Yoshi (PM)

Yoshi in Project M and Project+
Universe	Yoshi
Base game appearance	Brawl
Moveset inspiration	Yoshi (SSBM), Yoshi (SSB)
Alternate costume	Dorrie Yoshi (Project+), Great Gonzales Yoshi (Project+)

Yoshi is a playable character in the Brawl mod Project M. For his appearance in Project M, Yoshi was reverted to his Melee version, with a few changes based on his Smash 64 version as well.

Yoshi ranks 33rd out of 41 on the official tier list at the top of the D tier. This is a significant drop from his Melee standing at 10th out of 26, however is less of a drop compared to Brawl, where he placed 27th out of 38.

Attributes

Yoshi is a heavy, yet very mobile fighter with many great offensive and defensive options, a solid combo game, and a versatile projectile; despite being heavy, however, Yoshi is rather weak for his weight, being among the weakest of the heavyweights, and he does not have as many (if any) finishers compared to other heavyweights (ie Ganondorf). Yoshi has two unique features in his moveset: his shield and his double jump. Yoshi's shield does not function as normal shields do: upon shielding, Yoshi encases himself in an egg. As the shield depletes from damage or time, it does not shrink, changing color instead. This makes Yoshi impossible to shield stab and grants Yoshi the ability to parry, blocking attacks on the frame they hit and being able to counter instantly. Yoshi is also completely immune to shieldstun past the normal hitlag of the move. Yoshi's midair jump is also unique. It is delayed, like Peach's or Ness' second jump, enabling double jump canceling, rising aerials, and enhancing mobility options in the air. It also features subtractive armor, letting Yoshi use it through moves that do not deal enough knockback. This allows Yoshi to double jump cancel counter or use the jump as a defensive option. Many of Yoshi's attacks utilize his long tail, giving them great reach. He also has great aerials, with his forward being a meteor smash, down being a heavy damage dealer, and neutral and up both being able to KO. His Egg Throw has great range and is hard to predict with how widely it can be angled. It serves as a great edge guarding or comboing tool.

However, Yoshi has one huge weakness. Like Jigglypuff, he lacks a recovery up special but unlike other characters, he lacks a recovery special move, making unexpected ventures offstage result in falls very often. While Yoshi's double jump is armored and can travel a long distance, Yoshi does not get it back upon being put into hitstun, differing from normal recoveries and making Yoshi very easy to gimp once his jump is gone. This is especially detrimental due to his heavy reliance on his midair jump for many maneuvers and techniques on stage. If Yoshi is hit out of his jump while on stage or trades while using a double jump canceled aerial, he is almost certain to be KO'd.

Changes from Melee to PM

Aesthetics

• The egg formed via Yoshi's shield and Egg Roll also now matches Yoshi's selected colour, instead of always being green. As of 3.5, the eggs used in Egg Throw change to match Yoshi's current color as well.

Attributes

• Midair jump not only has its knockback reduction armor from Melee, but has a slightly higher knockback threshold as well, improving Yoshi's recovery. Double-jump canceling is also optional, like with Ness and Lucas: holding the jump button will make Yoshi perform a rising aerial instead.
• Shield works just as in Smash 64, as Yoshi can now jump out of shield like all other characters, greatly expanding his defensive options and giving him a better time handling pressure. This also allows him to parry attacks like in Smash 64.
• Rolling animation has slightly increased in speed.

Ground Attacks

• Yoshi retains his Brawl forward tilt although it has the power of his Melee forward tilt making it a better spacing move.
• Up tilt is now a headbutt similar to its Smash 64 counterpart. Compared to his Melee up tilt, it has less startup (frame 8 → 6) and ending lag (frame 30 → 24) and it has more range making it better at juggling and initiating aerial combos at low percentages. It also deals more knockback (72 (base), 40 (scaling) → 36/112) improving its KO potential.
• Up tilt deals less damage (10% → 9% (clean), 7% (late)).
• Dash attack's clean hit deals more damage (9% → 11%).
• Dash attack's late hit deals less damage (8% → 7%).
• Forward smash has its PAL strength dealing more damage (16% → 17%) and having higher knockback scaling (94 → 98).
• Up smash deals more damage (14% → 16%) improving its KO potential despite its lower knockback scaling (108 → 101).
• The front hit of down smash has more knockback scaling (75/60 → 80) while the back hit deals more damage (12% → 13%).
• The back hit has less knockback scaling (75/80 → 64) hindering its KO potential.

Aerial Attacks

• Forward aerial has less startup lag (frame 19 → 16) and it has a longer initial auto-cancel window (frames 1-4 → 1-7).
• Forward aerial has less knockback scaling (100 → 80).
• Back aerial deals more damage due to changes to stale-move negation (20% → 22%) and the final hit has higher base knockback (40 → 50).
• Back aerial's second and third hits have more base knockback (10 → 20) making them connect less reliably.
• Down aerial has less startup (frame 18 → 16) and landing lag (26 frames → 24).
• Down aerial deals much less damage (4% → 3% (loop hits), 53% → 38% (total)).

Grab and Throws

• Grab has slightly faster startup (frame 18 → 17) and both standing and dash grab have less ending lag (frame 79 (standing), frame 70 (dash) → frame 63 (both)). Yoshi also retains his pivot grab from Brawl although it has more ending lag due to its ending lag animation playing at 0.75x its normal speed (frame 36 → 41).
• All throws except for up throw deal more damage (6% → 7% (forward/back), 4% → 6% (down)). Forward and back throws also launch opponents at a lower angle (45° → 40°).
• Down throw has slightly less ending lag and has less knockback (120 (base), 20 (scaling) → 90/25), allowing Yoshi to followup into aerial attacks quicker and more easily.

Special Moves

• Egg Roll starts earlier and has significantly less ending lag. It also no longer enforces helplessness, instead making Yoshi just lose his midair jump.
• Egg Roll grants less horizontal distance when used in midair.
• The Eggs from Egg Throw now last until they either hit something or go off screen.
• Yoshi Bomb retains its jumping hitbox from Brawl, leading more easily into the fall, allowing more consistent damage racking from the move. The stars produced upon landing are also much stronger in knockback and damage. The grounded version has more knockback scaling (98 → 100) while the aerial version deals more damage (14% → 16%).

Revisions

v3.01

• Egg Throw is a frame earlier.
• Removed a rotating hitbox on Egg Roll that was left in error.

v3.5

• Up tilts collisions shrunk slightly to better match head.
• Down aerials landing collisions now sends opponents at a horizontal angle.
• Up aerial has a smaller collision at the tail.
• No longer gains momentum after first use of Egg Roll in the air.
• Can now grab ledges behind him when using Yoshi Bomb.
• Goes into helpless animation after 112 of falling during Yoshi Bomb.

v3.6

• Weight reduced from 111 to 108, making him lighter than Ganondorf, Charizard, and Samus, characters Yoshi outweighed prior to the update.
• Knockback growth for up aerial has been slightly increased.
• Down aerial deals less damage (38% instead of 43%).
• Pivot grab IASA increased to 40 frames from 35.
• All of Yoshi's grab cannot grab aerial opponents unless grabbed by the inner mouth hitbox which only lasts for 2 frames.
• Yoshi can no longer be footstooled during his double jump animation.
• Egg Throw's velocity has been changed to better match Melee.
  • The move now has slightly less ending lag.
• Egg Roll gains less horizontal and vertical momentum after first use.
  • Usage count does not reset whenever Yoshi grabs a ledge.
  • Usage count now properly resets whenever Yoshi lands or gets grabbed.
• Yoshi Bomb has faster startup when used on the ground.
  • The move lasts for a shorter duration and the hitbox size has been decreased.
  • Both the collision and the stars can now be SDI'd out of.
  • The knockback of the move has been altered and the landing stars hitbox now comes out 3 frames later to avoid overriding with Yoshi Bomb's knockback.

Moveset

Up to date as of version 3.6.

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			4%	Yoshi quickly kicks with his left leg, then with his right leg. Both kicks can combo into themselves. The feet Yoshi strikes with are invulnerable.
			6%
Forward tilt	↗		13%	Yoshi spins and swipes enemies with his tail. This move can be angled up or down.
	→		12%
	↘		11%
Up tilt			9% (clean), 7% (late)	Yoshi does a quick headbutt upward. This move can easily combo into itself at low percents.
Down tilt			10%	Yoshi performs a low sweep with his tail. This move deals strong horizontal knockback, but has zero knockback scaling—meaning that this move has set knockback.
Dash attack			11% (clean), 7% (late)	Yoshi performs a running headbutt.
Forward smash			17%	Yoshi reels his head back, then slams it forward as a powerful headbutt. This move has decent knockback and can be aimed up or down. Yoshi's head is intangible while the hitboxes are active.
Up smash			16%	Yoshi headbutts upwards. Just like his forward smash, Yoshi's head is intangible while the hitboxes are active.
Down smash			14% (front), 13% (back)	Yoshi leans down and flicks his tail front and back. A very useful edgeguarding move.
Neutral aerial			14% (clean), 10% (late)	A sex kick. Gets weaker the longer it is out.
Forward aerial		Noggin Dunk	17%	Yoshi brings his head back and forcefully swings it down. This move has slow start-up, but is a powerful meteor smash, being one of the most effective meteor smashes in the game.
Back aerial			7% (hit 1), 6% (hit 2), 5% (hit 3), 4% (hit 4)	Yoshi wags his tail behind him four times.
Up aerial			13%	Yoshi flips his body and flicks his tail upward. A good move for getting Star KOs.
Down aerial		Flutter Kick	3% (hits 1-6), 2-3% (hits 7-14)	Yoshi kicks his feet downwards very fast and continuously, weakly meteor smashing enemies. A great move for racking up damage at early percents.
Grab			—	Yoshi flicks his tongue out in order to pull the enemy into his mouth. Moves Yoshi forward a ways when used after a dash and has slight ending lag if it misses.
Pummel			3%	Chews on the enemy.
Forward throw			7%	Yoshi spits the enemy out forwards.
Back throw			7%	Yoshi turns around and spits the enemy out backwards.
Up throw			5%	Yoshi spits the enemy out upwards.
Down throw			6%	Yoshi spits the enemy into the ground.
Floor attack (front)			6%	Yoshi gets up and headbutts both sides of himself.
Floor attack (back)			6%	Yoshi gets up and spin kicks both sides of himself.
Floor attack (trip)			5%	Yoshi performs two small tail whips both sides.
Edge attack (fast)			7%	Yoshi picks himself up and whips his tail in front.
Edge attack (slow)			11%	Yoshi slowly gets up and slams his head forward with short range.
Neutral special		Egg Lay	7%	Yoshi swallows an enemy and turns them into an egg. When encased in an egg, the victim receives less damage and can repeatedly tap buttons to break free, but is completely immobile and vulnerable to Yoshi's attacks while trapped.
Side special		Egg Roll	4-12%	Yoshi turns into an egg and starts rolling around. The damage done is based on how fast he's moving. When this move is started in the air, Yoshi won't do any damage until he hits the ground.
Up special		Egg Throw	1% (contact), 8% (explosion)	Yoshi throws an egg in a controllable parabolic arc. The strength and angle of the egg that is thrown can be controlled by holding the special button and tilting the control stick respectively during Yoshi's windup.
Down special		Yoshi Bomb	4% (hop), 16% (drop), 4% (stars)	Yoshi Jumps and plummets downwards, producing stars when he lands. If used in the air, Yoshi will fall straight down. This move can sweetspot a ledge only if Yoshi is facing towards one.
Final Smash		Super Dragon	8% (contact), 6% (small flames), 17% (fireball)	Yoshi sprouts a pair of angelic wings and gains the ability to fly. While transformed, Yoshi is completely invincible and can either ram into other foes or shoot fireballs. Pressing the attack buttons makes Yoshi shoot a large fireball that deals high knockback and inputting no attack buttons for three seconds makes him breathe a continuous stream of flames that can deals continuous damage to nearby foes.

In competitive play

Most historically significant players

See also: Category:Yoshi players (PM)

•  Burntsocks - The best Yoshi player in the world in Project M. His 13th-place finish at Rewired 2016 was tied for the best Yoshi placement at a major for many years, and he also notably placed 33rd at The Bigger Balc, one of the largest Project M tournaments of all-time.
•  Eyeheartlovetap - The best Yoshi player in the Midwest best known for placing 13th at Smash 'N' Splash 2, which was tied as the best Yoshi placement at a major for many years. He remained active exclusively in the Midwest, although he made a few appearances outside his region, most notably placing 4th at Summit 2016.
•  Shiny Zubat - Although mainly a Luigi player who only using Yoshi as a secondary in Project M, he eventually switched to just Yoshi in Project+ and is considered the best Yoshi player of all-time. He remains the only Yoshi player to place top 8 at a major, most notably placing 2nd at Undertow 2024 and 3rd at The Bigger Mile High Club. He was ranked 15th on the PMRank 2023 and remains the only Yoshi player ranked on the PMRank.

Alternate costumes

Project M

Yoshi has been given four new recolors: Black, White, Purple, and Orange.

Yoshi's alternate costumes in PM

Project+

Yoshi received a new Brown color. Project + also adds two new alternate costumes for Yoshi, the first being based on Dorrie's appearance in Super Mario Odyssey, with the Red Team recolor specifically referencing Plessie from Super Mario 3D World, while the green is based on Gobblegut, with a hat resembling Professor Layton. The purple costume is based on the Purple Dorrie that sell hats in Super Mario Odyssey. The third costume is based on the Yoshi Kid from Paper Mario: Thousand Year Door and its Nintendo Switch remake, now as an adult, and has taken Mario's wrestling name: The Great Gonzales. Extra details include the fact that the jackets of each version of the costume matches the "diaper" Yoshi Kid normally wears, and the zipper of the jackets are based on the skulls of the game's Dry Bones and their variants, with the pink alt's resembling a Red Bones and the black alt's resembling a Dull Bones. The alternate colors of the Yoshi Kid costume reference the different forms the character can take on depending on how long it takes between recruiting his egg and either losing or forfeiting to the Iron Adonis Twins, a pair of Iron Clefts fought in the Glitz Pit in the game's third chapter. In that game, his different forms appear within the time frames of 0-6 minutes, 15-18 minutes, 9-12 minutes, 18-19 minutes, and 19-20 minutes, respectively, with the red alt that takes 6-9 minutes and the orange alt that takes 12-15 minutes being absent. In 3.0, the Purple and Orange Yoshi recolors were removed to make way for the Great Gonzales costumes.

Yoshi's costumes in P+

Secret costumes:

Z-Secret Costume: Boshi: Based on Boshi, a character exclusive to Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars and its Nintendo Switch remake whose Japanese name has connections to Wario and similar characters. Extra details include sunglasses, visible fangs coming from his mouth, a red collar with spikes around his neck, two spines instead of three on the back of his head, and his torn red shoes that expose his clawed feet.

R-Secret Costume: Pirate Yoshi: Based on Yoshi's costume when playing on the Pirate Land board from Mario Party 2, which is also used for his official artwork for the game.

Trivia

• Yoshi has ten alternate costumes (nine as of 3.0), consisting of various colour changes; this gives Yoshi the highest number of alternate costumes in the game that do not directly modify his model.
  • Two of the four new costumes, the purple and black costumes, would later be used in SSB4.

External links

• Detailed shield information
• Labbing Discord Tech Post