor state, but is otherwise a small detail.
• All smash attacks trigger Special Zoom if Little Mac is hit during their startup and lands the move on an opponent.
• Forward smash:
  • All angles of forward smash now use a single "wind" sound effect instead of three separate sound effects.
  • The changes to jostling make the unangled and upward angled versions' sweetspots easier to land, especially against grounded opponents. The windboxes have been removed as well.
  • Unangled:
    • The inner hitbox is slightly longer (X offset: -1.5u → -1.5u - -2u).
    • The move has a slightly altered animation where Little Mac bends his elbow faster. This very slightly improves the move's vertical range.
    • It deals slightly less knockback (30 base/91 scaling → 29 base/87 scaling).
  • Angled down:
    • The inner hitbox extends further towards Little Mac (Y offset: 7.5u → 7.5-8.5u, Z offset: 3u → 3-0u), increasing the move's range towards him and making it less likely to whiff.
    • It deals more base knockback (50 → 65). While this improves its ability to send enemies away or offstage, this significantly reduces its ability to set up tech chases.
• Up smash:
  • Up smash's first frame produces a spark akin to a glancing blow, which visualizes its stronger flame sweetspot.
  • The sweetspot can now hit airborne opponents in addition to grounded ones.
  • Up smash has more super armor (frames 8-11 → frames 8-13), now matching the duration of the hitboxes.
  • It has a shorter duration (10-14 → 10-13).
• Down smash:
  • The move has less knockback scaling (96 → 94).
  • The back hit's outermost hitbox has a swapped Z offset (-1u → 1u).

Aerial attacks

• All aerials have noticeably less landing lag (Neutral: 16 → 10 frames, Forward: 22 → 13, Back: 26 → 16, Up: 22 → 13, Down: 30 → 16).
• Due to Little Mac's faster falling speed and higher gravity, forward aerial and back aerial no longer auto-cancel in a short hop.
• Neutral aerial auto-cancels earlier (frame 25 → 16), allowing Little Mac to use it twice in a short hop without landing lag.
• If Little Mac uses forward aerial or a double jump after Jolt Haymaker, it will give him more momentum.
• The changes to shieldstun for aerial attacks greatly benefits Little Mac, making him less vulnerable to aerial approaches.

Throws and other attacks

• Standing grab's grabbox has been moved forward and is larger (Z offset: 4-8.1 → 7-10), significantly improving its range, no longer being the shortest grab in the game. This also removes the blindspot in Little Mac's arms and hands.
• Dash grab's grabbox has been moved forward (Z offset: 0-5.7 → 4-9.7), considerably improving its range.
• Pivot grab's grabbox extends further (Z offset: 4-12.1 → 4-13.6), improving its range.
• Dash grab and pivot grab have increased startup (Dash grab: frame 10 → 13, Pivot grab: frame 11 → 14).
• All grabs have more ending lag (Standing: FAF 33 → 39, Dash: FAF 41 → 47, Pivot: FAF 34 → 42).
• Pummel is much faster, but deals less damage (2.1% → 1%), going from an average pummel in speed and damage to being weak but among the fastest in the game.
• Little Mac's throws are no longer weight dependent. This worsens their combo potential against lightweights, but improves it against heavier characters.
• Down throw:
• Down throw deals less damage (5% → 3% (throw), 9% → 7% (total)).
  • The move has less base knockback, but more knockback growth (78 (base), 40 (scaling) → 50/88). The lower base knockback allows Mac to combo into a greater range of moves at low percents, while the move's knockback doesn't become greater until above 150%, allowing it to combo for longer as well.
  • The higher knockback growth combined with Ultimate's knockback and hitstun changes makes down throw combo less reliably, with any given combo being more heavily dependant on the opponent's percent.
• Little Mac has altered swing animations for battering items like the Beam Sword, no longer performing a stab forward when using a forward smash. This applies to all except his dash attack. Like in Smash 4, he shares this change with Captain Falcon.

Special moves

• Straight Lunge:
  • Straight Lunge can be canceled by shielding.
  • Like with most non-storable charge moves, Straight Lunge can be unleashed in the opposite direction upon releasing the move.
  • Fully-charged Straight Lunge no longer has a blindspot, as characters can no longer pass through each other.
  • Straight Lunge gains power and damage as it is charged; previously, it had fixed damage values for an uncharged and fully-charged attack.
  • Uncharged Straight Lunge has less ending lag (FAF 49 → 44).
    • Uncharged grounded Straight Lunge deals less damage (14% → 12%) and has lower knockback scaling (90 → 70) significantly hindering its KO potential. The aerial version also has lower knockback scaling (95 → 85).
    • Late uncharged aerial Straight Lunge deals more damage (7% → 8%).
    • Fully-charged Straight Lunge deals much more damage (25% → 30% (grounded), 15% → 20% (aerial)) without full compensation on its knockback (55 (base), 86 (scaling) → 50/77 (grounded), 25/100 → 25/95 (aerial)), and deals consistent damage throughout the move instead of having a weaker late hit.
  • Because all edge attacks now do at least 9% damage, Straight Lunge can no longer tank through them as its heavy armor caps at 8%, removing a key ledge trapping option for Mac.
  • When beginning to charge the move in the air, Little Mac drops down a short distance (in addition to the normal falling in the air), increasing the chances of a self-destruct.
• KO Uppercut:
  • KO Uppercut has a new animation. Little Mac performs a jumping uppercut while facing the screen, making it appear more identical to the Star Punch from Punch-Out!! on the NES.
  • The new animation is treated as an actual jump, meaning it is possible to use the grounded variant and end up offstage, especially if the punch is used out of a dash.
  • KO Uppercut now uses Special Zoom. As a result, the move will no longer zoom in the camera outside of a 1v1.
  • KO Uppercut's new animation gives the move more vertical range, allowing it to hit opponents on the lower platforms of Battlefield. It also grants recovery distance if used in midair.
  • KO Uppercut is performed faster in general, making it harder to punish.
  • KO Uppercut no longer has a windbox, making the hitbox connect more consistently.
  • KO Uppercut has less ending lag (FAF 93 → 77).
  • KO Uppercut has less horizontal reach.
  • Aerial KO Uppercut deals much more knockback (40 (base), 80 (scaling) → 50/95), greatly improving its KO potential.
  • Aerial KO Uppercut is no longer unblockable.
  • The change to the move's animation requires a ledge-cancelled KO Uppercut (the "Gazelle Punch") to be performed differently, as the previous method from Smash 4 (ledge jump to uppercut) no longer registers as a grounded move due to Little Mac performing a hop. Little Mac now needs to drop from ledge and then double jump, before uppercutting and using its momentum to land on the stage.
• Jolt Haymaker:
  • Grounded Jolt Haymaker makes Little Mac spend less time in the air. He also lands with significantly more traction.
  • Jolt Haymaker has 1 less frame of startup (frame 9 → 8).
  • Grounded Jolt Haymaker has reduced ending lag.
  • Jolt Haymaker deals more base knockback (33 → 75), sending opponents into tumble at 0%.
  • Jolt Haymaker has less knockback scaling (98 → 63), killing slightly later as its base knockback was not fully compensated.
  • Jolt Haymaker no longer renders Little Mac helpless. This improves his recovery and turns what was previously a common suicidal mistake into a potent edge guarding tool.
  • Aerial Jolt Haymaker travels further (initial speed: 1.4 → 1.6).
  • Grounded Jolt Haymaker travels a shorter distance (initial speed: 2 → 1.7).
  • Grounded Jolt Haymaker gains less height off the ground, making it harder to dodge projectiles with the initial leap.
  • All versions of Jolt Haymaker can only be used once until Mac touches the ground again, even if he is hit out of it. This makes it less safe to use, especially if at the risk of being sent offstage.
  • Grounded Jolt Haymaker will stop Little Mac from going over the ledge in the last few frames, preventing him from just barely overshooting the ledge and having to get back to the stage.
• Rising Uppercut:
  • Little Mac no longer suffers from RCO lag if he is hit out of Rising Uppercut.
  • Aerial Rising Uppercut snaps to the ledge earlier on during the move, instead of only during startup and after the final hitbox appears.
  • Aerial Rising Uppercut keeps a small amount of forward momentum, slightly improving its horizontal distance.
  • Rising Uppercut's first hit has a trail to highlight its hitbox.
• Slip Counter:
  • Slip Counter has less ending lag (FAF 61 → 57) if missed.
  • Slip Counter has a higher damage multiplier (1.3× → 1.5×).
  • Slip Counter grants less momentum after an aerial counter. This lowers its recovery potential, but makes it less likely that Mac gets accidentally sent offstage by a counter.
  • Slip Counter produces an aesthetic spark upon retaliating.
  • When Slip Counter connects, the opponent's knockback is initially slowed before going to normal speed.
• Final Smash:
  • Little Mac has a new Final Smash called Giga Mac Rush. Rather than using Giga Mac as a controllable transformation, Little Mac transforms into his Giga Mac form and rushes forward, and if he comes into contact with an opponent, he unleashes a rush of punches before launching them, similar to Donkey Kong's Jungle Rush.
  • As a result, the undead glitch on the Stamina Mode, and results screen glitch on the timed team battle have been removed.

Update history

Little Mac received a mix of buffs and nerfs via game updates, but was buffed overall. Although update 2.0.0 granted inconsequential buffs to his neutral and up aerials, update 3.1.0 noticeably improved him in a number of ways. Neutral attack, in particular, was buffed in three distinct ways. Its hits connect better thanks to improved ranges and, more notably, its first and second hits had their ending lag reduced to the point that it and Mr. Game & Watch's neutral attack are currently the only ones in Ultimate that are capable of jab canceling reliably. Most notably, neutral attack gained an unintentional mechanic that decreased the ending lag of its third hit by 10 frames if it was inputted manually. This oversight gave his neutral attack the ability to combo into itself (via dash-canceling), forward smash, grab, and Jolt Haymaker at low to medium percentages. The sheer effectiveness of this mechanic even resulted in Sol, a pioneer of Little Mac's metagame in SSB4, christening it the "Dreamland Express" as proposed by his Twitch chat. In addition to neutral attack, Little Mac's ground game was buffed in a few other ways. Forward tilt connects much better against airborne opponents, which was a notorious flaw that remained unaddressed throughout SSB4's lifespan. Down tilt's range was increased to the point that it is actually on par with Mii Swordfighter's and out-ranges Ike's. Up smash gained more super armor frames, although its active frames were shortened unintentionally. Jolt Haymaker received an additional hitbox that increased its vertical range; this not only improved its utility as a follow-up from down tilt, but also enables its grounded version to hit opponents on Battlefield's low platforms. KO Uppercut, Slip Counter and uncharged Straight Lunge had their ending lag reduced by varying amounts. Lastly, Little Mac indirectly benefits from the changes to shield damage for projectiles in update 3.0.0, as they make it somewhat easier for him to handle camping.

The Dreamland Express was removed in update 4.0.0. While the other buffs that Little Mac gained in update 3.1.0 were still worthwhile, the removal of the Dreamland Express was still a significant hindrance to his combo potential and his perception in the competitive scene. Following this, update 7.0.0 enlarged Little Mac's shield as part of a near-universal buff, which decreased his vulnerability to shield stabbing. Update 8.0.0 increased the ending lag of both his trip attack and backward rolling tech by 1 frame apiece, which standardized them with the rest of the cast's. Update 11.0.0 undid update 3.1.0's unintended nerf to up smash's active frames.

After an absence of changes, Little Mac received a number of useful buffs via update 13.0.0. Up tilt gained more hitstun, which made it safer on hit and improved its combo potential, particularly into Rising Uppercut for a consistent KO confirm. On a related note, grounded Rising Uppercut gained more knockback, which improved its KO potential. Downward angled forward smash's shield damage output was increased, which helps Mac further pressure the opponent. Uncharged Straight Lunge's knockback was increased, its ending lag was decreased, and it gained the ability to be unleashed and canceled earlier. Altogether, these buffs collectively improve its safety, mix-up, and KO potentials. Lastly, Slip Counter's damage multiplier was increased to the point that it is on par with Gut Check and Counter Throw as the second-most damaging counterattack in the game.

Overall, Little Mac fares better than he did at the launch of Ultimate, thanks to his buffs granting him more potential set-ups, improved consistency, and slightly safer offense.

2.0.0

• Neutral aerial auto-cancels earlier (frame 25 → 16), matching the move's interruptibility.
  • The amount of time Little Mac cannot grab the ledge after performing neutral aerial has been shortened (46 frames → 40).
• The amount of time Little Mac cannot grab the ledge after performing up aerial has been shortened (73 frames → 66).

3.1.0

• Neutral attack 1 has less ending lag (FAF 22 → 17) and connects into neutral attack 2 more reliably.
• Neutral attack 2 has less ending lag (FAF 22 → 17) and more range.
• Neutral attack 3 has more range(Y/Z offsets: 10u/3u → 8u/6u).
• Neutral attack 3 has less ending lag and a slightly different animation if inputted manually, allowing Mac to act 10 frames earlier.
• Forward tilt's hits connect more reliably against opponents in the air.
• Down tilt has more range.
• Up smash has more super armor (frames 8-11 → 8-13).
• Up smash's hitbox duration is 1 frame shorter (frame 10-14 -> 10-13), making it harder to hit opponents above and behind Little Mac. This change appears to have been unintentional.
• Straight Lunge has less ending lag when it is grounded and not fully charged (FAF 50 → 45).
• KO Uppercut has significantly less ending lag when it is grounded (FAF 97 → 77).
• Jolt Haymaker has a hitbox at the start of the attack, positioned above and in front of him, which extends the range above Little Mac.
• Slip Counter has less ending lag (FAF 63 → 57).

4.0.0

• Neutral Attack manual inputed hits can no longer reduce its ending lag, significantly reducing its combo potential.

7.0.0

• Overall shield size has been increased.

8.0.0

• Trip attack has one frame more ending lag (FAF 49 → 50), matching the rest of the cast.
• Backward rolling tech has one frame more ending lag (FAF 40 → 41), matching the rest of the cast.

11.0.0

• Up smash's hitbox duration is 1 frame longer (10-13 → 10-14), reversing the change to hitbox duration made in version 3.1.0.

13.0.0

• Up tilt has 2 additional frames of hitstun on all hitboxes. This makes it safer on hit, and improves its combo potential.
• Down-angled Forward smash deals more shield damage (4 → 7), allowing it to break shields much easier.
• Straight Lunge:
  • Non-fully charged Straight Lunge has had a flag added on frame 23 of the move, allowing an additional special button input to be read, unleashing the move earlier.
  • It has higher knockback scaling when not fully charged (65 (grounded)/80 (aerial) → 70/85).
  • It has less ending lag when not fully charged (45 frames (normal/54 frames (reversed) → 43/52).
• Rising Uppercut has higher knockback scaling (190 → 197).
• Slip Counter has a higher damage multiplier (1.3x → 1.5x).

Moveset

• Little Mac can wall jump.

For a gallery of Little Mac's hitboxes, see here.

Note: All numbers are listed as base damage, without the 1v1 multiplier.

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack		Left Jab (左ジャブ) / Right Hook (右フック) / Left Uppercut (左アッパーカット) / Rush (ラッシュ) / Right Uppercut (右アッパーカット)	1.5%	A left-handed jab, followed by a right-handed hook, followed by a left-handed uppercut. If the button is mashed, Little Mac will perform an extremely fast flurry of alternating punches, followed by a right-handed uppercut. Holding the attack button will have Little Mac repeat the first hit rapidly. Like in Super Smash Bros. 4, it is one of the fastest attacks in the game, due to its first hit coming out on frame 1. As a result, it is excellent at interrupting opponents who are very close or at point-blank range, although it is held back by its mediocre range. The first two hits can lock a prone character, although this is difficult to perform on most characters due to the positions of the first two hits' hitboxes. The first two hits also have very low ending lag, allowing for reaction-based reads or the ability to jab cancel into Rising Uppercut. As of update 3.0.1, neutral attack is one of the very few of its kind that is capable of jab canceling reliably. Most notably, its combo into Rising Uppercut functions as a useful KO confirm at high percentages; the second hit is most effective beginning at 145%, and the first hit is most effective past 200%. Although this combo is potent, it can be shielded safely with proper timing. Neutral attack's third hit can combo into dash attack, forward smash and Jolt Haymaker (when the special button is inputted again after its initial input) at very low percentages, but these combos require a read. Neutral infinite racks up damage quickly and is much more consistent it was than in SSB4, although opponents can likely escape it if they are too far away from Little Mac.
			1.5%
			5%
			0.5% (loop), 3% (last)
Forward tilt		One-Two Punch (ワン・ツーパンチ)	4% (hit 1), 8% (hit 2)	A one-two combo. It has very minimal startup (frame 4) and links reliably into the second hit. The second hit is very powerful, enough to KO Mario at 90% while near the edge of Final Destination, making it one of the strongest forward tilts in the game. It also has anti-rebounding priority and the longest range among Little Mac's tilt attacks, due to Mac moving slightly forward during both hits (especially the first one). As a result, it is useful for netting KOs, especially when dash canceled and with pivot canceling, allowing it to punish attacks from more than half of Final Destination away. However, its shield safety is lacking, which makes it punishable. It heavily resembles the one-two combo Little Mac uses as an Assist Trophy in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and vaguely resembles Piston Hondo's Hondo Rush in the NES and Wii versions of Punch-Out!!
Up tilt		Anti-Air Knuckle (アンチエアナックル)	6.5%	An overhead arcing backfist. It has very minimal startup (frame 4) and ending lag alongside anti-rebounding priority. It covers the entirety of Little Mac's body and a wide arc above him, which allows him to use it as a quick option to punish overhead attacks or rolls. Up tilt has low knockback; when coupled with its fast overall speed and anti-rebounding priority, these traits collectively make it one of Little Mac's most useful combo options. Its combo potential is even more noticeable during its final active frames, with some combos (such as reversed KO Uppercut or Rising Uppercut at specific KO percentages) being true only during the final frames. Up tilt combos into itself at low percentages, and into KO Uppercut and Rising Uppercut at low to medium percentages if the opponent is close to him. It can also combo into forward tilt, down tilt, his smash attacks and Jolt Haymaker, depending on an opponent's reaction. Due to Little Mac ducking during up tilt, it also can enable him to low profile some aerials and projectiles. This allows it to be used as a dash canceled approach option, and can make direct punishes challenging for some characters. Although up tilt is unsafe on hit and on shield at very low percentages, this flaw has been mostly alleviated by its hitstun being higher as of update 13.0.0. In addition to becoming slightly safer, up tilt has improved combo potential; most notably, its combo into Rising Uppercut is a consistent KO confirm due to update 13.0.0 also increasing Rising Uppercut's knockback growth. It resembles Don Flamenco's Twirling Backhand (albeit performed vertically instead of horizontally), which is used during Title Defense Mode in the Wii version of Punch-Out!!
Down tilt		Leg Blow (レッグブロー)	8%	A crouching hook. It has very minimal startup (frame 3) and ending lag alongside anti-rebounding priority. Although its formidable combo potential has been toned down since SSB4 due to its higher ending lag, it remains a useful combo option. It can combo into itself, forward tilt and up tilt at 0%, can combo into Jolt Haymaker consistently at medium percentages, and can even be used as a frame trap into dash attack, his smash attacks, forward aerial, and dash canceled Rising Uppercut. It can also combo into KO Uppercut at extremely specific percentages (usually at ≈60%), although the window can widen significantly (down to 40%) it Little Mac has a sufficient level of rage. Otherwise, it is mainly used to force opponents into a landing situation for Little Mac to capitalize on. As of update 3.1.0, down tilt's hitbox on Little Mac's fist is disjointed to the point it is on par with Mii Swordfighter's and out-ranges Ike's. As a result, it can reach low enough to hit edge-hanging opponents, which allows it to punish edge stalling by comboing into Jolt Haymaker, forward tilt, or KO Uppercut for a KO confirm. Overall, it is one of Little Mac's most useful neutral options due to its combo potential, speed, range and relative safeness on shield compared to the rest of his attacks.
Dash attack		Hammer Punch (ハンマーパンチ)	10%	A lunging overhand. It is fast for a dash attack (frame 7), covers a decent distance, and can be a situational KO option, having enough knockback to KO Mario at 136% while near the edge of Final Destination, thus making it moderately strong for a dash attack. It can also hit opponents hanging on edges, and due to its generous hitbox, finds a lot of use trapping opponents on an edge. However, due to its lack of shieldstun, it is notoriously punishable on shield, but it can cross-up most of the cast on shield. The angle is different for each of the three hitboxes, with the close hit being notable for its ability to combo into KO Uppercut. It can combo into itself at low percentages. It resembles the attack portion of Von Kaiser's Spin Attack, which is used during Title Defense Mode in the Wii version of Punch-Out!!
Forward smash	↗	Smash Uppercut (スマッシュアッパーカット) / Straight Smash (スマッシュストレート) / Smash Body Hook (スマッシュボディフック)	20% (fist), 18% (arm)	Steps forward and throws one of three right-handed punch variations, depending on which angle the control stick is tilted. It is active on frame 14 (15 if angled down) and has a moderate amount of ending lag (26 frames), making it deceptively fast in spite of its power. Little Mac also rushes forward before the hitbox becomes active; while this gives it deceptively good range, the hitboxes do not reach far in front of him. It is quite versatile for a smash attack in general: each directional input modifies its function significantly and thus allows Little Mac options to inflict a powerful horizontal or vertical blow, or inflict heavy damage and/or shield damage. Up: An uppercut. It launches opponents vertically, has the largest hitbox out of all three punch variations, and grants super armor on frames 8-15. Altogether, these traits make it the easiest variation to land as well as a useful anti-air attack. It is powerful and launches vertically to the point that it KOs Mario at 102%, allowing it to finish off fighters who have poor vertical endurance. On opponents at 0% (or at very low percentages with rage), should Little Mac use his armor to break through an attack and successfully connect this move, it can frame trap opponents into many vertical moves, including KO Uppercut, due to the Special Zoom giving Little Mac extra hit advantage. On certain characters at very low percents and with no DI/DI in, a second forward smash can connect if the opponent uses a slow out-of-shield option or aerial. On Battlefield at very low percentages, it can also set up a tech-chase if the hit opponent lands on a platform. It resembles Little Mac's Star Punch and One-Star Punch in the NES and Wii versions of Punch-Out!!, respectively. Forward: A cross. It has the highest knockback growth out of all three punch variations, KOing Mario at 89% at center-stage. This makes it the most reliable out of the three in regard to KOing. It also grants super armor on frames 8-15. It heavily resembles the cross Little Mac hits King Hippo with during the cutscene in which he defeats Hippo in the Wii version of Punch-Out!! Down: A body hook. It deals the most damage out of all three punch variations, and its high shieldstun makes it safer on shield than the other two punch variations. It is among the most damaging forward smashes in the game, on par with Ganondorf's and surpassed only by King Dedede's and Kazuya's. As of update 13.0.0, its shield damage output has increased to the point that when uncharged, it will break shields if it is followed by down tilt. Conversely, it will instantly break a full shield when it is fully charged. It also grants super armor on frames 9-15. However, it has very low knockback growth; while this makes it unable to KO at realistic percentages, it can be used to set up a tech-chase because of its very low launching angle.
	→		20% (fist), 18% (arm)
	↘		24%
Up smash		Dynamite Uppercut (ダイナマイトアッパーカット)	21% (clean), 16% (late)	An uppercut. Its first frame is indicated by a spark generated by Little Mac dragging his fist against the stage before throwing the uppercut. This portion of the hitbox is a sweetspot that possesses a flame effect; the sweetspot inflicts significant shield damage (to the point of breaking a shield at full health when it is fully charged) and makes up smash among the strongest smash attacks of its kind in the game. Its sourspot also makes it useful for aerial protection and for KOing, thanks to its respectable damage output, high knockback growth, and hitbox position. Despite its power, it is also fast for a smash attack, due to it coming out on frame 10. However, it has the highest amount of ending lag (34 frames) out of Little Mac's grounded moves, which makes it punishable if it is used carelessly. Despite its appearance, it also only hits in front of Little Mac, but it has good vertical range: it reaches high enough to challenge opponents standing on the bottom platforms of Battlefield, yet also starts low enough to reach some opponents on an edge. It also grants super armor on frames 8-13.
Down smash		Swing Punch (スイングパンチ)	13%	Spins 180° to throw a quick, downward angled hook in each direction. Unlike most down smashes, both of its hits have the same damage outputs. It comes out on frame 10 and is a powerful semi-spike which hits in front of Little Mac and then behind him. Like his other smash attacks, it grants super armor (frames 7-10 and 15-17); when coupled with its fairly long range, it is reliable at punishing rolls and especially edgeguarding, as it can break through most recoveries that inflict damage and hit opponents before they can snap to an edge so long as it is timed properly. It also has additional, albeit situational utility: it can set up a tech-chase due to being a semi-spike, and it can potentially hit twice if the first hit manages to launch the opponent into the second hit.
Neutral aerial		Weak Jab (苦手ジャブ)	2%	A downward angled jab. It has very minimal overall lag, uses the auto-link angle, and inflicts set knockback. Due to it coming out on frame 2, it is the fastest aerial of any kind in the game. It can be used as a combo breaker of sorts or spammed to combo when in the air and having a very practical use of getting Little Mac out of hitstun without using a landing option very quickly and efficiently. It also uses the autolink angle, which allows Mac to use it to combo upon landing. However, it has extremely short range, making it risky to use offensively. It has a small hitbox on Mac's pelvis that launches vertically with weak knockback; while it is extremely unlikely to hit in a typical match, this gives it extremely niche use as a situational, yet deceptively good combo starter, with Little Mac mains humorously referring to it as the "shitbox" due to its position on Mac. It can autocancel extremely quickly, and can be used twice with a short hop without suffering from landing lag if it is used at the peak of a short hop.
Forward aerial		Weak Uppercut (苦手アッパーカット)	5% (sweetspot), 4% (sourspot)	A hook. It comes out on frame 10 and has a meager damage output. Due to being a semi-spike, however, it can gimp an opponent (especially those with poor recoveries past 100%) and start a tech-chase. It autocancels with a short hop and can combo out of several of Little Mac's moves. Although risky, it can combo into Jolt Haymaker when used precisely; at medium percentages, this combo leaves the opponent in an unfavorable position, and can even KO early while offstage. Overall, it is arguably Little Mac's most useful and reliable aerial attack.
Back aerial		Weak Back Knuckle (苦手バックナックル)	6% (sweetspot) 4% (sourspot)	A backfist. Like his forward aerial, it is a semi-spike that has a meager damage output. Compared to his forward aerial, it deals 1% more damage when sweetspotted, but comes out 1 frame slower and cannot autocancel with a short hop. It is also Little Mac's strongest aerial, but is too weak to KO reliably and is best suited for possibly gimping an opponent.
Up aerial		Weak Jumping Punch (苦手ジャンピングパンチ)	5% (sweetspot) 4% (sourspot)	An upward arcing hook. Due to it coming out on frame 5, it is extremely fast for an up aerial, though this is significantly offset by its minimal range, short hitbox duration, and noticeable ending lag. It autocancels with a jump when used while near the ground; when coupled with its meager damage output, this enables it to combo into up tilt, Rising Uppercut, and KO Uppercut at high percentages. It is also usable as an anti-air attack against opponents on platforms if no other options are available. It resembles Little Mac's Left Jab in the NES version of Punch-Out!!
Down aerial		Weak Open Blow (苦手オープンブロー)	4% (sourspot), 5% (sweetspot)	A palm thrust. The fist hitbox is a sourspot, but also functions as a meteor smash. It autocancels with a short hop and is one of the quickest meteor smashes in the game, due to it coming out on frame 7 and having low ending lag. However, it is situational due to its meager damage output and knockback, with its meteor smash hitbox being effective only against fast fallers unless Little Mac also manages to footstool jump on the opponent immediately after. The meteor smash hitbox also acts like a sourspot, dealing less damage than the hitbox on his arm. However, it can lock floored opponents, allowing Little Mac to finish them with any of his strongest attacks. It can also gimp opponents, particularly those with poor recoveries.
Grab		Grab (つかみ)	—	Clinches the opponent. In addition to having average range, Little Mac possesses moderate ending lag in his grabs, although they don't extend past the palms of his boxing gloves. A roll cancel boost grab noticeably improves the range of Little Mac's standing grab, and even enables his grabs to cross-up opponents at the cost of possibly being difficult to perform. Little Mac's dash grab has long range due to him rushing forward before the grabbox comes out, and his pivot grab also has decent range and extends to cover his full boxing gloves. However, they both have noticeable startup as well. Little Mac's grabs heavily resemble Bear Hugger's Bear Hug in the arcade and SNES versions of Super Punch-Out!! and in the Wii version of Punch-Out!!
Pummel		Grab Body Blow (つかみボディブロー)	1%	A short straight-punch. Fast but weak.
Forward throw		Head Blow (ヘッドブロー)	4% (hit), 4% (throw)	Rears his arm back and throws an overhand. It is Little Mac's second most damaging throw, and can be used to set up an edgeguard. At low to medium percentages, it can also set up a tech-chase, and if the opponent does not tech, it can be followed into a dash attack or other dash canceled options at low percentages. Its collateral hitbox launches nearby opponents at a near-perfect vertical trajectory.
Back throw		Turning Uppercut (ターニングアッパーカット)	4% (hit), 5% (throw)	Spins the opponent around and throws an uppercut. It has the highest damage output and knockback growth among Little Mac's throws. As a result, it is his only throw with any KO potential, yet is only serviceable at best as a KO option. It KOs Mario starting at 140% while near the edge of Final Destination. Its collateral hitbox launches nearby opponents at a near-perfect vertical trajectory.
Up throw		Short Uppercut (ショートアッパーカット)	4% (hit), 3% (throw)	An uppercut. Due to Little Mac's weak aerial presence, this throw has little use aside from mix-ups involving forcing opponents to land, making it his most situational throw. It can combo into Jolt Haymaker at low to medium percentages, although this is heavily dependent on a read. Its collateral hitbox launches nearby opponents at a near-perfect vertical trajectory.
Down throw		Hammer Knuckle (ハンマーナックル)	4% (hit), 3% (throw)	A double axe handle. Among Little Mac's throws, it is the only one that possesses consistent combo potential: at low percentages, it can combo into neutral attack and Jolt Haymaker (when the special button is inputted again after its initial input), and Jolt Haymaker and Rising Uppercut at high percentages. Its combo into Rising Uppercut is notable in a couple of ways: it functions as a potent KO confirm as of update 13.0.0 due to Rising Uppercut's higher knockback, and it can function as a frame trap (albeit one susceptible to air dodging) when used against some characters (particularly those with floaty jumps, such as Mewtwo) who attempt to jump out. On stages with platforms at medium percentages, down throw can also put his opponent directly above him for a tech situation, which can be followed by up smash, KO Uppercut, Jolt Haymaker, or down aerial (the latter of which can lock them and open up further follow-ups should they fail to tech). Its collateral hitbox launches nearby opponents at a near-perfect vertical trajectory. It heavily resembles King Hippo's Hippo Squeeze n' Squash in the Wii version of Punch-Out!!
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)			7%	Gets up while throwing a punch behind himself, then in front of himself.
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)			7%	Gets up while throwing a punch in front of himself, then behind himself
Floor attack (trip) Floor getups (trip)			5%	Gets up while throwing a punch in front of himself, then behind himself
Edge attack Edge getups			9%	Throws a lunging punch while climbing up the edge.
Neutral special		Straight Lunge	12%/10%/8% (uncharged), 10%/8% (uncharged reversed), 30% (fully charged), 28% (fully charged reversed), 35% (KO Uppercut), 13% (aerial KO Uppercut)	Rears his arm back and then throws a cross that slides him forward. It is chargeable, grants heavy armor that has a damage threshold of 8% (9.6% in 1-on-1 matches) while charging, can be reversed upon release, and propels Little Mac forward by a fairly long distance (which is dependent on how long it was charged). The charge can be canceled by pressing the shield button. Unlike in SSB4, it lacks a weaker hit when fully charged; instead, it has a consistent damage output throughout its duration. When fully charged, it can KO opponents at 30% while near the edge. Partially charged variants have anti-rebounding priority, and due to its lingering hitbox and ability to be canceled, is a viable mix-up option to break through predictable moves or projectiles. Although Straight Lunge's armor has a mediocre damage threshold, the armor is active on frame 1. As a result, it can be useful to prevent the opponent from using a mildly damaging attack to start or extend a combo, and thus give Little Mac a way to escape from combos and juggle situations. If the Power Meter is fully charged, it becomes the KO Uppercut, a fast, unblockable and extremely powerful leaping uppercut. It also has enough range to reach through Battlefield's lower platforms. Despite the name, however, it is not a true one-hit KO, but instead KOs at low percentages (KOs the lightest character starting at 12% and the heaviest starting at 36%), while also granting super armor on frames 8-9. However, KO Uppercut possesses a considerable amount of ending lag, making it punishable regardless if it hits or not. KO Uppercut is also lost immediately if Little Mac retains it for 4 seconds and is then hit by any move that causes tumbling. An aerial KO Uppercut, although weaker and susceptible to both blocks and counters, can also be used as a situational recovery option and is still strong enough to KO reliably at high percentages (especially at a certain height).
Side special		Jolt Haymaker	14%	An overhand version of the Superman punch. It can be used almost instantly by pressing the special button immediately after initially pressing it. During its startup, it grants intangibility briefly when used on the ground, while its long hitbox duration allows it to punish moves effectively. Its respectable damage output and knockback make it a great combo finisher and reliable KO option at the edge, even when it is used in midair. Unlike in SSB4, Jolt Haymaker does not render Little Mac helpless when it is used in midair, making it a fairly good horizontal recovery option. However, it can only be used once before landing, which means that it must be used carefully due to Little Mac's subpar recovery. As of update 3.1.0, Jolt Haymaker has an additional hitbox that improved its range both vertically and diagonally. This improved its utility as a decent punishment option against jumpy opponents, as a follow-up from down tilt, and allows the grounded version to hit opponents on the lower platforms of Battlefield. A B-reversed Jolt Haymaker (which has also been referred to as a Wavemaker) has applications as an edgeguarding option, and allows Little Mac ascend slightly higher.
Up special		Rising Uppercut	3% (hit 1), 1% (hits 2-5), 3% (hit 6)	A jumping, right-handed corkscrew uppercut, followed immediately by a left-handed uppercut. The first uppercut hits multiple times, whereas the second uppercut hits once and has extremely high knockback. Thanks to Little Mac's excellent traction, it is a very potent out of shield option and is also one of his only reliable aerial finishers aside from Jolt Haymaker. It also grants 3 frames of intangibility on startup, while the grounded version covers a decent amount of vertical distance. Conversely, the aerial version is less effective at covering vertical distance and granting maneuverability compared to the grounded version, which makes it very ineffective for recovery. Using an aerial (primarily his neutral aerial) directly before using Rising uppercut will move Little Mac forward just like the grounded version. It resembles Little Mac's Three-Star Punch in the Wii version of Punch-Out!!
Down special		Slip Counter	1.5× (minimum 10%)	Assumes a full crouch stance and, if hit, immediately counterattacks by slipping inside to throw an uppercut. It shoots Little Mac forward during the counterattack, allowing it to hit distant opponents and act as a recovery extended offstage, albeit with high risk. Due to the counter window being active on frame 5, it has one of the fastest startups of any counter, making it an effective defensive option. However, the mechanics of the uppercut's delivery, such as the short delay and Mac's own movement, can also make it infrequently whiff. Can also be used to edgeguard characters with rising hitboxes on their recoveries, such as Link or another Little Mac. As of update 13.0.0, it has a damage multiplier of 1.5×, tying it with Counter Throw and Gut Check for the second most damaging counterattack in the game (surpassed only by Tetrakarn). It resembles Glass Joe's Delayed Right Hook, which is used during Title Defense Mode in the Wii version of Punch-Out!!
Final Smash		Giga Mac Rush	3% (beginning), 2% (late beginning), 59% (entirety)	Little Mac transforms into Giga Mac and rushes forward, attacking any opponents in front of him with an uppercut. If he successfully lands the uppercut, Giga Mac proceeds to unleash a rapid barrage of punches that concludes with an uppercut. It inflicts a massive amount of damage for a Final Smash, and its initial dash can even be used as a situational recovery option.

Power Meter and KO Uppercut

Little Mac using KO Uppercut, as shown via Move List.

“	Deal damage to opponents or receive damage to charge the meter. Charge it to the max to make your neutral special a KO Uppercut.	”
—Move List Description for the Power Meter.

“	Unleash a powerful uppercut that launches opponents. You get various perks for using this on the ground.	”
—Move List Description for the KO Uppercut.

Little Mac has a unique fighter ability called the Power Meter, which is displayed permanently above his damage meter. Inflicting and/or receiving damage will fill the Power Meter; when it is full, Little Mac's neutral special (Straight Lunge) is replaced by KO Uppercut. Of note is that the Power Meter is also filled if Little Mac hits a shield or an invincible character, and if he is hit while shielding or invincible. The grounded version of KO Uppercut has multiple perks: it can KO almost the entire cast at approximately 35%, has very minimal startup, grants super armor right before its hitbox appears, and is unblockable. In comparison, the aerial version is significantly weaker (KOing opponents at ≈80%), and is susceptible to both blocks and counterattacks. Since Little Mac leaps in order to throw KO Uppercut, it can also be used as a situational recovery option. However, this is ill-advised unless Little Mac is recovering from a high angle, since KO Uppercut has very high ending lag and does not snap to the edge.

KO Uppercut will replace Straight Lunge until it is used, Little Mac is KO'd, or if he is sent tumbling 4 seconds after he gains access to KO Uppercut.

Stats

Stats	Weight	Dash speed	Walk speed	Traction	Air friction	Air speed	Air acceleration	Gravity	Falling speed	Jumpsquat	Jump Height	Double jump Height
Value	87	2.365 – Initial dash 2.464 – Run	1.386	0.116	0.0075	1.208	0.01 – Base 0.03 – Additional	0.09	1.95 – Base 3.12 – Fast-fall	3	26 - Base 12.53 - Short hop	26

Announcer call

This article could use additional or higher-quality audio files. The editor who added this tag suggests: Needs announcer calls from other languages. If you have a good audio file for this article, upload it here.

• English/Japanese/Chinese

On-screen appearance

• Little Mac walks onto the stage while throwing a series of punches before tossing his hooded sweatsuit off. If either of his sweatsuit alternate costumes are being used, he will still perform the tossing animation while keeping his sweatsuit on.

• 

  Little Mac's on-screen appearance

Taunts

• Up taunt: Turns his back to the screen, bends down, then raises his fist triumphantly. Sometimes, Doc Louis will chime in and say "Hit 'em, baby!" (叩け，マック！, Strike, Mac!)
• Side taunt: Further secures his right boxing glove by pulling its string with his teeth, then resumes his battle stance while scoffing. Sometimes, Doc Louis will chime in and say "Let 'em have it, Mac!" (ぶちかませ，マック！, Hit them hard, Mac!)
• Down taunt: Throws a series of punches while facing the screen and then smirking. Sometimes, Doc Louis will chime in and say "Show 'em what you got, Mac baby!" (お前のパンチを見せてやれ！, Show them your punch!)

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  Little Mac's up taunt.

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  Little Mac's side taunt.

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  Little Mac's down taunt.

Idle poses

• Shuffles his feet.
• Shifts his head back and forth in front of his fists.

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  Little Mac's first idle pose.

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  Little Mac's second idle pose.

Crowd cheer

	Cheer (English)	Cheer (Japanese/Chinese)	Cheer (Italian)	Cheer (Dutch)	Cheer (French)
Cheer
Description	Little Mac! Get 'em back!	Go! Go! Mac!	Li - ttle Mac!	Little -- Mac!	Little -- Mac!

	Cheer (German)	Cheer (Spanish)	Cheer (Russian)	Cheer (Korean)
Cheer
Description		Little Mac! Little Mac! Ra ra ra! Little Mac! Little Mac! E! E!	Malysh - Maaaaac!	Li - ttle Mac!

Victory poses

Little Mac wears the World Video Boxing Association (WVBA) World Circuit Championship belt from the Wii version of Punch-Out!! in his victory poses.
In Team Battles, Doc Louis will not appear and he will not say anything.

• Left: Throws a feint punch against Doc Louis, who stumbles before they both pose with an arm raised while facing towards the camera.
• Up: Doc Louis bumps Little Mac with his belly before holding up Little Mac's arm, as a referee would after a boxing match.
• Right: Runs and turns his back towards the screen, shuffles his feet, then throws a spinning uppercut while Doc Louis cheers him on.
  

In all of Little Mac's victory poses, Doc Louis will say one of the following quotes random depending on which pose is selected and which costume is used:

Note: Doc Louis will randomly say "Y'know, that belt looks good on you, son." (そのベルトはお前が着けてるのが一番だな！, That belt is best on you!) regardless of which costume is used.
Left	Up	Right
Normal Costumes
"You win, Mac!" (おまえの勝ちだ、マック！, Your win, Mac!)	"World Circuit's all yours, Mac!" (ワールドサーキットはお前のもんだ！, The World Circuit is yours!)	"Ahh, winnin' feels good, don't it?" (勝つのは気分がいいな！, It feels good to win!)
"Was that a little too easy for ya, son?" (お前にはちょろすぎたってか？, Was that too easy for you?)	"(in tandem with the announcer) And the winner is… Little Mac!" (勝者、リトル・マック！, The winner, Little Mac!)	"Way to go, Mac! You're the champ, baby!" (お前がチャンプだッ！, You're the champ!)
"Nice work, Mac. You got it all figured out." (さすがだな！いい線行ってるぞ！, As expected! You have a great fighting spirit!)	"You got what it takes, Mac!" (やっぱりお前は抜群だな！, I knew it, you're unmatched!)	"I think I hear a chocolate bar callin'." (帰ったらチョコバー祭りといくか！, When I get home, I'll go to the chocolate bar festival!)
Wireframe Costumes
"I could barely keep my eyes on ya, son." (何だか透けて見えちまったよ, It's like I can see right through you!)	"You making my eyes water, son." (目がチッカチカしやがる, You're making my eyes sore!)	"Just like old times, huh?" (懐かしい感じがしやがる, I feel nostalgic.)

A remix of the theme that plays when Little Mac defeats an opponent in the NES and Wii versions of Punch-Out!!

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In competitive play

Most historically significant players

See also: Category:Little Mac players (SSBU)

•  Kwaz - The best Little Mac player in North America before Peanut, especially during the early metagame. He was one of the first Little Mac players to place top 8 at PGR-ranked events, placing 5th at Overextend and 7th at Smash Out 2019. He was also the most successful Little Mac players at majors during this time, placing 33rd at Low Tier City 7 and 49th at The Big House 9. Even after Peanut's rise, Kwaz has been able to put up several comparable results, such as 7th at LEVELUP Arena 2 and 33rd at CEO 2021.
•  Peanut - One of the best Little Mac players in the world since 2021. At his peak in 2022 and 2023, his results placement-wise were generally more consistent than Tarakotori, as he has placed no lower than 65th at most majors he attended during this time, including some of the largest events of the year, like placing 49th at GENESIS 9 and Super Smash Con 2023, all the while achieving notable wins such as Kurama at the latter event. Outside of majors, he notably placed 4th at Santa Paws 1 defeating ApolloKage and Anathema.
•  Tarakotori - The best Little Mac player of all-time, and the definitive best Little Mac player in the early metagame, with results that only a few Little Mac players have been able to match since. His 13th-place finish at Umebura SP 4 is currently tied for the best placement from a Little Mac player at a major. In addition, his most noteworthy performances, especially for overseas players, were at smaller events, which includes his victories at both the Battle of BC 6 pre-local SFU SMASH: BOBC 6 Pre-Local, defeating BassMage and Lancelot, and the weekly Weekly Smash Party #151, defeating KEN and Shuton; these two events remain the largest events talent-wise won by a Little Mac player.

Tier placement and history

During the early metagame, players had high hopes for Little Mac due to improvements to his notoriously awful recovery and ability to cancel grounded moves. However, Little Mac's changes and the game’s mechanics proved to be detrimental to some of his best tools, especially his ground game, while his weak aerial game, notoriously the worst in Smash 4, was made even worse. Because of this, opinions on Little Mac dropped significantly, with the consensus believing that he is not only a bottom tier, but possibly the worst character in the game. Even in spite of useful buffs and representation from top Little Mac mains such as Kwaz, Peanut, and Tarakotori, his cons have largely prevented him from achieving consistent success in top-level play, and his overall representation remained in the bottom 10 for most of the game's lifespan, bottoming out at 81st from January-June 2022. As such, Little Mac was ranked 81st on the first tier list, ranking in the D- tier alongside Ganondorf.

However, even around the release of the first tier list, Little Mac's reception had began improving ever so slightly: improving results from Peanut and the occasional strong performance from Tarakotori gave Little Mac better overall representation; notably, by the end of 2023 he left the bottom 10 for the first time since 2019, ranking 69th in terms of representation. Although still considered unviable, with his placement remaining unchanged on the second tier list, this small improvement meant he was no longer ranked in the same tier as Ganondorf.

Classic Mode: Friendly Sparring

Little Mac's congratulations screen.

Little Mac's route features opponents that, like him, specialize in hand-to-hand combat. During each Round, every item except the Sandbag is disabled. As such, the Sandbag can be hit, but will only spawn confetti.

Round	Opponent	Stage	Music	Notes
1	Incineroar	Boxing Ring	Battle! (Elite Four) / Battle! (Solgaleo/Lunala)
2	Ryu	Suzaku Castle	Ryu Stage	Could also possibly reference Piston Hondo, a Japanese boxer and one of Little Mac's recurring opponents.
3	Mii Brawler (x4)	Arena Ferox	Battlefield - Super Smash Bros. Brawl	The stage represents a typical stadium. Mii Brawler costume combinations: No headwear and Red Tracksuit Ninja Headband and Purple Fighter Uniform No headwear and Pink Protective Gear Flying Man Hat and Flying Man Outfit.
4	Captain Falcon	Port Town Aero Dive	Dream Chaser
5	Little Mac	Boxing Ring	Jogging / Countdown	If the player uses the Wireframe Mac costume, the default Little Mac appears as the enemy.
6	Donkey Kong	Boxing Ring (Ω form)	Donkey Kong / Donkey Kong Jr. Medley	References the boss battle against Donkey Kong in the Wii version of Punch-Out!!
Bonus Stage
Final	Master Hand	Final Destination	Master Hand (Less than 7.0 intensity) Master Hand / Crazy Hand (Intensity 7.0 or higher)	On intensity 7.0 and higher, Crazy Hand fights alongside Master Hand.

Credits roll after completing Classic Mode. Completing it as Little Mac has Jogging / Countdown accompany the credits.

Role in World of Light

Finding Little Mac in World of Light

Although Little Mac does not appear in the World of Light opening cutscene, he was vaporized and later imprisoned alongside the rest of the fighters (sans Kirby) when Galeem unleashed his beams of light.

Little Mac can be found near a city area blocked through a door. To reach him, the player must first complete the Power Plant sub-area so the door can open.

Fighter Battle

No.	Image	Name	Type	Power	Stage	Music
49		Little Mac	Attack	3,300	Boxing Ring (Ω form)	Jogging / Countdown

Spirits

Little Mac's fighter spirit can be obtained by completing Classic Mode. It is also available periodically for purchase in the shop for 300 Gold, but only after Little Mac has been unlocked. Unlocking Little Mac in World of Light allows the player to preview the first spirit below in the Spirit List under the name "???". As a fighter spirit, it cannot be used in Spirit Battles and is purely aesthetic. His fighter spirit has an alternate version that replaces it with his artwork in Ultimate.

Additionally, Little Mac makes an appearance as a primary spirit as Giga Mac.

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  932. Little Mac

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  933. Giga Mac

In Spirit Battles

As the main opponent

Spirit				Battle parameters							Inspiration
No.	Image	Name	Series	Enemy Fighter(s)	Type	Power	Stage	Rules	Conditions	Music	Character
217		Ricky	The Legend of Zelda Series	•Little Mac		1,800	Bridge of Eldin (Battlefield form)	N/A	•The enemy loves to jump •The enemy has increased jump power	Tal Tal Heights
460		Porygon	Pokémon Series	•Little Mac		1,700	Pokémon Stadium (hazards off)	•Assist Trophy Enemies (Akira)	•Hostile assist trophies will appear	Main Theme - Pokémon Red & Pokémon Blue (Melee)
568		Teddy	EarthBound Series	•Little Mac		3,600	Onett	N/A	•The enemy's melee weapons have increased power •The enemy starts the battle with a Killing Edge	Bein' Friends
933		Giga Mac	Punch-Out!! Series	•Giant Little Mac (180 HP)		13,900	Boxing Ring	N/A	•The enemy has super armor and is hard to launch or make flinch •Stamina battle •The enemy is giant	Title Theme - Punch-Out!! (Wii)
934		Doc Louis	Punch-Out!! Series	•Little Mac (140 HP)		3,300	Boxing Ring	•Attack Power ↑ •Defense ↑ •Move Speed ↑	•Stamina battle •The enemy has increased move speed •The enemy has increased defense after a little while	Jogging / Countdown	Little Mac
936		Bald Bull	Punch-Out!! Series	•Giant Little Mac (140 HP)		4,400	Boxing Ring	N/A	•The enemy's dash attacks have increased power •The enemy has super armor but moves slower •Stamina battle	Jogging / Countdown
945		Piston Hondo	Punch-Out!! Series	•Giant Little Mac (120 HP)		2,000	Boxing Ring	N/A	•Stamina battle •The enemy favors smash attacks •The enemy is giant	Jogging / Countdown
986		Balrog	Street Fighter Series	•Little Mac (160 HP)		9,100	Fourside (Ω form)	•Jump Power ↓	•Stamina battle •All fighters have reduced jump power •The enemy doesn't like to jump	Balrog Stage Type A
1,120		Urban Champion Fighter	Urban Champion Series	•Little Mac		2,100	New Donk City Hall (Ω form)	•Assist Trophy Enemies (Kapp'n)	•Timed battle (1:39) •Hostile assist trophies will appear after a little while •The enemy doesn't like to jump	Wrecking Crew Retro Medley
1,142		Commander	X	•Little Mac		2,300	Lylat Cruise	•Assist Trophy Enemies (Andross)	•Hostile assist trophies will appear	Tunnel Scene - X	X's 3-D Wireframe Graphics
1,157		Harry	Teleroboxer	•Little Mac •Mega Man		1,900	Boxing Ring	N/A	•The enemy's punches and elbow strikes have increased power	Tunnel Theme - X-Scape	Player
1,395		Riki (River City)	River City Series	•Little Mac		3,600	Saffron City (hazards off)	•Attack Power ↑ •Item: Balls	•The enemy has increased attack power after a little while •The enemy favors neutral attacks	Excite Truck

Alternate costumes

Gallery

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  Little Mac's fighter card.

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  Little Mac's unlock notice.

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  Using Jolt Haymaker on Shadow Moses Island.

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  Using the third hit of his neutral attack on Ganondorf on Coliseum.

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  Performing his side taunt on Wrecking Crew.

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  A bruised Little Mac with Dr. Mario on Tomodachi Life.

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  Wireframe Mac using his down smash against King Dedede on Luigi's Mansion.

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  Giga Mac pummeling Wario.

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  Using Jolt Haymaker to avoid and retaliate against Bowser's down smash on Mushroomy Kingdom.

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  Little Mac being taunted by Captain Falcon on Arena Ferox.

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  Little Mac struck by Corrin's forward smash on Kalos Pokémon League.

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  Hit by Incineroar's dash attack on Big Blue.

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  Using Jolt Haymaker on Kirby in the Boxing Ring.

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  Getting hit by Pikachu's down throw in the Boxing Ring.

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  Getting hit by the third hit of Snake's neutral attack on Kalos Pokémon League.

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  Little Mac being attacked by Marshadow on Temple.

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  Little Mac struck by Rodin's After Burner Kick on the Great Plateau Tower.

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  Performing his up taunt on the Bridge of Eldin.

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  Min Min throwing a Dragon-equipped using her forward smash against Little Mac on the stage.

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  Devil Kazuya fighting against Little Mac on the stage.

Trivia

• Little Mac's Showcase Video has him follow Wario's motorbike while wearing his pink sweatsuit. This is a reference to the Punch-Out!! series, where Little Mac runs alongside Doc Louis on his bicycle.
• Little Mac's pose in his official art resembles the pose he performs while using Slip Counter.
• Little Mac's Classic Mode has a high spawn rate of Sandbag, as a reference to his reveal video where he has a Sandbag in his training ring, as well as usage of similar punching bags by real-life boxers.
• Like in Smash 4, Little Mac's wireframe alternate costume has dark green hair in-game, as opposed to it being black in his render.
• In Little Mac's on-screen appearance, there are two inconsistencies that weren't present in Super Smash Bros. 4:
  • The left-facing animation will have Little Mac facing away from the camera when walking into the stage, but after removing said sweatshirt, he repositions himself to face the screen.
  • The P7 alternate costume involving Wire-Frame Mac will show his sweatshirt colored green when he enters the stage, but when removing the sweatshirt, its color changes to pink.
• There is an animation error in Little Mac’s aerial Rising Uppercut. On the third frame of the animation, his leg becomes contorted, with his calf bent nearly 180 degrees and his foot sticking out of his thigh. This error also appears in Smash 4.