Super Smash Bros. Melee

Kirby (SSBM): Difference between revisions

From SmashWiki, the Super Smash Bros. wiki
Jump to navigationJump to search
m (Undid edit by 68.8.10.211: Polar tone shift)
Tag: Undo
 
(74 intermediate revisions by 32 users not shown)
Line 15: Line 15:
|rankingPAL = 25
|rankingPAL = 25
}}
}}
Announced at [[E3 2001]], '''Kirby''' ({{ja|カービィ|Kābī}}, ''Kirby'') is a [[starter character]] in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Melee]]''. Makiko Ōmoto once again voices Kirby in ''Melee'', with some voice clips recycled from ''SSB'', but more higher pitched, along with some new additional voice clips.


Currently, Kirby is ranked 25th in the F tier as the second-worst character in the game, an extreme drop from his 2nd position in ''Smash 64'' and his worst placement in the series. While he has several throw options into [[Kirbycide]], a good ground game, a solid defensive game thanks to his crouch and small size and a decent [[edgeguarding]] game, Kirby's [[approach]] and KO ability are among the worst in the game; slow attacks, a low [[air speed]], an ineffective [[projectile]] in [[Final Cutter]], one of the worst grab games and numerous other flaws both on the ground and in the air prevent Kirby from easily approaching enemies, and he struggles against almost all characters as a result of this. As a result of all of these flaws, Kirby has terrible matchups across the board and struggles to contend even against lower-tiered characters.
'''Kirby''' ({{ja|カービィ|Kābī}}, ''Kirby'') is a [[starter character]] in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Melee]]''. Makiko Ōmoto once again voices Kirby in ''Melee'', with some voice clips recycled from ''SSB'' along with some newer, higher-pitched ones.
 
Currently, Kirby is ranked 25th in the F tier, an extreme drop from his 2nd place position in ''Smash 64'', and arguably the most severe decline in viability between games of any character in the whole series, with his placement in ''Melee'' being his worst placement in the series. While he has several throw options into [[Kirbycide]], a good ground game, a solid defensive game thanks to his crouch and small size and a decent [[edgeguarding]] game, Kirby's [[approach]] and KO ability are among the worst in the game; slow attacks, a low [[air speed]], an ineffective [[projectile]] in [[Final Cutter]], one of the worst grab games and numerous other flaws both on the ground and in the air prevent Kirby from easily approaching enemies, and he struggles against almost all characters as a result of this. Because of Kirby's various flaws, he has terrible matchups across the board and struggles to contend even against lower-tiered characters.


==Attributes==
==Attributes==
Kirby acts as a light, weak character that is intended to outmaneuver opponents. While having an average dashing speed, he has a terrible air speed (being tied with {{SSBM|Ganondorf}} as the 3rd worst in ''Melee''), so his small size is intended to act as his primary way to approach. Owing to his low falling speed and high short hop, Kirby has a poor [[SHFFL]], while his high traction gives him a short [[wavedash]].
Kirby acts as a light, weak character that is intended to outmaneuver opponents through his small stature. While having an average dashing speed, he has a terrible air speed (being tied with {{SSBM|Ganondorf}} as the 3rd worst in ''Melee''), so his small size is intended to act as his primary way to approach. Owing to his low falling speed and high short hop, Kirby has a poor [[SHFFL]], while his high traction gives him a short [[wavedash]].


Despite his poor air speed, Kirby has a good edgeguarding game. With no one to edgeguard him, Kirby can easily recover due to his multiple midair jumps, while Kirby's back air can be used as a rather powerful edgeguarding technique, the [[Fence of Pain]]. Assuming Kirby can knock opponents off the edge, he should theoretically have little trouble keeping them from recovering.
Despite his poor air speed, Kirby has a decent edgeguarding game. With six jumps and a low falling speed, Kirby can easily recover due to his multiple midair jumps, while Kirby's back air can be used as a rather powerful edgeguarding technique, the [[Fence of Pain]]. Assuming Kirby can knock opponents off the edge, he can make foes have a hard time recovering.


Owing to his small size, Kirby also has a solid defensive game. His small [[hurtbox]]es can potentially allow him to avoid attacks, while his small size also lends itself to a large [[shield]], making Kirby relatively safe from [[shield stabbing]]. A low crouch also makes his hurtboxes even smaller, and it can be compounded with his down tilt as a potential camping and spacing tactic, as crouching makes him able to avoid most [[jab]]s.
Owing to his small size, Kirby also has a solid defensive game. His small [[hurtbox]]es can potentially allow him to avoid attacks, while his small size also lends itself to a large [[shield]], making Kirby relatively safe from [[shield stabbing]]. A low crouch also makes his hurtboxes even smaller, supplemented with his down tilt as a potential camping and spacing tactic, as his makes him able to avoid most [[jab]]s.


Kirby also has good tilt attacks as well, as Kirby's three tilts, while short-ranged, have a variety of practical applications; his forward tilt and aforementioned down tilt can act as spacing tools, while his up tilt can potentially be used as a combo starter. Kirby also has an above average grab range, allowing him to potentially use his unusual throws to his advantage; a notable application of his up, back, and forward throws involves [[Kirbycide]], a specific type of [[Sacrificial KO]] that forces both Kirby and his opponent to lose a stock. This technique is able to KO opponents at any percentage. His down throw is also a great tech-chasing option that can notably lead to another down throw or a down smash.
Kirby also has good tilt attacks as well, as Kirby's three tilts, while short-ranged, have a variety of practical applications; his forward tilt and aforementioned down tilt can act as spacing tools, while his up tilt can potentially be used as a combo starter. Kirby also has an above average grab range, allowing him to potentially use his unusual throws to his advantage; a notable application of his up, back, and forward throws involves [[Kirbycide]], a specific type of [[Sacrificial KO]] that forces both Kirby and his opponent to lose a stock. This technique is able to KO opponents at any percentage. His down throw is also a great tech-chasing option that can notably lead to another down throw or a down smash.


Despite these benefits, Kirby's most fatal flaw, which is often cited as the reason for his bottom tier placement, is his almost non-existent approach options. With a poor SHFFL, short wavedash, terrible air speed, short range, a laggy, predictable dash attack, and no viable projectiles, Kirby has extreme difficulty in approaching almost all of the cast; this is especially prevalent against characters with disjointed hitboxes (such as {{SSBM|Marth}}) or powerful pressure games (such as {{SSBM|Falco}}). The lack of a projectile can uniquely be rectified if Kirby uses {{b|Inhale|Kirby}} on an opponent; doing so, however, is risky, due to the attack's start-up and cool-down lag, and some characters will either fail to give him a useful projectile (such as {{SSBM|Ness}}) or a projectile in the first place (such as {{SSBM|Captain Falcon}}). Kirby's small size can also make some attacks inferior to the original character; [[Fireball]] from {{SSBM|Mario}}, for instance, has the Fireballs disappear more quickly than Mario's, as Kirby's lower height causes them to reach the ground faster and to have less kinetic energy when they finally hit the ground.
Despite these benefits, Kirby's most fatal flaw lies in his awful approach. With a poor SHFFL, short wavedash, terrible air speed, short range, a laggy, predictable dash attack, and no viable projectiles, Kirby has extreme difficulty in approaching almost all of the cast; this is especially prevalent against characters with disjointed hitboxes (such as {{SSBM|Marth}}) or powerful pressure games (such as {{SSBM|Falco}}). The lack of a projectile can uniquely be rectified if Kirby uses {{b|Inhale|Kirby}} on an opponent; getting the desired Copy Ability, however, is risky, due to the attack's start-up and cool-down lag, and some characters will either fail to give him a useful projectile (such as {{SSBM|Fox}}) or a projectile in the first place (such as {{SSBM|Captain Falcon}}), and it is very difficult to set up into an Inhale in the first place. Although most of his copy abilities give Kirby additional options, they would still be inferior to the original character he would copy; [[Fireball]] from {{SSBM|Mario}}, for instance, has the Fireballs disappear more quickly than Mario's, as Kirby's lower height causes them to reach the ground faster and to have less kinetic energy when they finally hit the ground.


Assuming he can approach opponents, however, Kirby's various attributes also give him an unremarkable combo ability; a low air speed prevents him from easily pursuing enemies in the air, and almost all of his aerials (except for back air) either have long startup and cooldown periods (down and neutral air), high knockback (up air), or poor hitbox placement (forward air). Kirby's only noteworthy combos are his up tilt juggles, his down throw tech-chases and his Fence of Pain as mentioned earlier, and even the latter combo is inferior to Jigglypuff's [[Wall of Pain]] due to Kirby's significantly slower air speed, making it risky to use. Kirby's wild card is his aforementioned Kirbycide technique, and even this is unreliable; his up throw requires proper placement at the edge of a stage, and Kirby always loses when performed in a last stock situation. While his forward and back throws are much easier to perform and Kirby always wins when performed in a last stock situation, they are the only throws in the entire ''Smash'' series that can be potentially broken out of. As a result, if the opponent can button mash out of the grab and throw quick enough, they will remain unharmed while Kirby loses a stock, giving him one of the worst grab games in ''Melee'', with all of his throws (except for down throw) having little to no utility due to their inability to set up combos and the forward and back throws' ability to be escaped from. To make things worse, after Kirby uses his forward or up throw, he will lose all his midair jumps.
Even when approaching opponents, however, Kirby's various attributes also give him an unremarkable combo ability; a low air speed prevents him from easily pursuing enemies in the air, and almost all of his aerials (except for back air) either have long startup and cooldown periods (down and neutral air), high knockback (up air), or poor hitbox placement (forward air). Kirby's only noteworthy combos are his up tilt juggles, his down throw tech-chases and his Fence of Pain as mentioned earlier, and even the latter combo is inferior to Jigglypuff's [[Wall of Pain]] due to Kirby's significantly slower air speed, making it risky to use. Kirby's wild card is his aforementioned Kirbycide technique, and even this is unreliable; his up throw requires precise placement at the edge of a stage, and Kirby always loses when performed in a last stock situation. While his forward and back throws are much easier to perform and Kirby always wins when performed in a last stock situation, they are the only throws in the entire ''Smash'' series that can be potentially broken out of. As a result, if the opponent can button mash out of the grab and throw quick enough, they will remain unharmed while Kirby loses a stock, giving him one of the worst grab games in ''Melee'', with all of his throws (except for down throw) having little to no utility due to their inability to set up combos and the forward and back throws' ability to be escaped from. To make things worse, after Kirby uses his forward or up throw, he will lose all his midair jumps.


Outside of his abysmal approach, Kirby also has trouble KOing other characters. A majority of Kirby's finishers suffer from poor range, slow start-up (such as his Hammer), weak knockback (such as his forward smash) or have small sweetspots that make them unreliable (such as his [[Hammer_(move)|Hammer]] and up smash). Arguably Kirby's only effective finishers are his down smash and his up and back aerials, which themselves require a proper read and correct timing from the player in order for them to be low-risk attacks.
Outside of his abysmal approach, Kirby also has trouble KOing other characters. A majority of Kirby's finishers suffer from poor range, slow start-up (such as his Hammer), weak knockback (such as his forward smash) or have small sweetspots that make them unreliable (such as his [[Hammer_(move)|Hammer]] and up smash). Arguably Kirby's only effective finishers are his down smash and his up and back aerials, which themselves require a proper read and correct timing from the player in order for them to be low-risk attacks.
Line 37: Line 38:


==Changes from ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]''==
==Changes from ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]''==
Kirby was known as one of the most dominant characters in ''Smash 64'', even after receiving nerfs in the North American release. This was in part to his amazing power, attack speed, range and priority on his attacks, which subsequently gave him excellent KO and shield pressuring potential. In addition to this, he was also a very simple character to pick up and play (especially compared to the other high tiers); making him a highly solid character to pick up regardless of the player's skill level. As a result of this, Kirby was drastically nerfed in his transition to ''Melee''.
Kirby was known as one of the most dominant characters in ''Smash 64'', even after receiving nerfs in the North American release. This was in part to his amazing power, attack speed, range and priority on his attacks, which subsequently gave him excellent KO and shield pressuring potential. In addition to this, he was also a very simple character to pick up and play (especially compared to the other high tiers); making him a highly solid character to pick up regardless of the player's skill level.  


Kirby's mobility both on the ground and in the air has been noticeably reduced; which has subsequently hindered his [[approach]]. The weakening of [[pivot]]s have also made Kirby's approach worse and he doesn't benefit too much from the introduction of [[air dodging]]; due to his high traction and low falling speed. As a result of this, he has an unimpressive [[wavedash]]. When combined with many returning veterans having greater approach potential, this has made his approach among the worst in the game; especially in the air.  
As a result of this, Kirby was immensely nerfed in his transition to ''Melee'', to the point where he is not only the most nerfed character in transition from ''Smash 64'' to ''Melee'', but the most nerfed character in the entire ''Smash'' series.


In general, Kirby has suffered from ''Melee{{'}}s'' universal changes. Apart from the changes to pivoting, Kirby has greatly suffered from the changes to [[shield]]s. While Kirby is less vulnerable to shield pressure, his own shield pressure is much worse due to the universal reduction to [[shieldstun]] and shield damage. Because of this, Kirby's attacks are much less safe on shield (with Kirby lacking any moves which even leave him at a frame advantage on shield) with the reduced damage/increased ending lag on multiple moves along with the weakening of [[L-cancel]]ling only further exacerbating this. Because of this, Kirby can no longer perform any [[shield break combo]]s and his attacks are generally much more punishable. In addition, Kirby's out of shield options are also worse largely due to his new neutral aerial; which is much weaker, slower and has less range than his previous neutral aerial. When combined with his shield drop being longer, this means that Kirby either has to use his grab or back aerial to punish a majority of moves out of shield.
Kirby's mobility both on the ground and in the air has been noticeably reduced; which has subsequently hindered his [[approach]]. The weakening of [[pivot]]s have also made Kirby's approach worse and he doesn't benefit too much from the introduction of [[air dodging]]; due to his high traction and low falling speed. As a result of this, he has an unimpressive [[wavedash]]. When combined with many returning veterans having greater approach potential, this has made his approach among the worst in the game; especially in the air.


Kirby's damage output and KO potential has also been noticeably reduced (even relative to the cast). A majority of Kirby's moves have reduced KO power including his smash attacks, neutral aerial, back aerial, his up throw (his previous forward throw) and [[Stone]]. When combined with his lower damage output on most of his moves, this significantly hinders his ability to rack up damage and close out stocks. His smash attacks are slower and weaker, making them less reliable and more difficult KO moves to land and while his new up aerial is rather powerful, it is slow and difficult to land.  
In general, Kirby has suffered from ''Melee{{'}}s'' universal changes. Apart from the changes to pivoting, Kirby has greatly suffered from the changes to [[shield]]s. While Kirby is less vulnerable to shield pressure, his own shield pressure is much worse due to the universal reduction to [[shieldstun]] and shield damage. Because of this, Kirby's attacks are much less safe on shield (with Kirby lacking any moves which even leave him at a frame advantage on shield, with the exception of back aerial and up aerial, which can leave him at a one frame advantage on a perfect landing) with the reduced damage/increased ending lag on multiple moves along with the weakening of [[L-cancel]]ling only further exacerbating this. Because of this, Kirby can no longer perform any [[shield break combo]]s and his attacks are generally much more punishable. In addition, Kirby's out of shield options are also worse largely due to his new neutral aerial; which is much weaker, slower and has less range than his previous neutral aerial. When combined with his shield drop being longer, this means that Kirby either has to use his grab or back aerial to punish a majority of moves out of shield.


Kirby's oppressive up tilt has also seen rather drastic nerfs both directly and indirectly. The move has a shorter duration, much less range and more ending lag which makes it much less effective at stuffing out approaches and generally makes it easier to punish. The move is also noticeably weaker; dealing much less damage. The introduction of [[DI]] has made the move much less reliable as a combo move while the changes to shieldstun combined with the move's decreased damage/increased ending lag has immensely hindered its safety on shield; completely removing its shield pressuring potential. Overall while it is still one of his most useful moves, it is not nearly as effective as it was previously.
Kirby's damage output and KO potential have also been sharply reduced (even relative to the cast). A majority of Kirby's moves have reduced KO power, such as his smash attacks, neutral aerial, back aerial, his up throw (his previous forward throw) and [[Stone]]. When combined with his lower damage output on most of his moves, this significantly hinders his ability to rack up damage and close out stocks. His smash attacks are slower and weaker, making them less reliable and more difficult KO moves to land. While his new up aerial is rather powerful, it is offset by how difficult it is to combo characters.


Kirby in general has worse frame data (especially relative to the cast), as well as his afforementioned up tilt and neutral aerial, his forward smash is noticeably laggier; no longer being the fastest in the game (in addition to being much weaker). His down aerial has also seen a drastic increase to its startup lag and its hits less times which significantly reduces its duration and maximum damage potential. It also greatly suffers from the introduction of [[meteor]] cancelling; significantly hindering its edgeguarding potential. Kirby also naturally suffers from the changes to L-cancelling; especially since most of his aerials have worse auto-cancel windows which remove's his neutral, forward and down aerial's ability to auto-cancel in a short hop. When combined with the changes to shieldstun, this significantly hinder the utility and safety of his aerials.
Kirby's oppressive up tilt has also seen rather drastic nerfs both directly and indirectly. The move has a shorter duration, much less range and more ending lag which makes it much less effective at stuffing out approaches and generally makes it easier to punish. The move is also noticeably weaker; dealing much less damage. The introduction of [[DI]] has made the move much less reliable as a combo move while the changes to shieldstun combined with the move's decreased damage/increased ending lag has immensely hindered its safety on shield; completely removing its shield pressuring potential. Overall, while it is still one of his most useful moves, it is nowhere near as effective as it was previously.


Kirby is also the character who benefits the least from having an expanded move list. Kirby's grab game is now one of the absolute worst in the game. His new forward and back throws can be used as a [[sacrificial KO]] however, they can be escaped from at any time, which can lead to Kirby either [[self-destruct]]ing or at least leaving himself in a vulnerable position after simply using the throws. As a result, his forward and back throws are completely useless; being easy contenders for the worst throws in the game. Kirby's up throw is much weaker than his previous forward throw and it has gained two new issues; the move can no longer land on platforms above Kirby unless they are very close to the ground and Kirby now loses all of his jumps after using it (his new forward throw also has this issue); which has hindered the utility of the throw and has made it an unreliable KO option. Kirby's only useful throw is his new down throw; which can set up [[tech-chase]]s although it is still not as useful as numerous other down throws. His new side special [[Hammer]] is a very slow (yet powerful) move on the ground while in the air, it is a very inconsistent and easy to escape multi-hit; giving it very low utility compared to other side specials.
Kirby generally has worse frame data, especially compared to the rest of the cast. These moves include his aforementioned up tilt and neutral aerial, his forward smash is noticeably laggier; no longer being the fastest in the game (in addition to being much weaker). His down aerial has also seen a drastic increase to its startup lag and its hits less times which significantly reduces its duration and maximum damage potential. It also greatly suffers from the introduction of [[meteor]] cancelling; significantly hindering its edgeguarding potential. Kirby also naturally suffers from the changes to L-cancelling; especially since most of his aerials have worse auto-cancel windows which remove's his neutral, forward and down aerial's ability to auto-cancel in a short hop. When combined with the changes to shieldstun, this significantly hinder the utility and safety of his aerials.


Lastly, Kirby's few flaws from the previous game have not been properly addressed. While his endurance has slightly improved due to his increased [[weight]] and [[falling speed]], it is still among the worst in the game. Kirby also still struggles to deal with opponents above him, especially with the nerfs to his up tilt combined with the universally increased falling speeds. His already limited combo options have been reduced even further due to the changes to his up tilt and his forward aerial; combined with the introduction of [[DI]]. His recovery has also become worse. His air speed and jump height have been reduced and [[Final Cutter]] covers much less distance, resulting in his recovery becoming very poor.  
Kirby also does not benefit much from having an expanded move list. Kirby's grab game is now one of the absolute worst in the game: while his new forward and back throws can be used for [[sacrificial KO|sacrificial KOs]], however, they can be escaped with mashing, which can lead to Kirby either [[self-destruct]]ing at worst or leaving himself vulnerable to punishes after simply using his throws. As a result, his forward and back throws lack utility, being easy contenders for the worst throws in the game. Kirby's up throw is much weaker than his previous forward throw and it has gained two new issues; the move can no longer land on platforms above Kirby unless they are very close to the ground and Kirby now loses all of his jumps after using it (his new forward throw also has this issue); which has hindered the utility of the throw and has made it an unreliable KO option. Kirby's only useful throw is his new down throw; which can set up [[tech-chase]]s, though this is prediction reliant. His new side special [[Hammer]] is a very slow (yet powerful) move on the ground while in the air, yet it is very inconsistent and easy to escape its multi-hits; giving it very low utility compared to other side specials.


Kirby has received some buffs. Kirby has greater access to his [[Kirbycide]] as he can move around when swallowing his opponents (in addition to Inhale having reduced startup lag) and his new forward and back throws are more reliable tools to Kirbycide with (although this is completely nullified by the fact that those throws can now be escaped from). A few of his moves are also either slightly faster or stronger, such as his new up aerial, which is much stronger and has much less ending lag. All of Kirby's aerials also have less landing lag; with his average landing lag now being among the lowest. This makes the weakening of L-cancelling hinder him less than most other veterans/it otherwise would have.
Lastly, Kirby's few flaws from the previous game have not been properly addressed. While his endurance has slightly improved due to his increased [[weight]] and [[falling speed]], it is still among the worst in the game. Kirby also still struggles to deal with opponents above him, especially with the nerfs to his up tilt combined with the universally increased falling speeds. His already limited combo options have been reduced even further due to the changes to his up tilt and his forward aerial; combined with the introduction of [[DI]]. His recovery has also become worse. His air speed and jump height have been reduced and [[Final Cutter]] covers much less distance, resulting in his recovery becoming very poor.


Overall, Kirby's few weaknesses from the previous game; including his limited combo options and significant survivability issues have been further exacerbated and he has received numerous new weaknesses as well (including poor KO potential, poor range, an extremely ineffective grab game and poor approach). His only remaining strengths are that he can abuse his small size to avoid attacks, his tilts are solid and he still has decent edgeguarding potential although the latter two points are still not as effective as they were previously. Lastly, the universal changes have significantly hindered Kirby with his approach, combo and shield pressuring potential now offering weak prowess.
On the other hand, Kirby has received some buffs. Kirby has greater access to his [[Kirbycide]] as he can move around when swallowing his opponents (in addition to Inhale having reduced startup lag) and his new forward and back throws are more reliable tools to Kirbycide with (although this is completely nullified by the fact that those throws can now be escaped from). A few of his moves are also either slightly faster or stronger, such as his new up aerial, which is much stronger and has much less ending lag. All of Kirby's aerials also have less landing lag; with his average landing lag now being among the lowest. This makes the weakening of L-cancelling hinder him less than most other veterans/it otherwise would have.


Due to these changes, Kirby was not only the most severely nerfed character from ''Smash 64'' to ''Melee'' but arguably the most nerfed character in all of the series. As a result, he is a contender for the worst character in the entire game and he is widely considered to be non-viable in competitive play.
Overall, Kirby's few weaknesses from the previous game; including his limited combo options and significant survivability issues have been further exacerbated and he has received numerous new weaknesses as well (including poor KO potential, poor range, an extremely ineffective grab game and poor approach). His only remaining strengths are that he can abuse his small size to avoid attacks, his tilts are solid and he still has decent edgeguarding potential although the latter two points are still not as effective as they were previously. Lastly, the universal changes have significantly hindered Kirby with his approach, combo and shield pressuring potential prowess.
 
Due to these changes, he is an easy contender for the worst character in the entire game and is widely considered to be non-viable in competitive play.


===Aesthetics===
===Aesthetics===
*{{change|Kirby resembles his ''[[wikirby:Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards|Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards]]'' design, rather than a modified version of his ''Kirby's Dreamland 3'' one.}}
*{{change|The graphical upgrades of the Nintendo GameCube give Kirby a rounder body. His skin tone is a slightly darker shade of pink and his feet are larger.}}
*{{change|The graphical upgrades of the Nintendo GameCube give Kirby a rounder body. His skin tone is a slightly darker shade of pink and his feet are larger.}}
*{{change|Kirby’s green costume is now available outside of team battles.}}
*{{change|Kirby’s green costume is now available outside of team battles.}}
**{{change|Kirby additionally gains a white costume, referencing his original monochrome appearance on the Western box art and in-game for ''Kirby's Dream Land''.}}
**{{change|Kirby additionally gains a white costume, referencing his original monochrome appearance on the Western box art and in-game for ''Kirby's Dream Land''.}}
*{{change|Kirby gains a third victory pose, matching the rest of the cast.}}


===Attributes===
===Attributes===
*{{nerf|Kirby [[walk]]s slower (0.35 → 0.85).}}
*{{nerf|Kirby [[walk]]s slower (0.933 (28) → 0.85).}}
*{{nerf|Kirby [[dash]]es slower (48 → 1.4).}}
*{{nerf|Kirby [[dash]]es slower (1.6 (48) → 1.4).}}
*{{nerf|Kirby's already low [[air speed]] has been decreased even more (28 → 0.78), hindering his [[recovery]], edgeguarding and ability to escape aerial pressure.}}
*{{buff|Kirby's [[traction]] is much higher (0.0467 (1.4) → 0.08), going from the 3rd lowest out of 12 characters to the 7th highest out of 26, making it easier for him to punish [[out of shield]].}}
*{{buff|Kirby is slightly heavier (68 → 70) improving his endurance.}}
*{{nerf|Kirby's already low [[air speed]] has been decreased even more (0.933 (28) → 0.78), hindering his [[recovery]], edgeguarding and ability to escape aerial pressure.}}
*{{change|Kirby's [[falling speed]] is higher (48 1.6).}}
*{{nerf|Kirby's [[air acceleration]] is much lower (0.1067 (3.2) 0.06).}}
*{{change|Kirby's [[gravity]] is higher (2.4 0.08).}}
*{{nerf|Kirby [[jump]]s extremely lower (40.96 (1228.8) 26).}}
*{{nerf|Kirby's [[fast fall]]ing speed is lower (76 2).}}
**{{change|Kirby's [[short hop]] is also drastically lower (25.5 (765) 14.82), improves his ability to hit opponents low on the ground with short hop aerials, as well as his ability to quickly land and continue aerial pressure, but also hinders his ability to [[auto-cancel]] his aerials.}}
*{{change|Kirby's traction is higher (1.4 → 0.08) going from the third lowest out of 12 characters to the 7th highest out of 26.}}
**{{nerf|All of Kirby's mid-air jumps also grant less height, hindering his vertical recovery and ability to chase opponents above it.}}
*{{change|Kirby's [[short hop]] is lower (short hop air time: 47 frames 38).}}
*{{nerf|Kirby's [[fast fall]]ing speed is significantly slower (2.533 (76) → 2). The difference between his falling speed and fast falling speed is much lower (increase: 58.3% 25%), which makes it more predictable when landing and gives him fewer options in the air.}}
*{{nerf|Kirby's full hop is lower.}}
*{{buff|Kirby is [[weight|heavier]] (68.067227 (1.19) → 70), improving his endurance.}}
*{{nerf|All of Kirby's mid-air jumps grant less height.}}
*{{nerf|Kirby's foot hurtboxes now cover his entire feet, rather than ending just before the tips of Kirby's feet.}}
*{{nerf|Kirby's foot hurtboxes now cover his entire feet, rather than ending just before the tips of Kirby's feet.}}
*{{nerf|Kirby's hands and feet no longer have grab immunity.}}
*{{nerf|Kirby's hands and feet no longer have grab immunity.}}
Line 100: Line 104:
**{{change|Up tilt's clean hit's angle has been altered (96° → 92°).}}
**{{change|Up tilt's clean hit's angle has been altered (96° → 92°).}}
**{{nerf|Up tilt deals significantly less damage (14% (clean)/10% (late) → 8%/6%) without full compensation on its knockback (30/20 (base), 100 (scaling) → 40/(118/114)) hindering its KO potential.}}
**{{nerf|Up tilt deals significantly less damage (14% (clean)/10% (late) → 8%/6%) without full compensation on its knockback (30/20 (base), 100 (scaling) → 40/(118/114)) hindering its KO potential.}}
***{{buff|However, this improves its combo potential at higher percents.}}  
***{{buff|However, this improves its combo potential at higher percents.}}
**{{nerf|Up tilt has a shorter duration (frames 4-5 (clean)/6-11 (late) → 4/5-7).}}
**{{nerf|Up tilt has a shorter duration (frames 4-5 (clean)/6-11 (late) → 4/5-7).}}
**{{nerf|Up tilt has more ending lag (FAF 18 → 24).}}
**{{nerf|Up tilt has more ending lag (FAF 18 → 24).}}
Line 117: Line 121:
***{{buff|However, this also makes it a safer spacing tool.}}
***{{buff|However, this also makes it a safer spacing tool.}}
*[[Dash attack]]:
*[[Dash attack]]:
**{{change|Kirby has a new dash attack: he lunges forward in a fiery spiraling headbutt.}}  
**{{change|Kirby has a new dash attack: he lunges forward in a fiery spiraling headbutt.}}
**{{change|Dash attacks can now travel off ledges.}}
**{{change|Dash attacks can now travel off ledges.}}
**{{nerf|Dash attack deals less damage (10% (clean)/8% (late) → 8%/5%) and shield damage (1 → 0).}}
**{{nerf|Dash attack deals less damage (10% (clean)/8% (late) → 8%/5%) and shield damage (1 → 0).}}
Line 133: Line 137:
**{{change|Forward smash now has an extra hitbox which is in the middle of Kirby's foot.}}
**{{change|Forward smash now has an extra hitbox which is in the middle of Kirby's foot.}}
**{{nerf|Forward smash has more startup lag with a shorter duration (frames 10-13 (clean)/14-23 (late) → 13-15/16-21) no longer being the fastest in the game.}}
**{{nerf|Forward smash has more startup lag with a shorter duration (frames 10-13 (clean)/14-23 (late) → 13-15/16-21) no longer being the fastest in the game.}}
**{{nerf|Forward smash has more ending lag (FAF 40 → 50).}}  
**{{nerf|Forward smash has more ending lag (FAF 40 → 50).}}
**{{nerf|The clean hit deals less damage (17% → 15%) and significantly less knockback (20 (base), 120 (scaling) → 24/96), going from the strongest non-angled forward smash in ''Smash 64'' to the sixth weakest in ''Melee''.}}
**{{nerf|The clean hit deals less damage (17% → 15%) and significantly less knockback (20 (base), 120 (scaling) → 24/96), going from the strongest non-angled forward smash in ''Smash 64'' to the sixth weakest in ''Melee''.}}
**{{nerf|The clean hit no longer deals extra shield damage (1 → 0).}}
**{{nerf|The clean hit no longer deals extra shield damage (1 → 0).}}
***{{nerf|When combined with its higher ending lag and the changes to shields, this significantly hinders the move's safety on shield going from giving Kirby frame advantage on shield to leaving him at a huge frame disadvantage on shield making the move easily punishable and naturally removing its use in shield break combos.}}  
***{{nerf|When combined with its higher ending lag and the changes to shields, these changes significantly hinders the move's safety on shield going from giving Kirby frame advantage on shield to leaving him at a huge frame disadvantage on shield making the move easily punishable and naturally removing its use in shield break combos.}}
**{{nerf|The late hit deals less knockback (12 (base), 120 (scaling) → 18/96).}}
**{{nerf|The late hit deals less knockback (12 (base), 120 (scaling) → 18/96).}}
**{{nerf|The late hit now launches opponents vertically (361° → 75°) hindering its KO and edgeguarding potential while still not being a reliable combo starter.}}
**{{nerf|The late hit now launches opponents vertically (361° → 75°) hindering its KO and edgeguarding potential while still not being a reliable combo starter.}}
Line 161: Line 165:
**{{nerf|Down smash's far hitboxes are smaller (5u/5u → 4.3u/4.3u) and have been moved closer to Kirby (x offset: 6u/6u → 4.69u/4.69u).}}
**{{nerf|Down smash's far hitboxes are smaller (5u/5u → 4.3u/4.3u) and have been moved closer to Kirby (x offset: 6u/6u → 4.69u/4.69u).}}
**{{nerf|Clean down smash deals less damage (18% → 14%) although its sweetspot's knockback scaling was compensated (75 → 100).}}
**{{nerf|Clean down smash deals less damage (18% → 14%) although its sweetspot's knockback scaling was compensated (75 → 100).}}
***{{buff|However, the move's increased knockback scaling makes the late hit much stronger.}}  
***{{buff|However, the move's increased knockback scaling makes the late hit much stronger.}}
**{{nerf|The sweetspot now launches opponents vertically (34° → 76°) hindering its KO and edgeguarding potential.}}
**{{nerf|The sweetspot now launches opponents vertically (34° → 76°) hindering its KO and edgeguarding potential.}}
**{{nerf|The clean hit's sourspots' knockback was barely increased (30 (base), 75 (scaling) → 20/80) making it much weaker due to its lower damage.}}
**{{nerf|The clean hit's sourspots' knockback was barely increased (30 (base), 75 (scaling) → 20/80) making it much weaker due to its lower damage.}}
Line 171: Line 175:
*[[Neutral aerial]]:
*[[Neutral aerial]]:
**{{change|Kirby's previous up aerial from ''Smash 64'' has been moved to his neutral aerial.}}
**{{change|Kirby's previous up aerial from ''Smash 64'' has been moved to his neutral aerial.}}
***{{nerf|Because of this, neutral aerial's animation is significantly longer (49 frames → 79) increasing the amount of time Kirby cannot grab the ledge or use an [[airdodge]]/special after performing the move.}}  
***{{nerf|Because of this, neutral aerial's animation is significantly longer (49 frames → 79) increasing the amount of time Kirby cannot grab the ledge or use an [[airdodge]]/special after performing the move.}}
**{{nerf|Neutral aerial has more startup lag with a shorter duration (frames 3-6 (clean)/7-30 (late) → 10-17/18-29/30-34).}}
**{{nerf|Neutral aerial has more startup lag with a shorter duration (frames 3-6 (clean)/7-30 (late) → 10-17/18-29/30-34).}}
***{{buff|However, its total duration was unchanged giving it less ending lag.}}
***{{buff|However, its total duration was unchanged giving it less ending lag.}}
***{{buff|Additionally, the clean hit has a longer duration (4 frames → 8).}}
***{{buff|Additionally, the clean hit has a longer duration (4 frames → 8).}}
**{{nerf|Neutral aerial has much less horizontal range.}}  
**{{nerf|Neutral aerial has much less horizontal range.}}
**{{nerf|Neutral aerial deals less damage (15% (clean)/10% (late) → 10%/8%/6%) and knockback (30/10 (base), 100 (scaling) → 10/80) significantly hindering its KO potential going from one of the strongest neutral aerials to one of the weakest.}}
**{{nerf|Neutral aerial deals less damage (15% (clean)/10% (late) → 10%/8%/6%) and knockback (30/10 (base), 100 (scaling) → 10/80) significantly hindering its KO potential going from one of the strongest neutral aerials to one of the weakest.}}
**{{nerf|Neutral aerial no longer has a landing hit.}}
**{{nerf|Neutral aerial no longer has a landing hit.}}
Line 184: Line 188:
**{{nerf|Forward aerial has a shorter duration overall (frames 8-9/11-12/14-15/17-18/20-21/23-24/26-28 → 10-11/17-18/25-26).}}
**{{nerf|Forward aerial has a shorter duration overall (frames 8-9/11-12/14-15/17-18/20-21/23-24/26-28 → 10-11/17-18/25-26).}}
***{{nerf|As a result of this, forward aerial has more ending lag overall.}}
***{{nerf|As a result of this, forward aerial has more ending lag overall.}}
**{{nerf|Forward aerial's new animation is longer (39 frames → 49) increasing the amount of time Kirby cannot grab the ledge or use an [[airdodge]]/special after performing the move.}}  
**{{nerf|Forward aerial's new animation is longer (39 frames → 49) increasing the amount of time Kirby cannot grab the ledge or use an [[airdodge]]/special after performing the move.}}
**{{nerf|Forward aerial deals less damage overall (2% (hits 1-7)/6% (hit 8)/20% (total) → 5% (hits 1-2)/8% (hit 3)/16.83% (total)).}}
**{{nerf|Forward aerial deals less damage overall (2% (hits 1-7)/6% (hit 8)/20% (total) → 5% (hits 1-2)/8% (hit 3)/16.83% (total)).}}
**{{nerf|Forward aerial has smaller hitboxes (6.33u/6u → 4.69u/3.52u).}}
**{{nerf|Forward aerial has smaller hitboxes (6.33u/6u → 4.69u/3.52u).}}
**{{nerf|The knockback (30 (set), 100 (scaling) → 30 (base)/70) and angles (-90° → 60°) for the first two hits have been altered which along with their higher damage, the wider gap between them/the final hit and the introduction of DI; makes forward aerial connect less reliably.}}
**{{nerf|The knockback (30 (set), 100 (scaling) → 30 (base)/70) and angles (-90° → 60°) for the first two hits have been altered which along with their higher damage, the wider gap between them/the final hit and the introduction of DI; makes forward aerial connect less reliably.}}
***{{nerf|Altogether, these changes combined with the weakening of L-canceling have hindered forward aerial's combo and edgeguarding potential.}}
***{{nerf|Altogether, these changes combined with the weakening of L-canceling have hindered forward aerial's combo and edgeguarding potential.}}
**{{buff|Forward aerial's far hitbox has been repoistioned further out (z offset: 7.33 → 10.55).}}
**{{buff|Forward aerial's far hitbox has been repositioned further out (z offset: 7.33 → 10.55).}}
**{{buff|The last hit deals more damage (6% → 8%) and knockback (10 (base), 120 (scaling) → 30/130), improving its KO potential.}}
**{{buff|The last hit deals more damage (6% → 8%) and knockback (10 (base), 120 (scaling) → 30/130), improving its KO potential.}}
***{{nerf|However, this also hinders its combo potential.}}
***{{nerf|However, this also hinders its combo potential.}}
*[[Back aerial]]:
*[[Back aerial]]:
**{{buff|Back aerial has a shorter total duration (FAF 40 → 36).}}
**{{buff|Back aerial has a shorter total duration (FAF 40 → 36).}}
**{{nerf|Back aerial has a shorter duration (frames 6-9 (clean)/10-25 → 6-8/9-20), slightly increasing its ending lag.}}  
**{{nerf|Back aerial has a shorter duration (frames 6-9 (clean)/10-25 → 6-8/9-20), slightly increasing its ending lag.}}
**{{nerf|Back aerial deals less damage (16% (clean)/12% (late) → 14%/10%), hindering its KO potential.}}
**{{nerf|Back aerial deals less damage (16% (clean)/12% (late) → 14%/10%), hindering its KO potential.}}
**{{nerf|Back aerial has a new animation which is longer than the previous animation (39 frames → 43).}}  
**{{nerf|Back aerial has a new animation which is longer than the previous animation (39 frames → 43).}}
**{{nerf|Back aerial's late hit's hitboxes are smaller (6.33u/6u → 5.08u/4.3u), which gives it less range and makes it cover less of Kirby's body.}}
**{{nerf|Back aerial's late hit's hitboxes are smaller (6.33u/6u → 5.08u/4.3u), which gives it less range and makes it cover less of Kirby's body.}}
*[[Up aerial]]:
*[[Up aerial]]:
Line 203: Line 207:
***{{nerf|However, this hinders its edgeguarding potential at lower percents.}}
***{{nerf|However, this hinders its edgeguarding potential at lower percents.}}
**{{buff|Up aerial has a larger hitbox (3.5u → 4.32u).}}
**{{buff|Up aerial has a larger hitbox (3.5u → 4.32u).}}
**{{buff|Up aerial has more vertical range.}}  
**{{buff|Up aerial has more vertical range.}}
**{{buff|Up aerial has drastically lower ending lag (FAF 80 → 36).}}  
**{{buff|Up aerial has drastically lower ending lag (FAF 80 → 36).}}
**{{buff|Up aerial auto-cancels much earlier (frame 46 → 17).}}
**{{buff|Up aerial auto-cancels much earlier (frame 46 → 17).}}
***{{nerf|However, it can no longer auto-cancel while its hitboxes are still out.}}
***{{nerf|However, it can no longer auto-cancel while its hitboxes are still out.}}
**{{nerf|Up aerial has more startup lag with a much shorter duration (frames 10-79 → 11-13) with its hitboxes no longer lasting the entire animation once they have been activated.}}  
**{{nerf|Up aerial has more startup lag with a much shorter duration (frames 10-79 → 11-13) with its hitboxes no longer lasting the entire animation once they have been activated.}}
**{{nerf|Up aerial's hitbox is positioned in a more awkward spot on his foot which along with its shorter duration, makes it much harder to land (especially if Kirby's opponent is below him) unless Kirby's opponent is above him.}}
**{{nerf|Up aerial's hitbox is positioned in a more awkward spot on his foot which along with its shorter duration, makes it much harder to land (especially if Kirby's opponent is below him) unless Kirby's opponent is above him.}}
**{{nerf|Up aerial no longer has a landing hit.}}
**{{nerf|Up aerial no longer has a landing hit.}}
*[[Down aerial]]:
*[[Down aerial]]:
**{{buff|Due to the increase to the [[tumble]] threshold, down aerial does not put opponents into tumble until much higher percents; making it more reliable against grounded opponents.}}  
**{{buff|Due to the increase to the [[tumble]] threshold, down aerial does not put opponents into tumble until much higher percents; making it more reliable against grounded opponents.}}
**{{nerf|Down aerial only hits 6 times instead of 10 which in turn:}}
**{{nerf|Down aerial only hits 6 times instead of 10 which in turn:}}
***{{nerf|Makes it deal much less damage (30% → 16%).}}
***{{nerf|Makes it deal much less damage (30% → 16%).}}
Line 218: Line 222:
***{{nerf|Due to the changes to L-canceling, the landing hitbox will now appear when the move is L-canceled (as well as naturally having higher landing lag) making it more difficult to combo with.}}
***{{nerf|Due to the changes to L-canceling, the landing hitbox will now appear when the move is L-canceled (as well as naturally having higher landing lag) making it more difficult to combo with.}}
**{{nerf|The landing hit has smaller hitboxes (5u/5u → 3.12u/3.12u) and they are positioned closer to Kirby (z offset: 5 → 3.9).}}
**{{nerf|The landing hit has smaller hitboxes (5u/5u → 3.12u/3.12u) and they are positioned closer to Kirby (z offset: 5 → 3.9).}}
**{{change|The landing hit has reduced set knockback (80 → 60).}}  
**{{change|The landing hit has reduced set knockback (80 → 60).}}
**{{nerf|Down aerial has much more startup lag (frame 4 → 18) as well as increased ending lag (FAF 50 → 55).}}
**{{nerf|Down aerial has much more startup lag (frame 4 → 18) as well as increased ending lag (FAF 50 → 55).}}
**{{nerf|Down aerial's angle has been slightly altered (-90° → 270°) which when combined with the introduction of [[meteor canceling]], makes the move much less reliable for [[edgeguarding]].}}
**{{nerf|Down aerial's angle has been slightly altered (-90° → 270°) which when combined with the introduction of [[meteor canceling]], makes the move much less reliable for [[edgeguarding]].}}
Line 236: Line 240:
**{{nerf|Kirby now loses all of his jumps after using forward throw.}}
**{{nerf|Kirby now loses all of his jumps after using forward throw.}}
*[[Back throw]]:
*[[Back throw]]:
**{{change|Back throw has been altered: Kirby now jumps up and moves slightly backwards.}}  
**{{change|Back throw has been altered: Kirby now jumps up and moves slightly backwards.}}
***{{nerf|Because of this, it can now be used as a [[Sacrificial KO#Grab-based sacrificial KOs|Kirbycide]] although since the throw can be escaped, this hurts the throw overall.}}
***{{nerf|Because of this, it can now be used as a [[Sacrificial KO#Grab-based sacrificial KOs|Kirbycide]] although since the throw can be escaped, this hurts the throw overall.}}
**{{change|Kirby releases his opponent from back throw later (frame 24 → 29).}}
**{{change|Kirby releases his opponent from back throw later (frame 24 → 29).}}
Line 244: Line 248:
*[[Up throw]]:
*[[Up throw]]:
**{{change|Kirby's previous forward throw is now his up throw.}}
**{{change|Kirby's previous forward throw is now his up throw.}}
***{{nerf|In the process, it deals damage (13% → 10%) and base knockback (100 → 70) considerably hindering its KO potential despite it sending opponents at a higher angle (70° → 90°).}}
***{{nerf|In the process, it deals less damage (13% → 10%) and base knockback (100 → 70) considerably hindering its KO potential despite it sending opponents at a higher angle (70° → 90°).}}
**{{change|Kirby releases his opponent from up throw earlier (frame 58 → 51).}}
**{{change|Kirby releases his opponent from up throw earlier (frame 58 → 51).}}
**{{nerf|Up throw no longer has a collateral hit.}}
**{{nerf|Up throw no longer has a collateral hit.}}
Line 256: Line 260:
**{{buff|Fast edge attack has slightly reduced ending lag (FAF 57 → 56).}}
**{{buff|Fast edge attack has slightly reduced ending lag (FAF 57 → 56).}}
**{{nerf|Fast edge attack has more startup lag with a shorter duration (frames 15-24 → 19-23).}}
**{{nerf|Fast edge attack has more startup lag with a shorter duration (frames 15-24 → 19-23).}}
*Slow edge attack:  
*Slow edge attack:
**{{change|Kirby has a new slow edge attack: he does a split kick instead of a lunging headbutt. It has more horizontal range but less vertical range.}}
**{{change|Kirby has a new slow edge attack: he does a split kick instead of a lunging headbutt. It has more horizontal range but less vertical range.}}
**{{buff|Slow edge attack has less startup lag with a longer duration (frames 60-67 → 43-59).}}
**{{buff|Slow edge attack has less startup lag with a longer duration (frames 60-67 → 43-59).}}
Line 287: Line 291:
**{{nerf|A swallowed opponent can now get out of the star animation at any point by simply moving or pushing a button.}}
**{{nerf|A swallowed opponent can now get out of the star animation at any point by simply moving or pushing a button.}}
**{{nerf|Spat opponents have a shorter hitbox duration (frames 7-40 → 6-34).}}
**{{nerf|Spat opponents have a shorter hitbox duration (frames 7-40 → 6-34).}}
***{{nerf|Additionally, a spat opponent can now get out of the star animation starting from frame 8, significantly hindering its reliability.}}  
***{{nerf|Additionally, a spat opponent can now get out of the star animation starting from frame 8, significantly hindering its reliability.}}
**{{nerf|A majority of the cast deals less damage to bystanders when spat out (17% (Jigglypuff/Kirby/Pikachu/Fox/Ness) → 10% (Jigglypuff)/12% (Kirby)/13% (Pikachu)/16% (Fox/Ness), 25% → 18% (Yoshi), 30% → 19% (Donkey Kong)), making it less reliable in doubles or free-for-alls, especially when {{SSBM|Jigglypuff}} and {{SSBM|Donkey Kong}} are spat out.}}
**{{nerf|A majority of the cast deals less damage to bystanders when spat out (17% (Jigglypuff/Kirby/Pikachu/Fox/Ness) → 10% (Jigglypuff)/12% (Kirby)/13% (Pikachu)/16% (Fox/Ness), 25% → 18% (Yoshi), 30% → 19% (Donkey Kong)), making it less reliable in doubles or free-for-alls, especially when {{SSBM|Jigglypuff}} and {{SSBM|Donkey Kong}} are spat out.}}


Line 299: Line 303:
**{{change|Aerial Final Cutter no longer increases Kirby's size.}}
**{{change|Aerial Final Cutter no longer increases Kirby's size.}}
**{{change|The rising hit has slightly lower set knockback (121/105 → 117/102).}}
**{{change|The rising hit has slightly lower set knockback (121/105 → 117/102).}}
**{{nerf|Final Cutter travels less horizontal and vertical distance, hindering its recovery potential.}}
**{{nerf|Final Cutter travels less horizontal distance and height, hindering its recovery potential.}}
**{{nerf|The falling hit's first hitbox has more startup lag with a shorter duration (frames 46-49 → 47-49).}}
**{{nerf|The falling hit's first hitbox has more startup lag with a shorter duration (frames 46-49 → 47-49).}}
**{{nerf|The falling hit's second hitbox is much smaller (7.5u → 3.84u).}}
**{{nerf|The falling hit's second hitbox is much smaller (7.5u → 3.84u).}}
**{{nerf|The falling hitbox has significantly reduced set knockback (200 → 100) along with a slightly altered angle (-85° → 275°).}}
**{{nerf|The falling hitbox has significantly reduced set knockback (200 → 100) along with a slightly altered angle (-85° → 275°).}}
***{{nerf|When combined with the introduction of meteor canceling, this significantly hinders its edgeguarding potential.}}
***{{nerf|When combined with the introduction of meteor canceling, this significantly hinders its edgeguarding potential.}}
**{{nerf|The wave deals much less knockback (70 (base), 50 (scaling) → 60/30).}}  
**{{nerf|The wave deals much less knockback (70 (base), 50 (scaling) → 60/30).}}
**{{nerf|The wave no longer does extra shield damage (1 → 0).}}
**{{nerf|The wave no longer does extra shield damage (1 → 0).}}
**{{nerf|The wave is smaller (4.16u → 3.12u).}}
**{{nerf|The wave is smaller (4.16u → 3.12u).}}
Line 310: Line 314:
**{{change|As well as a Stone, Kirby can also change into a block, a spiky ball, a 100 ton weight or a [[thwomp]] when using Stone.}}
**{{change|As well as a Stone, Kirby can also change into a block, a spiky ball, a 100 ton weight or a [[thwomp]] when using Stone.}}
**{{change|Stone launches opponents at a higher angle (50° → 70°).}}
**{{change|Stone launches opponents at a higher angle (50° → 70°).}}
**{{nerf|Stone has more startup lag in the air (frame 23 → 29).}}  
**{{nerf|Stone has more startup lag in the air (frame 23 → 29).}}
**{{nerf|Stone has more ending lag when cancelled (FAF 30 → 32).}}
**{{nerf|Stone has more ending lag when cancelled (FAF 30 → 32).}}
**{{nerf|Stone can no longer be cancelled immediately when used on the ground.}}
**{{nerf|Stone can no longer be cancelled immediately when used on the ground.}}
Line 341: Line 345:
{{MovesetTable
{{MovesetTable
|game=SSBM
|game=SSBM
|neutralname=Vulcan Jab
|neutralname=Right Punch ({{ja|右パンチ|Migi Panchi}}) / Left Punch ({{ja|左パンチ|Hidari Panchi}}) / Vulcan Jab ({{ja|バルカンジャブ|Barukan Jabu}})
|neutralcount=2
|neutralcount=2
|neutralinf=y
|neutralinf=y
Line 348: Line 352:
|neutralinfdmg=1% (loop)
|neutralinfdmg=1% (loop)
|neutraldesc=Kirby jabs forwards with both hands, followed by a short series of fast punches. Based on the Vulcan Jab move he can perform with the Fighter ability in his main games.
|neutraldesc=Kirby jabs forwards with both hands, followed by a short series of fast punches. Based on the Vulcan Jab move he can perform with the Fighter ability in his main games.
|ftiltname= 
|ftiltname=Spinning Kick ({{ja|スピニングキック|Supiningu Kikku}})
|ftiltdmg=11%
|ftiltdmg=11%
|ftiltdesc=Kirby does a quick roundhouse kick forward. Decent range. Can be angled. Very quick and powerful and good for hitting an opponent offstage.
|ftiltdesc=Kirby does a quick roundhouse kick forward. Decent range. Can be angled. Very quick and powerful and good for hitting an opponent offstage.
|utiltname= 
|utiltname=Back Kick ({{ja|カービィテイル|Kābi Teiru}}, ''Kirby Tail'')
|utiltdmg=8% (clean), 6% (late)
|utiltdmg=8% (clean), 6% (late)
|utiltdesc=Kirby thrusts his back leg upwards. Most useful if the opponent is behind Kirby. Was thought to be useless at one point, but is now considered to be one of his better moves. Can juggle opponents and lead to combos.
|utiltdesc=Kirby thrusts his back leg upwards. Most useful if the opponent is behind Kirby. Was thought to be useless at one point, but is now considered to be one of his better moves. Can juggle opponents and lead to combos.
|dtiltname= 
|dtiltname=Squish Kick ({{ja|ローキック|Rō Kikku}}, ''Low Kick'')
|dtiltdmg=10%
|dtiltdmg=10%
|dtiltdesc=Kirby kicks forwards while crouching. Fast with decent range. Very useful since Kirby can crouch under most attacks.  
|dtiltdesc=Kirby kicks forwards while crouching. Fast with decent range. Very useful since Kirby can crouch under most attacks.
|dashname=Burn
|dashname=Fire Kirby ({{ja|バーニング|Bāningu}}, ''Burning'')
|dashdmg=8% (NTSC clean), 9% (PAL clean), 5% (late)
|dashdmg=8% (NTSC clean), 9% (PAL clean), 5% (late)
|dashdesc=Kirby dashes forward with a fiery spiraling headbutt. Based on the Burn move from the Fire ability in his games. Uniquely, it can fall off ledges and platforms. This attack has [[transcendent priority]]. This move has high ending lag and is punishable if missed.
|dashdesc=Kirby dashes forward with a fiery spiraling headbutt. Based on the Burn move from the Fire ability in his games. Uniquely, it can fall off ledges and platforms. This attack has [[transcendent priority]]. This move has high ending lag and is punishable if missed.
|fsmashname=Smash Kick
|fsmashname=Smash Kick ({{ja|スマッシュキック|Sumasshu Kikku}})
|fsmashdmg={{ChargedSmashDmgSSBM|15}} (clean), {{ChargedSmashDmgSSBM|13}} (late)
|fsmashdmg={{ChargedSmashDmgSSBM|15}} (clean), {{ChargedSmashDmgSSBM|13}} (late)
|fsmashdesc=Kirby slides forwards, delivering a very large jump kick. Has weak [[knockback]] for a forward smash. Can be angled up or down. Based on the Spin Kick from the Fighter ability.
|fsmashdesc=Kirby slides forwards, delivering a very large jump kick. Has weak [[knockback]] for a forward smash. Can be angled up or down. Based on the Spin Kick from the Fighter ability.
|usmashname= 
|usmashname=Kirby Flip Kick ({{ja|エアカッター|Ea Kattā}}, ''Air Cutter'')
|usmashdmg={{ChargedSmashDmgSSBM|15}}/{{ChargedSmashDmgSSBM|13}} (clean), {{ChargedSmashDmgSSBM|14}}/{{ChargedSmashDmgSSBM|12}} (mid), {{ChargedSmashDmgSSBM|13}}/{{ChargedSmashDmgSSBM|12}} (late)
|usmashdmg={{ChargedSmashDmgSSBM|15}}/{{ChargedSmashDmgSSBM|13}} (clean), {{ChargedSmashDmgSSBM|14}}/{{ChargedSmashDmgSSBM|12}} (mid), {{ChargedSmashDmgSSBM|13}}/{{ChargedSmashDmgSSBM|12}} (late)
|usmashdesc=Kirby does a bicycle kick. Deals more damage and knockback if the opponent is closer to Kirby's foot and the sweetspot has great knockback.
|usmashdesc=Kirby does a bicycle kick. Deals more damage and knockback if the opponent is closer to Kirby's foot and the sweetspot has great knockback.
|dsmashname= 
|dsmashname=Propeller Kick ({{ja|プロペラキック|Puropera Kikku}})
|dsmashdmg={{ChargedSmashDmgSSBM|14}} (clean), {{ChargedSmashDmgSSBM|10}} (late)
|dsmashdmg={{ChargedSmashDmgSSBM|14}} (clean), {{ChargedSmashDmgSSBM|10}} (late)
|dsmashdesc=Kirby does a split kick, hitting on both of his sides. Has decent knockback. Both of Kirby's feet are intangible during the early part of the animation. Great move to use with crouch canceling.
|dsmashdesc=Kirby does a split kick, hitting on both of his sides. Has decent knockback. Both of Kirby's feet are intangible during the early part of the animation. Great move to use with crouch canceling.
|nairname=Twinkle Star
|nairname=Twinkle Star ({{ja|ティンクルスター|Tinkuru Sutā}})
|nairdmg=10% (clean), 8% (mid), 6% (late)
|nairdmg=10% (clean), 8% (mid), 6% (late)
|nairdesc=Stretches out and spins rapidly in a somersaulting spin. Has a long lasting hitbox. The move is supposed to have four hitboxes with the clean hit dealing 12% however, it is overlapped by the 10% hitbox as the 10% hitbox spawns before the 12% hitbox.
|nairdesc=Stretches out and spins rapidly in a somersaulting spin. Has a long lasting hitbox. The move is supposed to have four hitboxes with the clean hit dealing 12% however, it is overlapped by the 10% hitbox as the 10% hitbox spawns before the 12% hitbox.
|fairname= 
|fairname=Spiral Kick ({{ja|カービィスパイラル|Kābi Supairaru}}, ''Kirby Spiral'')
|fairdmg=5% (hits 1-2), 8% (hit 3) (≈16.83% total), 3% (landing)
|fairdmg=5% (hits 1-2), 8% (hit 3) (≈16.83% total), 3% (landing)
|fairdesc=Kirby kicks forwards three times. Last hit has medium knockback. If not [[L-cancel]]led, it also has a landing hitbox that can stack up with the three kicks if timed perfectly. Good move to use off the edge and a decent approach move.
|fairdesc=Kirby kicks forwards three times. Last hit has medium knockback. If not [[L-cancel]]led, it also has a landing hitbox that can stack up with the three kicks if timed perfectly. Good move to use off the edge and a decent approach move.
|bairname= 
|bairname=Drop Kick ({{ja|ドロップキック|Doroppu Kikku}})
|bairdmg=14% (clean), 10% (late)
|bairdmg=14% (clean), 10% (late)
|bairdesc=Quickly crouches in midair then kicks both his legs behind him. Can be used in the [[fence of pain]]. Good knockback. Great kill move and one of his best moves in general.
|bairdesc=Quickly crouches in midair then kicks both his legs behind him. Can be used in the [[fence of pain]]. Good knockback. Great kill move and one of his best moves in general.
|uairname= 
|uairname=Floating Flip Kick ({{ja|エアカッター|Ea Kattā}}, ''Air Cutter'')
|uairdmg=15%
|uairdmg=15%
|uairdesc=Kirby flips in midair, kicking upwards. Great knockback, possibly Kirby's best KO move and the sixth strongest up aerial in '' Melee''. Sends opponents sideways and can set up an edgeguard.
|uairdesc=Kirby flips in midair, kicking upwards. Great knockback (while also not being too slow), possibly Kirby's best KO move and the third strongest up aerial in '' Melee''. Sends opponents horizontally and can set up an edgeguard.
|dairname= 
|dairname=Screw Driver ({{ja|スクリュードライバー|Sukuryū Doraibā}})
|dairdmg=3% (hits 1-6), 2% (landing) (≈18.47% total)
|dairdmg=3% (hits 1-6), 2% (landing) (≈18.47% total)
|dairdesc=Kirby spins around, drilling downwards with both his feet. Has a somewhat long start-up, but acts as a weak [[meteor smash]]. It also has a landing hitbox that has horizontal knockback, and can stack up with the six hits. Good move to stop recoveries, it even stops Fox's Firefox.
|dairdesc=Kirby spins around, drilling downwards with both his feet. Has a somewhat long start-up, but acts as a weak [[meteor smash]]. It also has a landing hitbox that has horizontal knockback, and can stack up with the six hits. Good move to stop recoveries, it even stops {{SSBM|Fox}}'s [[Fire Fox]].
|grabname= 
|grabname=Grab ({{ja|つかみ|Tsukami}})
|grabdesc=
|grabdesc=
|pummelname= 
|pummelname=Slap ({{ja|つかみびんた|Tsukami Binta}}, ''Grab Slap'')
|pummeldmg=3%
|pummeldmg=3%
|pummeldesc=A quick jab to the opponent, but contains more ending lag than most pummels.
|pummeldesc=A quick jab to the opponent, but contains more ending lag than most pummels.
|fthrowname= 
|fthrowname=Power Bomb ({{ja|パワーボム|Pawā Bomu}})
|fthrowdmg=8%
|fthrowdmg=8%
|fthrowdesc=Kirby does a suplex, hitting the opponent on the ground. Can be used to Kirbycide. Escapable during the throw. Based on the Pile Driver from the Suplex ability in ''Kirby Super Star''.
|fthrowdesc=Kirby does a suplex, hitting the opponent on the ground. Can be used to Kirbycide. Escapable during the throw. Based on the Jumping Body Slam from the Suplex ability in ''Kirby Super Star'', also known as Rock Drop in ''Kirby Super Star Ultra''.
|bthrowname= 
|bthrowname=Brain Buster ({{ja|ブレーンバスター|Burēn Basutā}})
|bthrowdmg=8%
|bthrowdmg=8%
|bthrowdesc=Kirby flips backward, hitting the opponent on the ground. Can be used to Kirbycide. Escapable during the throw. Based on the Backdrop ability from ''Kirby's Adventure''.
|bthrowdesc=Kirby flips backward, hitting the opponent on the ground. Can be used to Kirbycide. Escapable during the throw. Based on the Backdrop ability from ''Kirby's Adventure''.
|uthrowname=Air Drop
|uthrowname=Ninja Drop ({{ja|いずな落とし|Izuna Otoshi}}, ''Izuna Drop'')
|uthrowdmg=10%
|uthrowdmg=10%
|uthrowdesc=Kirby jumps high up into the air, and comes back down, ramming the opponent to the ground by doing a suplex. Can be used to Kirbycide on certain stages. During the fall, it can also pass through [[soft platform]]s. However, this move will remove all of Kirby's jumps. Based on the Air Drop from the Ninja ability in ''Kirby Super Star''.
|uthrowdesc=Kirby jumps high up into the air, and comes back down, ramming the opponent to the ground by doing a suplex. Can be used to Kirbycide on certain stages. During the fall, it can also pass through [[soft platform]]s. However, this move will remove all of Kirby's jumps. Based on the Air Drop from the Ninja ability in ''Kirby Super Star''.
|dthrowname= 
|dthrowname=Victory Dance ({{ja|もうれつストンピング|Mōretsu Sutonpingu}}, ''Fury Stomping'')
|dthrowdmg=7%
|dthrowdmg=7%
|dthrowdesc=Kirby throws the opponent on the ground, then stands on the opponent, hitting the enemy with his feet. Despite the animation, only the final hit does damage. Send enemies vertically afterward. Based on the Quick Stamping from the Suplex ability in ''Kirby Super Star''.
|dthrowdesc=Kirby throws the opponent on the ground, then stands on the opponent, hitting the enemy with his feet. Despite the animation, only the final hit does damage. Send enemies vertically afterward. Based on the Quick Stamping from the Suplex ability in ''Kirby Super Star''.
Line 414: Line 418:
|edgesdesc=Kirby does a spinning split kick onto the stage.
|edgesdesc=Kirby does a spinning split kick onto the stage.
|nsname=Swallow
|nsname=Swallow
|nspage=Inhale (Kirby)
|nsdmg=8% (copy), 10% (spit), 8-19% (star collision)
|nsdmg=8% (copy), 10% (spit), 8-19% (star collision)
|nsdesc=Kirby sucks up his opponent. He can exhale them as a star to deal damage, or copy their [[neutral special move]]. The star Kirby spits out acts as a projectile and hurts nearby foes. Damage of the star depends on the character's [[weight]].
|nsdesc=Kirby sucks up his opponent. He can exhale them as a star to deal damage, or copy their [[neutral special move]]. The star Kirby spits out acts as a projectile and hurts nearby foes. Damage of the star depends on the character's [[weight]].
Line 427: Line 432:
|dsdesc=Kirby uses his Stone ability to turn into a heavy object and plunges to the ground, sliding on non-flat surfaces. While in this form, only grabs will affect Kirby. The attack will time out after a short period of time, and it can also be cancelled with another use of the move.
|dsdesc=Kirby uses his Stone ability to turn into a heavy object and plunges to the ground, sliding on non-flat surfaces. While in this form, only grabs will affect Kirby. The attack will time out after a short period of time, and it can also be cancelled with another use of the move.
}}
}}
===Stats===
{{technical data|Needs double jump height}}
'''NTSC'''
{{Attributes
|cast = 26
|weight = 70
|rweight = 23
|dash = 1.4
|rdash = 14-18
|run = 1.4
|rrun = 16-20
|walk = 0.85
|rwalk = 19-21
|trac = 0.08
|rtrac = 7-13
|airfric = 0.02
|rairfric = 4-9
|air = 0.78
|rair = 23-24
|baseaccel = 0.02
|rbaseaccel = 2-23
|addaccel = 0.04
|raddaccel = 5-11
|gravity = 0.08
|rgravity = 21-22
|fall = 1.6
|rfall = 19-21
|ff = 2
|rff = 21-24
|jumpsquat = 3
|rjumpsquat = 1-7
|jumpheight = 2.0
|rjumpheight = 25
|shorthop = 14.82
|rshorthop = 9
|djump = ?
|rdjump = ?
|ellag = 4
|rellag = 2-23
}}
'''PAL'''
{{Attributes
|cast = 26
|weight = 74
|rweight = 22
|dash = 1.4
|rdash = 14-18
|run = 1.5
|rrun = 11-16
|walk = 0.85
|rwalk = 19-21
|trac = 0.08
|rtrac = 7-13
|airfric = 0.02
|rairfric = 4-9
|air = 0.78
|rair = 23-24
|baseaccel = 0.02
|rbaseaccel = 2-23
|addaccel = 0.04
|raddaccel = 5-11
|gravity = 0.08
|rgravity = 21-22
|fall = 1.6
|rfall = 19-21
|ff = 2
|rff = 21-24
|jumpsquat = 3
|rjumpsquat = 1-7
|jumpheight = 2.0
|rjumpheight = 25
|shorthop = 14.82
|rshorthop = 9
|djump = ?
|rdjump = ?
|ellag = 4
|rellag = 2-23
}}
===[[Announcer]] call===
[[File: Kirby Announcer SSBM.wav]]


===[[Taunt]]===
===[[Taunt]]===
Line 438: Line 526:
|char=Kirby
|char=Kirby
|game=Melee
|game=Melee
|desc-us=Kir-by Kir-by!
|desc-us=Kir - by! Kir - by!
|desc-jp=Kiiirrr-by!
|desc-jp=Kaaaa - bii!
|pitch-us=Group chant
|pitch-us=Group chant
|pitch-jp=Group chant}}
|pitch-jp=Group chant}}
Line 448: Line 536:
|victory-desc=The "Level Complete" music that originated in ''Kirby's Dream Land''.
|victory-desc=The "Level Complete" music that originated in ''Kirby's Dream Land''.
|desc-1=Moonwalks left, spins to the center, crouch slides to the right, spins back to the center, then holds his hand up.
|desc-1=Moonwalks left, spins to the center, crouch slides to the right, spins back to the center, then holds his hand up.
|desc-2=Skids right while looking up twice, bounces across the screen, shakes away from the camera, bounces to the center, then holds his hand up.  
|desc-2=Skids right while looking up twice, bounces across the screen, shakes away from the camera, bounces to the center, then holds his hand up.
|desc-3=Jumps to the right, spins across the screen, crouches twice, jumps to the center, then holds his hand up.
|desc-3=Jumps to the right, spins across the screen, crouches twice, jumps to the center, then holds his hand up.
|char=Kirby}}
|char=Kirby}}


==In [[Competitive play]]==
==In [[competitive play]]==
===Notable players===
===Most historically significant players===
:''See also: [[:Category:Kirby professionals (SSBM)]]''
<!--This character has a ten player limit for this section. Before adding and/or removing a player, read these guidelines: https://www.ssbwiki.com/SmashWiki:Notability#%22Most_historically_significant_players%22_guidelines -->
====Active====
:''See also: [[:Category:Kirby players (SSBM)]]''
*{{Sm|Captain Pretzel|USA}} - Currently considered the best Kirby player in the world.
*{{Sm|Cereal Rabbit|USA}} - Considered to be the best Kirby in NorCal and one of the best Kirby players of all time. Placing 17th at [https://start.gg/tournament/norcal-arcadian-3/event/melee-singles/standings NorCal Arcadian #3] and 33rd at {{trn|HTC Throwdown}}, these were the best Kirby results seen on the West Coast. His win over {{Sm|Crimson Blur}} is one of the best wins the character has seen. He is also the only Kirby player to have beaten one of the [[Five Gods]] with {{Sm|Armada}} who was using secondaries. Although it should be noted that this win is not taken too seriously as Armada was intoxicated in the set. He has not been active in the scene since 2016.
*{{Sm|Hiiro|Germany}} - Currently ranked as an honorable mention on the [[Berlin Power Rankings]].
*{{Sm|KrazyKirbyKid|USA}} - A top Kirby player in the early metagame. At a few of the most notable tournaments at the time, he placed 5th at {{Trn|EVO South}} and made the most impressive Kirby-related major run with 9th at {{Trn|MOAST 3}}. He also has taken some sets over notable players of that era, mainly {{Sm|Rob$}}.
*{{Sm|Kuya|USA}} - Has taken sets off players such as {{Sm|King Momo}} and {{Sm|Gahtzu}} with Kirby.
*{{Sm|Triple R|USA}} - The best Kirby player in the world and of all time. He made multiple feats with the character, placing top 8 at a few regionals with 5th at {{Trn|Push More Buttons}} and 7th at {{Trn|Kings of the North V}}, and placing 25th at {{Trn|Smash 'N' Splash 2}}, the best result for a Kirby player in a major since MOAST 3. He has beaten players such as {{Sm|AbsentPage}} and {{Sm|Luigikid}} and has been ranked 3rd at the [[Minnesota Power Rankings]] several times. Similar to Cereal Rabbit, Triple R has not competed in a tournament since 2016.
 
====Inactive====
*{{Sm|Cereal Rabbit|USA}} - Considered to be the best Kirby in NorCal. Placed 33rd at [[HTC Throwdown]]. Took a set off {{Sm|Armada}} and {{Sm|TheCrimsonBlur}} (though both were intoxicated at the time).
*{{Sm|Hack|Sweden}} - Best Kirby in Sweden. Has taken some games off of {{Sm|Ice}}.
*{{Sm|KrazyKirbyKid|USA}} - A top Kirby player in the early metagame. Has taken sets off players such as {{Sm|Rob$}}. Placed 5th at {{Trn|EVO South}}.
*{{Sm|Nitrocidal|Canada}} - Best Canadian Kirby main.
*{{Sm|Omnigamer|USA}} - A primary innovator of the Kirby metagame.
*{{Sm|t1mmy|USA}} - A well-known innovator of the Kirby metagame.
*{{Sm|Triple R|USA}} - The best Kirby player in the world. Has taken sets off {{Sm|AbsentPage}} and {{Sm|Luigikid}}. Placed 5th at {{Trn|Push More Buttons}}, 7th at {{Trn|Kings of the North V}}, and 25th at {{Trn|Smash 'N' Splash 2}}. Has been ranked 3rd at the [[Minnesota Power Rankings]] several times.


===Tier placement and history===
===Tier placement and history===
Kirby has historically always ranked very low on ''Melee'' tier lists; compared to {{SSBM|Pikachu}}, Kirby's [[nerf|nerfs]] from ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]'' was much more significant, removing almost all of the aspects that made him dominant in the original ''Smash Bros.'' and leaving him with considerably fewer options in both offense and defense. Players immediately noticed that Kirby was left with poor KOing power, a poor approach, and a severe vulnerability to edgeguarding and premature falls due to his light weight, low air speed, and telegraphed recovery. Owing to Kirby's significant drawbacks, there have been only a few professional smashers that have developed his metagame for serious play, with a large number of them failing to place notably in large tournaments. While more prolific Kirby mains were active in the past, such as {{Sm|t1mmy}} and {{Sm|Triple R}}, there exist few such professionals in present-day competitive ''Melee'', causing Kirby's metagame to remain highly stagnant. Additionally, even prior to the stagnation of his metagame, Kirby was considered to rely on the opponent's lack of matchup experience to win matches.
Kirby has historically always ranked very low on ''Melee'' tier lists; compared to {{SSBM|Pikachu}}, Kirby's [[nerf|nerfs]] from ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]'' were much more significant, removing almost all of the aspects that made him dominant in the original ''Smash Bros.'' and leaving him with considerably fewer options in both offense and defense. Players immediately noticed that Kirby was left with poor KOing power, a poor approach, and a severe vulnerability to edgeguarding and premature falls due to his light weight, low air speed, and telegraphed recovery. Owing to Kirby's significant drawbacks, there have been only a few professional smashers that have developed his metagame for serious play, with a large number of them failing to place notably in large tournaments. While more prolific Kirby mains were active in the past, such as {{Sm|KrazyKirbyKid}} and {{Sm|Triple R}}, there exist few such professionals in present-day competitive ''Melee'', causing Kirby's metagame to remain highly stagnant. Additionally, even prior to the stagnation of his metagame, Kirby was considered to rely on the opponent's lack of matchup experience to win matches.


As a result of this stagnancy and Kirby's numerous flaws, Kirby has consistently ranked as one of ''Melee'''s worst fighters. He is currently ranked second-to-last at 25th place on the current tier list. However, some professional smashers, such as {{sm|Kira}} and {{Sm|Ginger}}, believe that Kirby is underrated, as his tournament results and player base have been notably better than other characters such as Bowser, Zelda, and Ness. {{Sm|Armada}} himself places Kirby [https://youtu.be/17n7Tcjrifg?t=124 at 24th on his own tier list], citing Kirby's crouch, tilts, and aerials as having mild utility.
As a result of this stagnancy and Kirby's numerous flaws, Kirby has consistently ranked as one of ''Melee'''s worst fighters. He is currently ranked second-to-last at 25th place on the current tier list. However, some professional smashers, such as {{sm|Kira}} and {{Sm|Ginger}}, believe that Kirby is underrated, as his tournament results and player base have been notably better than other characters such as Bowser, Zelda, and Ness. {{Sm|Armada}} himself places Kirby [https://youtu.be/17n7Tcjrifg?t=124 at 24th on his own tier list], citing Kirby's crouch, tilts, and aerials as having mild utility while also having a decent edgeguarding game.


==In [[Solo#1-P Mode|1-P Mode]]==
==In 1-P Mode==
==={{SSBM|Classic Mode}}===
==={{SSBM|Classic Mode}}===
In Classic Mode, Kirby can appear as an ordinary opponent, as an ally or opponent in the team battles, alongside {{SSBM|Pikachu}}, {{SSBM|Jigglypuff}}, {{SSBM|Pichu}}, or the {{SSBM|Ice Climbers}}, as a member of a multi-character battle, or as a metal opponent. In Kirby's appearances, he appears either on [[Fountain of Dreams]] or [[Green Greens]], and on a team with the Ice Climbers, he appears on [[Icicle Mountain]].
In Classic Mode, Kirby can appear as an ordinary opponent, as an ally or opponent in the team battles, alongside {{SSBM|Pikachu}}, {{SSBM|Jigglypuff}}, {{SSBM|Pichu}}, or the {{SSBM|Ice Climbers}}, as a member of a multi-character battle, or as a metal opponent. In Kirby's appearances, he appears either on [[Fountain of Dreams]] or [[Green Greens]], and on a team with the Ice Climbers, he appears on [[Icicle Mountain]].
Line 492: Line 571:
*'''[[Event 36: Space Travelers]]''': The player uses Ness must defeat {{SSBM|Samus}}, Kirby, {{SSBM|Fox}}, {{SSBM|Captain Falcon}} and {{SSBM|Falco}}. The player battles the first three characters on Fourside and battles the last two on {{SSBM|Battlefield}}.
*'''[[Event 36: Space Travelers]]''': The player uses Ness must defeat {{SSBM|Samus}}, Kirby, {{SSBM|Fox}}, {{SSBM|Captain Falcon}} and {{SSBM|Falco}}. The player battles the first three characters on Fourside and battles the last two on {{SSBM|Battlefield}}.


===[[Congratulations_screen#Super_Smash_Bros._Melee|Ending Images]]===
===[[Congratulations_screen#Super_Smash_Bros._Melee|Congratulations Screens]]===
<center>
<center>
<gallery>
<gallery>
Line 501: Line 580:
</center>
</center>


==Trophies==
==[[Trophies]]==
In addition to the normal trophy about Kirby as a character, there are two trophies about him as a fighter, unlocked by completing both [[Adventure Mode|Adventure]] and [[All-Star]] modes respectively with Kirby on any difficulty:
In addition to the normal trophy about Kirby as a character unlocked by completing {{SSBM|Classic Mode}} as Kirby on any difficulty, there are two trophies about him as a fighter, unlocked by completing {{SSBM|Adventure Mode}} and [[All-Star Mode]] respectively as Kirby on any difficulty. Each of the trophies can also be unlocked by playing 100, 200, and 300 versus matches respectively as Kirby:


:'''Kirby'''
{{Trophy/Fighter
:''A denizen of the far-off, peaceful planet Pop Star, Kirby became a citizen of Dream Land after defeating King Dedede. Even though he's only about eight inches tall, Kirby is an extremely skilled technician. He has the ability to absorb the powers of his enemies, and his elastic body makes him a versatile adventurer.''
|name=Kirby
:*Kirby's Dream Land 08/92
|image=Kirby Trophy Melee.png
|mode=Classic
|desc=A denizen of the far-off, peaceful planet Pop Star, Kirby became a citizen of Dream Land after defeating King Dedede. Even though he's only about eight inches tall, Kirby is an extremely skilled technician. He has the unique ability to absorb the powers of his enemies, and his elastic body makes him a versatile adventurer.
|gamelist={{Trophy games|game1=Kirby's Dream Land|release1=8/92}}
|game=Melee
}}
{{clrl}}


:'''Kirby''' [<span style="color:#FF0000">Smash</span>]
{{Trophy/Fighter
:''Kirby's small size lets him dodge many attacks, but his light weight makes him fly far when struck. Using his ability to inflate, he can jump five times. His Swallow attack creates wild combos; not only can he copy foes' moves, but he'll also put on special hats and mimic their voices. His Hammer is unwieldy but powerful.''
|name=Kirby
:*B: Swallow
|image=Kirby Trophy (Smash).png
:*Smash B: Hammer
|mode=Adventure
|desc=Kirby's small size lets him dodge many attacks, but his light weight makes him fly far when struck. Using his ability to inflate, he can jump five times. His Swallow attack creates wild combos; not only can he copy foes' moves, but he'll also put on special hats and mimic their voices. His Hammer is unwieldy but powerful.
|gamelist=:B: Swallow
:Smash B: Hammer
|game=Melee
}}
{{clrl}}


:'''Kirby''' [<span style="color:#0000FF">Smash</span>]
{{Trophy/Fighter
:''Because of his light weight, Kirby is always in danger of being sent flying, but his ability to puff up and fly allows him to come back from amazing distances. His Final Cutter strikes on the way up and on the way down, and it sends out a beam of force upon landing. Kirby transforms into various objects and crashes down when he uses his Stone technique.''
|name=Kirby
:*Up & B: Final Cutter
|image=Kirby Trophy (Smash 2).png
:*Down & B: Stone
|mode=All Star
 
|desc=Because of his light weight, Kirby is always in danger of being sent flying, but his ability to puff up and fly allows him to come back from amazing distances. His Final Cutter strikes on the way up and on the way down, and it sends out a beam of force upon landing. Kirby transforms into various objects and crashes down when he uses his Stone technique.
<center>
|gamelist=:Up & B: Final Cutter
<gallery>
:Down & B: Stone
Kirby Trophy Melee.png|Classic
|game=Melee
Kirby Trophy (Smash).png|[<span style="color:#FF0000">Smash</span>]
}}
Kirby Trophy (Smash 2).png|[<span style="color:#0000FF">Smash</span>]
{{clrl}}
</gallery>
</center>


Kirby is also the subject of five trophies that can be considered its own trophy series: the [[List of Copy Abilities|Kirby Hat series]], with information about the powers Kirby gains when he uses Swallow on each opponent. The first three are "normally collectible" trophies that can be found during normal play and in the [[Trophy Lottery]], but the last two are awarded once the player has unlocked all the playable characters involved on those trophies.
Kirby is also the subject of five trophies that can be considered its own trophy series: the [[List of Copy Abilities|Kirby Hat series]], with information about the powers Kirby gains when he uses Swallow on each opponent. The first three are "normally collectible" trophies that can be found during normal play and in the [[Trophy Lottery]], but the last two are awarded once the player has unlocked all the playable characters involved on those trophies.
Line 534: Line 623:
Kirby Hat 4 Trophy.png|Kirby Hat 4
Kirby Hat 4 Trophy.png|Kirby Hat 4
Kirby Hat 5 Trophy.png|Kirby Hat 5
Kirby Hat 5 Trophy.png|Kirby Hat 5
KirbyHat1-Back.png|Back view
KirbyHat2-Back.png|Back view
KirbyHat3-Back.png|Back view
KirbyHat4-Back.png|Back view
KirbyHat5-Back.png|Back view
</gallery>
</gallery>
</center>
</center>
Finally, the character Kirby himself is depicted on some other trophies not related to gameplay: [[List of SSBM trophies (Kirby series)|Ball Kirby, Fighter Kirby and Fire Kirby]].


==[[Alternate costume (SSBM)#Kirby|Alternate costumes]]==
==[[Alternate costume (SSBM)#Kirby|Alternate costumes]]==
Line 555: Line 647:
<center>
<center>
<gallery>
<gallery>
SSBM Kirby HQ.jpg|Official artwork of Kirby
SSBM Kirby HQ.jpg|Official artwork of Kirby.
LuigiAdventureMode.jpg|Standing with {{SSBM|Donkey Kong}}, {{SSBM|Ness}}, and {{SSBM|Luigi}} on [[Great Bay]]
SSBMWebsiteKirby1.jpg|[[Taunt]]ing on [[Great Bay]].
LinkAdventureMode.jpg|Posing with {{SSBM|Link}} on [[Green Greens]]
SSBMWebsiteKirby2.jpg|Using aerial {{b|Hammer|move}} on {{b|Mushroom Kingdom|Adventure Mode}}.
YoungLinkAdventureMode.jpg|Standing with {{SSBM|Young Link}} and {{SSBM|Pikachu}} on Green Greens
KirbyStoneMove.jpg|With other Kirbys using [[Stone]] on [[Pokémon Stadium]].
FoxAdventureMode.jpg|[[Taunt]]ing with Ness and Pikachu on Temple
Ssbmkirby4.jpg|Using [[Final Cutter]] on [[Jungle Japes]].
SSBMWebsiteKirby5.jpg|Holding a [[Star Rod]] on [[Fountain of Dreams]].
SSBMWebsiteKirby6.jpg|Using {{SSBM|Pikachu}}'s [[Thunder Jolt]] on Fountain of Dreams.
SSBMWebsiteKirby7.jpg|Using {{SSBM|Mario}}'s [[Fireball]] on {{SSBM|Mushroom Kingdom}}.
SSBMWebsiteKirby8.jpg|Using {{SSBM|Fox}}'s {{b|Blaster|Fox}} on [[Corneria]].
SSBMWebsiteKirby9.jpg|With the {{SSBM|Ice Climbers}} [[Copy Ability]] on [[Icicle Mountain]].
LuigiAdventureMode.jpg|Standing with {{SSBM|Donkey Kong}}, {{SSBM|Ness}}, and {{SSBM|Luigi}} on Great Bay.
LinkAdventureMode.jpg|Posing with {{SSBM|Link}} on [[Green Greens]].
YoungLinkAdventureMode.jpg|Standing with {{SSBM|Young Link}} and Pikachu on Green Greens.
FoxAdventureMode.jpg|Taunting with Ness and Pikachu on [[Temple]].
File:SSBM Kirby Ending.png
</gallery>
</gallery>
</center>
</center>


==Trivia==
==Trivia==
*Kirby's special moves from ''Melee'' are used in the game ''{{s|wikirby|Kirby & The Amazing Mirror}}'', through the use of the ability called ''Smash''. The moves he gets are Twinkle Star (neutral aerial from ''Melee'', although in this game it has much more range), Hammer, Final Cutter, Stone, and Vulcan Jab. He does not, however, receive Burning, which is his dash attack. He gets the ability from [[Master Hand]], who is a boss in the game.  
*Kirby's special moves from ''Melee'' are used in the game ''{{s|wikirby|Kirby & The Amazing Mirror}}'', through the use of the ability called ''Smash''. The moves he gets are Twinkle Star (neutral aerial from ''Melee'', although in this game it has much more range), Hammer, Final Cutter, Stone, and Vulcan Jab. He does not, however, receive Burning, which is his dash attack. He gets the ability from [[Master Hand]], who is a boss in the game.
*Kirby has the shortest taunt, followed by {{SSBM|Mr. Game & Watch}}.
*Kirby has the shortest taunt, followed by {{SSBM|Mr. Game & Watch}}.
*Kirby is one of the only two characters in the entire ''Super Smash Bros.'' series that has had escapable [[throw]]s, the other being {{SSBB|Olimar}}.
*Kirby is one of the only two characters in the entire ''Super Smash Bros.'' series that has had escapable [[throw]]s, the other being {{SSBB|Olimar}}.
Line 571: Line 673:
**There is another glitch where if Kirby swallows an opponent and falls off the stage, the opponent will be KO'd and Kirby will not lose a life. With proper timing, a good Kirby player can even recover from a successful KO of this manner. This glitch exists due to the foe's hitboxes reacting to the blast zone before Kirby's, thanks to his small size relative to the rest of the cast.
**There is another glitch where if Kirby swallows an opponent and falls off the stage, the opponent will be KO'd and Kirby will not lose a life. With proper timing, a good Kirby player can even recover from a successful KO of this manner. This glitch exists due to the foe's hitboxes reacting to the blast zone before Kirby's, thanks to his small size relative to the rest of the cast.
*Kirby, {{SSBM|Mario}}, {{SSBM|Peach}}, {{SSBM|Yoshi}}, {{SSBM|Link}}, {{SSBM|Young Link}}, {{SSBM|Falco}}, and {{SSBM|Pikachu}} are the only characters whose portraits on the [[character select screen]] match their [[character artwork|official artwork]].
*Kirby, {{SSBM|Mario}}, {{SSBM|Peach}}, {{SSBM|Yoshi}}, {{SSBM|Link}}, {{SSBM|Young Link}}, {{SSBM|Falco}}, and {{SSBM|Pikachu}} are the only characters whose portraits on the [[character select screen]] match their [[character artwork|official artwork]].
*Kirby is one of four characters (alongside {{SSBM|Sheik}}, {{SSBM|Samus}}, and {{SSBM|Donkey Kong}} in NTSC versions) whose neutral special charge is lost if hit out of at least one specific special move. In Kirby's case, if he has copied one of the three aforementioned character's moves, he loses the copy ability's charge level if hit out of any of his specials.
**In addition to this, he also loses the charge when hit for the first time per copied ability.


==External links==
==External links==
*[https://www.nintendo.co.jp/n01/n64/software/nus_p_nalj/smash/flash/0821/index.html Kirby's page at Smabura-Ken]
*[http://smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=87939 Kirby Video Archive]
*[http://smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=87939 Kirby Video Archive]
*[http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=62115 The Competitive Kirby] - [[Smasher:t1mmy|t!mmy]]'s Kirby Guide
*[http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=62115 The Competitive Kirby] - [[Smasher:t1mmy|t!mmy]]'s Kirby Guide

Latest revision as of 20:31, December 5, 2024

This article is about Kirby's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Melee. For the character in other contexts, see Kirby.
Kirby
in Super Smash Bros. Melee
Kirby SSBM.jpg
KirbySymbol.svg
Universe Kirby
Other playable appearances in SSB
in Brawl
in SSB4
in Ultimate
Availability Starter
Tier F (25) (North America)
H (25) (Europe)
Kirby (SSBM)

Kirby (カービィ, Kirby) is a starter character in Super Smash Bros. Melee. Makiko Ōmoto once again voices Kirby in Melee, with some voice clips recycled from SSB along with some newer, higher-pitched ones.

Currently, Kirby is ranked 25th in the F tier, an extreme drop from his 2nd place position in Smash 64, and arguably the most severe decline in viability between games of any character in the whole series, with his placement in Melee being his worst placement in the series. While he has several throw options into Kirbycide, a good ground game, a solid defensive game thanks to his crouch and small size and a decent edgeguarding game, Kirby's approach and KO ability are among the worst in the game; slow attacks, a low air speed, an ineffective projectile in Final Cutter, one of the worst grab games and numerous other flaws both on the ground and in the air prevent Kirby from easily approaching enemies, and he struggles against almost all characters as a result of this. Because of Kirby's various flaws, he has terrible matchups across the board and struggles to contend even against lower-tiered characters.

Attributes[edit]

Kirby acts as a light, weak character that is intended to outmaneuver opponents through his small stature. While having an average dashing speed, he has a terrible air speed (being tied with Ganondorf as the 3rd worst in Melee), so his small size is intended to act as his primary way to approach. Owing to his low falling speed and high short hop, Kirby has a poor SHFFL, while his high traction gives him a short wavedash.

Despite his poor air speed, Kirby has a decent edgeguarding game. With six jumps and a low falling speed, Kirby can easily recover due to his multiple midair jumps, while Kirby's back air can be used as a rather powerful edgeguarding technique, the Fence of Pain. Assuming Kirby can knock opponents off the edge, he can make foes have a hard time recovering.

Owing to his small size, Kirby also has a solid defensive game. His small hurtboxes can potentially allow him to avoid attacks, while his small size also lends itself to a large shield, making Kirby relatively safe from shield stabbing. A low crouch also makes his hurtboxes even smaller, supplemented with his down tilt as a potential camping and spacing tactic, as his makes him able to avoid most jabs.

Kirby also has good tilt attacks as well, as Kirby's three tilts, while short-ranged, have a variety of practical applications; his forward tilt and aforementioned down tilt can act as spacing tools, while his up tilt can potentially be used as a combo starter. Kirby also has an above average grab range, allowing him to potentially use his unusual throws to his advantage; a notable application of his up, back, and forward throws involves Kirbycide, a specific type of Sacrificial KO that forces both Kirby and his opponent to lose a stock. This technique is able to KO opponents at any percentage. His down throw is also a great tech-chasing option that can notably lead to another down throw or a down smash.

Despite these benefits, Kirby's most fatal flaw lies in his awful approach. With a poor SHFFL, short wavedash, terrible air speed, short range, a laggy, predictable dash attack, and no viable projectiles, Kirby has extreme difficulty in approaching almost all of the cast; this is especially prevalent against characters with disjointed hitboxes (such as Marth) or powerful pressure games (such as Falco). The lack of a projectile can uniquely be rectified if Kirby uses Inhale on an opponent; getting the desired Copy Ability, however, is risky, due to the attack's start-up and cool-down lag, and some characters will either fail to give him a useful projectile (such as Fox) or a projectile in the first place (such as Captain Falcon), and it is very difficult to set up into an Inhale in the first place. Although most of his copy abilities give Kirby additional options, they would still be inferior to the original character he would copy; Fireball from Mario, for instance, has the Fireballs disappear more quickly than Mario's, as Kirby's lower height causes them to reach the ground faster and to have less kinetic energy when they finally hit the ground.

Even when approaching opponents, however, Kirby's various attributes also give him an unremarkable combo ability; a low air speed prevents him from easily pursuing enemies in the air, and almost all of his aerials (except for back air) either have long startup and cooldown periods (down and neutral air), high knockback (up air), or poor hitbox placement (forward air). Kirby's only noteworthy combos are his up tilt juggles, his down throw tech-chases and his Fence of Pain as mentioned earlier, and even the latter combo is inferior to Jigglypuff's Wall of Pain due to Kirby's significantly slower air speed, making it risky to use. Kirby's wild card is his aforementioned Kirbycide technique, and even this is unreliable; his up throw requires precise placement at the edge of a stage, and Kirby always loses when performed in a last stock situation. While his forward and back throws are much easier to perform and Kirby always wins when performed in a last stock situation, they are the only throws in the entire Smash series that can be potentially broken out of. As a result, if the opponent can button mash out of the grab and throw quick enough, they will remain unharmed while Kirby loses a stock, giving him one of the worst grab games in Melee, with all of his throws (except for down throw) having little to no utility due to their inability to set up combos and the forward and back throws' ability to be escaped from. To make things worse, after Kirby uses his forward or up throw, he will lose all his midair jumps.

Outside of his abysmal approach, Kirby also has trouble KOing other characters. A majority of Kirby's finishers suffer from poor range, slow start-up (such as his Hammer), weak knockback (such as his forward smash) or have small sweetspots that make them unreliable (such as his Hammer and up smash). Arguably Kirby's only effective finishers are his down smash and his up and back aerials, which themselves require a proper read and correct timing from the player in order for them to be low-risk attacks.

As a final disadvantage working against Kirby, he has major survivability issues, with his endurance being on par with Mr. Game & Watch and Pichu for the worst in Melee. Having among the lowest weights in the game alongside a low falling speed causes Kirby to be easily KOed from both the upper and horizontal blast lines (Fox is especially notorious in the former category). Outside of this, Kirby's recovery is also slow, linear, and predictable, despite granting decent distance as a result of his multiple midair jumps; once again, Kirby is negatively impacted by his poor air speed, and Final Cutter grants almost no horizontal distance, coupled with being very easy to edgeguard against.

Changes from Super Smash Bros.[edit]

Kirby was known as one of the most dominant characters in Smash 64, even after receiving nerfs in the North American release. This was in part to his amazing power, attack speed, range and priority on his attacks, which subsequently gave him excellent KO and shield pressuring potential. In addition to this, he was also a very simple character to pick up and play (especially compared to the other high tiers); making him a highly solid character to pick up regardless of the player's skill level.

As a result of this, Kirby was immensely nerfed in his transition to Melee, to the point where he is not only the most nerfed character in transition from Smash 64 to Melee, but the most nerfed character in the entire Smash series.

Kirby's mobility both on the ground and in the air has been noticeably reduced; which has subsequently hindered his approach. The weakening of pivots have also made Kirby's approach worse and he doesn't benefit too much from the introduction of air dodging; due to his high traction and low falling speed. As a result of this, he has an unimpressive wavedash. When combined with many returning veterans having greater approach potential, this has made his approach among the worst in the game; especially in the air.

In general, Kirby has suffered from Melee's universal changes. Apart from the changes to pivoting, Kirby has greatly suffered from the changes to shields. While Kirby is less vulnerable to shield pressure, his own shield pressure is much worse due to the universal reduction to shieldstun and shield damage. Because of this, Kirby's attacks are much less safe on shield (with Kirby lacking any moves which even leave him at a frame advantage on shield, with the exception of back aerial and up aerial, which can leave him at a one frame advantage on a perfect landing) with the reduced damage/increased ending lag on multiple moves along with the weakening of L-cancelling only further exacerbating this. Because of this, Kirby can no longer perform any shield break combos and his attacks are generally much more punishable. In addition, Kirby's out of shield options are also worse largely due to his new neutral aerial; which is much weaker, slower and has less range than his previous neutral aerial. When combined with his shield drop being longer, this means that Kirby either has to use his grab or back aerial to punish a majority of moves out of shield.

Kirby's damage output and KO potential have also been sharply reduced (even relative to the cast). A majority of Kirby's moves have reduced KO power, such as his smash attacks, neutral aerial, back aerial, his up throw (his previous forward throw) and Stone. When combined with his lower damage output on most of his moves, this significantly hinders his ability to rack up damage and close out stocks. His smash attacks are slower and weaker, making them less reliable and more difficult KO moves to land. While his new up aerial is rather powerful, it is offset by how difficult it is to combo characters.

Kirby's oppressive up tilt has also seen rather drastic nerfs both directly and indirectly. The move has a shorter duration, much less range and more ending lag which makes it much less effective at stuffing out approaches and generally makes it easier to punish. The move is also noticeably weaker; dealing much less damage. The introduction of DI has made the move much less reliable as a combo move while the changes to shieldstun combined with the move's decreased damage/increased ending lag has immensely hindered its safety on shield; completely removing its shield pressuring potential. Overall, while it is still one of his most useful moves, it is nowhere near as effective as it was previously.

Kirby generally has worse frame data, especially compared to the rest of the cast. These moves include his aforementioned up tilt and neutral aerial, his forward smash is noticeably laggier; no longer being the fastest in the game (in addition to being much weaker). His down aerial has also seen a drastic increase to its startup lag and its hits less times which significantly reduces its duration and maximum damage potential. It also greatly suffers from the introduction of meteor cancelling; significantly hindering its edgeguarding potential. Kirby also naturally suffers from the changes to L-cancelling; especially since most of his aerials have worse auto-cancel windows which remove's his neutral, forward and down aerial's ability to auto-cancel in a short hop. When combined with the changes to shieldstun, this significantly hinder the utility and safety of his aerials.

Kirby also does not benefit much from having an expanded move list. Kirby's grab game is now one of the absolute worst in the game: while his new forward and back throws can be used for sacrificial KOs, however, they can be escaped with mashing, which can lead to Kirby either self-destructing at worst or leaving himself vulnerable to punishes after simply using his throws. As a result, his forward and back throws lack utility, being easy contenders for the worst throws in the game. Kirby's up throw is much weaker than his previous forward throw and it has gained two new issues; the move can no longer land on platforms above Kirby unless they are very close to the ground and Kirby now loses all of his jumps after using it (his new forward throw also has this issue); which has hindered the utility of the throw and has made it an unreliable KO option. Kirby's only useful throw is his new down throw; which can set up tech-chases, though this is prediction reliant. His new side special Hammer is a very slow (yet powerful) move on the ground while in the air, yet it is very inconsistent and easy to escape its multi-hits; giving it very low utility compared to other side specials.

Lastly, Kirby's few flaws from the previous game have not been properly addressed. While his endurance has slightly improved due to his increased weight and falling speed, it is still among the worst in the game. Kirby also still struggles to deal with opponents above him, especially with the nerfs to his up tilt combined with the universally increased falling speeds. His already limited combo options have been reduced even further due to the changes to his up tilt and his forward aerial; combined with the introduction of DI. His recovery has also become worse. His air speed and jump height have been reduced and Final Cutter covers much less distance, resulting in his recovery becoming very poor.

On the other hand, Kirby has received some buffs. Kirby has greater access to his Kirbycide as he can move around when swallowing his opponents (in addition to Inhale having reduced startup lag) and his new forward and back throws are more reliable tools to Kirbycide with (although this is completely nullified by the fact that those throws can now be escaped from). A few of his moves are also either slightly faster or stronger, such as his new up aerial, which is much stronger and has much less ending lag. All of Kirby's aerials also have less landing lag; with his average landing lag now being among the lowest. This makes the weakening of L-cancelling hinder him less than most other veterans/it otherwise would have.

Overall, Kirby's few weaknesses from the previous game; including his limited combo options and significant survivability issues have been further exacerbated and he has received numerous new weaknesses as well (including poor KO potential, poor range, an extremely ineffective grab game and poor approach). His only remaining strengths are that he can abuse his small size to avoid attacks, his tilts are solid and he still has decent edgeguarding potential although the latter two points are still not as effective as they were previously. Lastly, the universal changes have significantly hindered Kirby with his approach, combo and shield pressuring potential prowess.

Due to these changes, he is an easy contender for the worst character in the entire game and is widely considered to be non-viable in competitive play.

Aesthetics[edit]

  • Change Kirby resembles his Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards design, rather than a modified version of his Kirby's Dreamland 3 one.
  • Change The graphical upgrades of the Nintendo GameCube give Kirby a rounder body. His skin tone is a slightly darker shade of pink and his feet are larger.
  • Change Kirby’s green costume is now available outside of team battles.
    • Change Kirby additionally gains a white costume, referencing his original monochrome appearance on the Western box art and in-game for Kirby's Dream Land.
  • Change Kirby gains a third victory pose, matching the rest of the cast.

Attributes[edit]

  • Nerf Kirby walks slower (0.933 (28) → 0.85).
  • Nerf Kirby dashes slower (1.6 (48) → 1.4).
  • Buff Kirby's traction is much higher (0.0467 (1.4) → 0.08), going from the 3rd lowest out of 12 characters to the 7th highest out of 26, making it easier for him to punish out of shield.
  • Nerf Kirby's already low air speed has been decreased even more (0.933 (28) → 0.78), hindering his recovery, edgeguarding and ability to escape aerial pressure.
  • Nerf Kirby's air acceleration is much lower (0.1067 (3.2) → 0.06).
  • Nerf Kirby jumps extremely lower (40.96 (1228.8) → 26).
    • Change Kirby's short hop is also drastically lower (25.5 (765) → 14.82), improves his ability to hit opponents low on the ground with short hop aerials, as well as his ability to quickly land and continue aerial pressure, but also hinders his ability to auto-cancel his aerials.
    • Nerf All of Kirby's mid-air jumps also grant less height, hindering his vertical recovery and ability to chase opponents above it.
  • Nerf Kirby's fast falling speed is significantly slower (2.533 (76) → 2). The difference between his falling speed and fast falling speed is much lower (increase: 58.3% → 25%), which makes it more predictable when landing and gives him fewer options in the air.
  • Buff Kirby is heavier (68.067227 (1.19) → 70), improving his endurance.
  • Nerf Kirby's foot hurtboxes now cover his entire feet, rather than ending just before the tips of Kirby's feet.
  • Nerf Kirby's hands and feet no longer have grab immunity.
  • Nerf The changes to pivoting have considerably hindered Kirby's grounded approach particularly with his up tilt.

Ground attacks[edit]

  • Neutral attack:
    • Buff The first two hits of neutral attack have less ending lag (FAF 18 → 16 (hit 1), FAF 20 → 17 (hit 2)).
    • Buff The first hit can transition into the second hit earlier (frame 10 → 6).
    • Nerf The first two hit's far hitboxes have been moved closer to Kirby (x offset: 2.33 → 1.17).
    • Nerf The second hit has a shorter duration (frames 3-5 → 3-4).
    • Buff The loop hits have slightly larger hitboxes (1.66u → 1.75u).
    • Nerf The loop hits have more startup lag (frame 8 → 9).
    • Nerf The loop hits only hit five times instead of six.
      • Buff However, this decreases the move's ending lag if it is not held (FAF 45 → 38).
    • Nerf The loop hits far hitbox has been moved closer to Kirby (x offset: 5.5 → 4.69).
    • Buff There is a shorter gap between the first loop hit and the second loop hit (4 frames → 2).
    • Nerf The loop hit's ending animation is slightly longer (9 frames → 10).
  • Forward tilt:
    • Buff Forward tilt now deals consistent damage (11% (up)/10% (non-angled)/9% (down) → 11%), improving the non angled and angled down versions' KO potential.
    • Nerf Forward tilt has more startup lag with a shorter duration (frames 4-9 → 5-8).
    • Nerf Forward tilt has smaller hitboxes (4.16u/4.16u → 3.51u/3.9u) and the far hitbox has been moved closer to Kirby (x offset: 5.33 → 4.3).
  • Up tilt:
    • Change Up tilt's clean hit's angle has been altered (96° → 92°).
    • Nerf Up tilt deals significantly less damage (14% (clean)/10% (late) → 8%/6%) without full compensation on its knockback (30/20 (base), 100 (scaling) → 40/(118/114)) hindering its KO potential.
      • Buff However, this improves its combo potential at higher percents.
    • Nerf Up tilt has a shorter duration (frames 4-5 (clean)/6-11 (late) → 4/5-7).
    • Nerf Up tilt has more ending lag (FAF 18 → 24).
    • Nerf Up tilt's far hitbox has been moved closer to Kirby (x offset: 6.66 → 3.9 (clean)/4.68 (late)), noticeably reducing its previously infamous disjointed range.
    • Nerf The universal decrease to hitstun combined with the introduction of DI and its increased ending lag have significantly hindered up tilt's combo and juggling potential.
    • Nerf The move's lower damage and higher ending lag combined with the general reduction to shieldstun/shield damage have drastically hindered the move's shield pressuring potential with the move going from giving Kirby a rather significant frame advantage on shield to now being fairly punishable on shield.
  • Down tilt:
    • Buff Down tilt deals more damage (9% → 10%).
    • Buff Down tilt has increased base knockback (0 → 40), making it safer on hit at lower percents.
      • Nerf However, its knockback scaling is much lower (110 → 30), greatly hindering its KO potential.
    • Nerf Down tilt has a shorter duration (frames 4-10 → 4-7).
    • Nerf Down tilt has smaller hitboxes, especially the far hit (4.16u/6.83u → 3.9u/4.69u).
    • Change Down tilt has an altered animation where Kirby now swings his leg around, rathering than lunging forward.
      • Nerf This further reduces its range.
      • Buff However, this also makes it a safer spacing tool.
  • Dash attack:
    • Change Kirby has a new dash attack: he lunges forward in a fiery spiraling headbutt.
    • Change Dash attacks can now travel off ledges.
    • Nerf Dash attack deals less damage (10% (clean)/8% (late) → 8%/5%) and shield damage (1 → 0).
    • Nerf Dash attack has more startup lag (frame 5 → 9).
    • Nerf Dash attack has a longer total duration (FAF 41 → 60).
    • Nerf Dash attack launches opponents vertically (361° → 105°) hindering its KO potential and removing its edgeguarding potential.
    • Change Dash attack has altered knockback (10 (base), 100 (scaling) → 70/66 (clean), 50/66 (late)).
      • Buff This makes it safer on hit at lower percents.
      • Nerf However, this hinders its overall KO potential.
    • Nerf Dash attack has a smaller hitbox (5.33u → 3.52u) which has been positioned closer to Kirby (z offset: 6.66 → 3.52).
    • Buff Dash attack has a longer duration (frames 5-8 (clean)/9-18 (late) → 9-15/16-43) which decreases its cooldown.
  • Forward smash:
    • Buff Forward smash's late hit deals more damage (12% → 13%).
    • Buff Forward smash can be angled now.
    • Change Forward smash now has an extra hitbox which is in the middle of Kirby's foot.
    • Nerf Forward smash has more startup lag with a shorter duration (frames 10-13 (clean)/14-23 (late) → 13-15/16-21) no longer being the fastest in the game.
    • Nerf Forward smash has more ending lag (FAF 40 → 50).
    • Nerf The clean hit deals less damage (17% → 15%) and significantly less knockback (20 (base), 120 (scaling) → 24/96), going from the strongest non-angled forward smash in Smash 64 to the sixth weakest in Melee.
    • Nerf The clean hit no longer deals extra shield damage (1 → 0).
      • Nerf When combined with its higher ending lag and the changes to shields, these changes significantly hinders the move's safety on shield going from giving Kirby frame advantage on shield to leaving him at a huge frame disadvantage on shield making the move easily punishable and naturally removing its use in shield break combos.
    • Nerf The late hit deals less knockback (12 (base), 120 (scaling) → 18/96).
    • Nerf The late hit now launches opponents vertically (361° → 75°) hindering its KO and edgeguarding potential while still not being a reliable combo starter.
    • Nerf The far hitbox is smaller (4.66u (clean)/4.16u (late) → 3.52u/2.73u) and has been moved closer to Kirby (x offset: 4.66u → 3.12u). This significantly reduces the move's range, going from being disjointed to now failing to fully cover Kirby's feet.
  • Up smash:
    • Buff Up smash has less startup lag with a longer duration (frames 14-23 → 13-23).
      • Nerf However, the clean hit has a shorter duration (frames 14-17 → 13).
    • Change Up smash now has an extra hitbox which is in the middle of Kirby's foot.
    • Nerf The clean hit deals less damage and the far hitbox is now a sourspot (16% → 15%/13%). The near hit's knockback was not fully compensated (20 (base), 120 (scaling) → 30/118) while the far hit's knockback was reduced (20 (base), 120 (scaling) → 30/110).
    • Nerf The clean hit sends opponents at a less favorable angle (90° → 75°) which along with its lower damage slightly hinders the sweetspot's KO potential despite its increased knockback.
    • Nerf The clean hit has smaller hitboxes (5.33u/4.66u → 3.52u/3.52u/3.52u).
    • Change The clean hit now has a slash effect when the sweetspot connects.
    • Buff Up smash has received a mid hit which lasts two frames, deals more damage on its sweetspots (12% → 14%/12%) and has higher base knockback (10 → 20) compared to the previous late hit.
    • Change The mid hit launches opponents vertically unlike the previous late hit (361° → 88°).
    • Buff The late hit deals more damage on its sweetspots (12% → 13%/12%).
    • Buff The late hit's near hitbox is larger (3.33u → 3.512u/3.512u).
    • Nerf The late hit has much less knockback scaling (100 → 50) and sends opponents at a less favorable angle (361° → 50°).
    • Nerf The late hit's far hitbox is smaller (3.83u → 3.512u).
  • Down smash:
    • Buff Down smash has less ending lag (FAF 56 → 50).
    • Buff Down smash's near hit now consists of two hitboxes which are larger than the previous hitbox (3u → 3.9u/3.9u).
    • Nerf Down smash has a shorter duration (frames 7-10 (clean)/11-26 (late) → 7-9/10-22).
    • Nerf Down smash grants much less intangibility to Kirby's feet (frames 7-26 → 7-9).
    • Nerf Down smash's far hitboxes are smaller (5u/5u → 4.3u/4.3u) and have been moved closer to Kirby (x offset: 6u/6u → 4.69u/4.69u).
    • Nerf Clean down smash deals less damage (18% → 14%) although its sweetspot's knockback scaling was compensated (75 → 100).
      • Buff However, the move's increased knockback scaling makes the late hit much stronger.
    • Nerf The sweetspot now launches opponents vertically (34° → 76°) hindering its KO and edgeguarding potential.
    • Nerf The clean hit's sourspots' knockback was barely increased (30 (base), 75 (scaling) → 20/80) making it much weaker due to its lower damage.
      • Buff However, the sourspots launch opponents at a lower angle (35° → 28°) improving the late hit's edgeguarding potential.

Aerial attacks[edit]

  • Buff All aerials have less landing lag (16 frames → 15 (neutral), 30 frames → 20 (forward), 30 frames → 15 (back), 20 frames → 15 (up), 37 frames → 20 (down)).
  • Nerf All aerials except up aerial auto-cancel later (frame 31 → 38 (neutral), frame 29 → 38 (forward), frame 26 → 28 (back), frame 33 → 48 (down)). When combined with Kirby's lower short hop, this means that neutral and forward aerial now require frame perfect timing to be auto-cancelled out of a short hop while down aerial can no longer auto-cancel out of a short hop at all. This is further exacerbated with the weakening of L-canceling.
  • Neutral aerial:
    • Change Kirby's previous up aerial from Smash 64 has been moved to his neutral aerial.
      • Nerf Because of this, neutral aerial's animation is significantly longer (49 frames → 79) increasing the amount of time Kirby cannot grab the ledge or use an airdodge/special after performing the move.
    • Nerf Neutral aerial has more startup lag with a shorter duration (frames 3-6 (clean)/7-30 (late) → 10-17/18-29/30-34).
      • Buff However, its total duration was unchanged giving it less ending lag.
      • Buff Additionally, the clean hit has a longer duration (4 frames → 8).
    • Nerf Neutral aerial has much less horizontal range.
    • Nerf Neutral aerial deals less damage (15% (clean)/10% (late) → 10%/8%/6%) and knockback (30/10 (base), 100 (scaling) → 10/80) significantly hindering its KO potential going from one of the strongest neutral aerials to one of the weakest.
    • Nerf Neutral aerial no longer has a landing hit.
    • Buff Neutral aerial's hitbox is larger (3.66u/4.33u (clean)/3.16u/4.33u (late) → 5.08u), giving it better coverage around Kirby and allowing it to hit opponents above him more reliably.
  • Forward aerial:
    • Change Kirby has a new forward aerial: he kicks three times in front of him, instead of drilling eight times in front of him.
    • Nerf Forward aerial has more startup lag (frame 8 → 10).
    • Nerf Forward aerial has a shorter duration overall (frames 8-9/11-12/14-15/17-18/20-21/23-24/26-28 → 10-11/17-18/25-26).
      • Nerf As a result of this, forward aerial has more ending lag overall.
    • Nerf Forward aerial's new animation is longer (39 frames → 49) increasing the amount of time Kirby cannot grab the ledge or use an airdodge/special after performing the move.
    • Nerf Forward aerial deals less damage overall (2% (hits 1-7)/6% (hit 8)/20% (total) → 5% (hits 1-2)/8% (hit 3)/16.83% (total)).
    • Nerf Forward aerial has smaller hitboxes (6.33u/6u → 4.69u/3.52u).
    • Nerf The knockback (30 (set), 100 (scaling) → 30 (base)/70) and angles (-90° → 60°) for the first two hits have been altered which along with their higher damage, the wider gap between them/the final hit and the introduction of DI; makes forward aerial connect less reliably.
      • Nerf Altogether, these changes combined with the weakening of L-canceling have hindered forward aerial's combo and edgeguarding potential.
    • Buff Forward aerial's far hitbox has been repositioned further out (z offset: 7.33 → 10.55).
    • Buff The last hit deals more damage (6% → 8%) and knockback (10 (base), 120 (scaling) → 30/130), improving its KO potential.
      • Nerf However, this also hinders its combo potential.
  • Back aerial:
    • Buff Back aerial has a shorter total duration (FAF 40 → 36).
    • Nerf Back aerial has a shorter duration (frames 6-9 (clean)/10-25 → 6-8/9-20), slightly increasing its ending lag.
    • Nerf Back aerial deals less damage (16% (clean)/12% (late) → 14%/10%), hindering its KO potential.
    • Nerf Back aerial has a new animation which is longer than the previous animation (39 frames → 43).
    • Nerf Back aerial's late hit's hitboxes are smaller (6.33u/6u → 5.08u/4.3u), which gives it less range and makes it cover less of Kirby's body.
  • Up aerial:
    • Change Kirby has a new up aerial: a bicycle kick.
    • Buff Up aerial deals much more damage (10% (clean)/8% (mid)/6% (late) → 15%) and no longer has set knockback (10 (base), 100 (set), 100 (scaling) → 30/0/100), making it his best KO move (being as powerful as his previous neutral aerial).
      • Nerf However, this hinders its edgeguarding potential at lower percents.
    • Buff Up aerial has a larger hitbox (3.5u → 4.32u).
    • Buff Up aerial has more vertical range.
    • Buff Up aerial has drastically lower ending lag (FAF 80 → 36).
    • Buff Up aerial auto-cancels much earlier (frame 46 → 17).
      • Nerf However, it can no longer auto-cancel while its hitboxes are still out.
    • Nerf Up aerial has more startup lag with a much shorter duration (frames 10-79 → 11-13) with its hitboxes no longer lasting the entire animation once they have been activated.
    • Nerf Up aerial's hitbox is positioned in a more awkward spot on his foot which along with its shorter duration, makes it much harder to land (especially if Kirby's opponent is below him) unless Kirby's opponent is above him.
    • Nerf Up aerial no longer has a landing hit.
  • Down aerial:
    • Buff Due to the increase to the tumble threshold, down aerial does not put opponents into tumble until much higher percents; making it more reliable against grounded opponents.
    • Nerf Down aerial only hits 6 times instead of 10 which in turn:
      • Nerf Makes it deal much less damage (30% → 16%).
      • Nerf Shortens its duration (frames 4-5/7-8/10-11/13-14/16-17/19-20/22-23/25-26/28-29/31-32 → 18-19/21-22/24-25/27-28/30-31/33-34).
    • Nerf The landing hit deals less damage (3% → 2%).
      • Nerf Due to the changes to L-canceling, the landing hitbox will now appear when the move is L-canceled (as well as naturally having higher landing lag) making it more difficult to combo with.
    • Nerf The landing hit has smaller hitboxes (5u/5u → 3.12u/3.12u) and they are positioned closer to Kirby (z offset: 5 → 3.9).
    • Change The landing hit has reduced set knockback (80 → 60).
    • Nerf Down aerial has much more startup lag (frame 4 → 18) as well as increased ending lag (FAF 50 → 55).
    • Nerf Down aerial's angle has been slightly altered (-90° → 270°) which when combined with the introduction of meteor canceling, makes the move much less reliable for edgeguarding.
    • Nerf Down aerial has smaller hitboxes (6.33u/6u → 6.05u/4.69u).
    • Nerf The changes to shields combined with the weakening of L-canceling has significantly hindered down aerial's shield pressuring potential no longer being able to lead into shield break combos.

Throws/other attacks[edit]

  • Grabs:
    • Buff As with all returning veterans, Kirby has gained an up throw, down throw and a pummel.
    • Nerf As with all returning veterans without a tether grab, Kirby's grabs have more startup lag (frame 6 → 7 (standing), 11 (dash)) and ending lag (FAF 16 → 31 (standing), 41 (dash)).
    • Nerf Kirby's standing grab has smaller grabboxes (4.33u/2.66u → 3.52u/1.95u) and its animation has changed: with Kirby no longer taking a step forward. This noticeably reduces its range, despite the far hitbox being moved further out (z offset: -0.66 → 0).
      • Buff The near grabbox however is now positioned inside of Kirby, making it easier for Kirby to grab opponents on top of him.
    • Nerf Kirby's new forward throw and back throw can now be escaped at any time before the animation ends, leaving Kirby vulnerable and wide open to a punish. This can also result in Kirby Sacrificing himself while his opponents easily survive.
      • Nerf As a result, this makes Kirby's forward and back throws completely useless; being easy contenders for the worst throws in the entire series.
  • Forward throw:
    • Change Kirby has a new forward throw: he suplexes the opponent forward. It is based on the Pile Driver from the Suplex ability. It is faster than his previous forward throw and can set up into a Kirbycide more reliably but it is also weaker.
    • Nerf Kirby now loses all of his jumps after using forward throw.
  • Back throw:
    • Change Back throw has been altered: Kirby now jumps up and moves slightly backwards.
      • Nerf Because of this, it can now be used as a Kirbycide although since the throw can be escaped, this hurts the throw overall.
    • Change Kirby releases his opponent from back throw later (frame 24 → 29).
      • Buff This gives the throw less ending lag if it connects.
      • Nerf However, this gives the opponent more time to DI or (more importantly) escape the throw.
    • Nerf Back throw deals much less damage (16% → 8%) and knockback (70 (base), 70 (scaling) → 80/50).
  • Up throw:
    • Change Kirby's previous forward throw is now his up throw.
      • Nerf In the process, it deals less damage (13% → 10%) and base knockback (100 → 70) considerably hindering its KO potential despite it sending opponents at a higher angle (70° → 90°).
    • Change Kirby releases his opponent from up throw earlier (frame 58 → 51).
    • Nerf Up throw no longer has a collateral hit.
    • Nerf Kirby now loses all of his jumps after using up throw.
    • Nerf If Kirby does not land with his forward throw, he will always be KOed first when he reaches the lower blastzone rather than being KOed at the same time as his opponent if he has the lower controller port.
    • Nerf Kirby's up throw can no longer land on platforms above him unless they are close enough to the ground (such as the lower platforms on Fountain of Dreams or Yoshi's Story).
  • Edge attacks:
    • Buff Edge attacks deal more damage (4% → 6%).
    • Nerf Edge attacks have less set knockback (100 → 90).
  • Fast edge attack:
    • Buff Fast edge attack has slightly reduced ending lag (FAF 57 → 56).
    • Nerf Fast edge attack has more startup lag with a shorter duration (frames 15-24 → 19-23).
  • Slow edge attack:
    • Change Kirby has a new slow edge attack: he does a split kick instead of a lunging headbutt. It has more horizontal range but less vertical range.
    • Buff Slow edge attack has less startup lag with a longer duration (frames 60-67 → 43-59).
    • Buff Slow edge attack has less ending lag (FAF 95 → 80).
  • Edge getup:
    • Buff Fast edge getup has less ending lag (FAF 37 → 34), no longer being slower than other fast edge getups.
    • Buff Fast edge getup has increased intangibility (frames 1-25 → 1-30), no longer having less intangibility than other edge getups.
    • Buff Slow edge getup has less ending lag (FAF 72 → 60).
    • Nerf Slow edge getup has less intangibility (frames 1-71 → 1-55), no longer lasting the entire animation.
  • Edge roll:
    • Buff Slow edge roll has less ending lag (FAF 100 → 80).
    • Nerf Fast edge roll has more ending lag (FAF 47 → 50).
    • Nerf Edge rolls have less intangibility (frames 1-46 (fast)/1-79 (slow) → 1-28/1-53). Fast edge roll notably no longer lasts for the entire animation.

Special moves[edit]

  • Swallow:
    • Buff Swallow has less startup lag (frame 20 → 17).
    • Buff Kirby can now walk and jump after inhaling an opponent.
    • Buff Swallowing an opponent to obtain their copy ability has less startup lag (frame 8 → 7).
    • Buff Swallowing an opponent to obtain their copy ability deals more damage (6% → 8%).
    • Buff Spitting opponents has less startup lag (frame 7 → 6).
    • Buff Spat opponents have increased base knockback against bystanders (60 → 70).
    • Buff Captain Falcon, Link and Samus deal more damage to bystanders when spat out (17% → 18%).
    • Change After the opponent breaks out of Inhale, Kirby and his opponent will now go into a grab release state rather than both characters going into a tumble state.
    • Change Spat opponents launch bystanders at a higher angle (361° → 70°).
    • Nerf Swallow has more ending lag (FAF 79 → 80).
    • Nerf Swallow has smaller grabboxes (4.83u/6u → 3.52u/5.47u).
    • Nerf Spitting opponents has more ending lag (FAF 28 → 30).
    • Nerf A swallowed or spat opponent no longer takes damage until Kirby has swallowed them/spat them out (frame 1 → 7/6).
    • Nerf A swallowed opponent can now get out of the star animation at any point by simply moving or pushing a button.
    • Nerf Spat opponents have a shorter hitbox duration (frames 7-40 → 6-34).
      • Nerf Additionally, a spat opponent can now get out of the star animation starting from frame 8, significantly hindering its reliability.
    • Nerf A majority of the cast deals less damage to bystanders when spat out (17% (Jigglypuff/Kirby/Pikachu/Fox/Ness) → 10% (Jigglypuff)/12% (Kirby)/13% (Pikachu)/16% (Fox/Ness), 25% → 18% (Yoshi), 30% → 19% (Donkey Kong)), making it less reliable in doubles or free-for-alls, especially when Jigglypuff and Donkey Kong are spat out.
  • Hammer:
    • Change As with all returning veterans, Kirby has gained a side special move: Hammer. Kirby takes out a hammer and swings it. It has a powerful sweetspot and can be used in the air also to quickly rack up damage although the grounded version is slow (and has a much weaker sourspot which is easier to land) while the aerial version can be escaped very easily.
  • Final Cutter:
    • Buff Kirby can now reverse Final Cutter.
    • Buff Final Cutter has slightly reduced landing lag (35 frames → 34).
    • Buff The rising hit has a longer duration (frame 23 → 23-24).
    • Buff The wave has less startup lag with a longer duration (frames 4-22 → 2-26).
    • Change Aerial Final Cutter no longer increases Kirby's size.
    • Change The rising hit has slightly lower set knockback (121/105 → 117/102).
    • Nerf Final Cutter travels less horizontal distance and height, hindering its recovery potential.
    • Nerf The falling hit's first hitbox has more startup lag with a shorter duration (frames 46-49 → 47-49).
    • Nerf The falling hit's second hitbox is much smaller (7.5u → 3.84u).
    • Nerf The falling hitbox has significantly reduced set knockback (200 → 100) along with a slightly altered angle (-85° → 275°).
      • Nerf When combined with the introduction of meteor canceling, this significantly hinders its edgeguarding potential.
    • Nerf The wave deals much less knockback (70 (base), 50 (scaling) → 60/30).
    • Nerf The wave no longer does extra shield damage (1 → 0).
    • Nerf The wave is smaller (4.16u → 3.12u).
  • Stone:
    • Change As well as a Stone, Kirby can also change into a block, a spiky ball, a 100 ton weight or a thwomp when using Stone.
    • Change Stone launches opponents at a higher angle (50° → 70°).
    • Nerf Stone has more startup lag in the air (frame 23 → 29).
    • Nerf Stone has more ending lag when cancelled (FAF 30 → 32).
    • Nerf Stone can no longer be cancelled immediately when used on the ground.
      • Nerf This also means that Kirby can no longer laglessly use Stone at an edge or when respawning.
    • Nerf Stone deals less damage (20% → 18%) and knockback (70 (base), 70 (scaling) → 65/55).
    • Nerf Stone has a much smaller hitbox (6.66u → 2.73u).

Version history[edit]

Like other characters, Kirby received some changes in the PAL version of Melee, which slightly buffed him overall as he is faster, heavier and he overall has slightly more range and KO power. These changes however fail to properly address Kirby's flaws so while Kirby is less of a contender for the worst character in the game, he still remains one of the weakest characters overall.

PAL

  • Buff Kirby's weight has been increased (70 → 74).
  • Buff Kirby dashes faster (1.4 → 1.5).
  • Buff Forward tilt has increased base knockback (8 → 10).
  • Buff Up tilt's late hit's foot hitbox has been re-positioned (x offset: 4.8 → 5.6) giving it more range.
  • Buff Clean dash attack deals 1% more damage (8% → 9%).
  • Nerf Dash attack has decreased knockback scaling (66 → 50), making it slightly weaker despite its higher damage.
  • Buff Forward smash's hitboxes have been re-positioned (x offset: 1.2/3.2 → 2/4 (clean), 2/3.6 (late)) giving it more range.
    • Buff The clean hit has higher base knockback (24 → 32).
    • Buff The late hit deals more damage (13% → 14%) and base knockback (18 → 26).
    • Buff The late hit's angle has been altered (75° → 361°) granting it edgeguarding potential.
  • Buff Down smash's semi-spike hitboxes have increased base knockback (20 → 22).
  • Buff Forward and down aerials have less landing lag (20/10 frames → 18/9).
  • Buff Forward aerial's foot hitboxes have been re-positioned (z offset: 10.8 → 12) giving it more range.
  • Buff Back aerial's foot hitboxes have been re-positioned (z offset: -8.176 → -9.2) giving it more range.

Moveset[edit]

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

Kirby's aerial attacks
  Name Damage Description
Neutral attack Right Punch (右パンチ) / Left Punch (左パンチ) / Vulcan Jab (バルカンジャブ) 3% Kirby jabs forwards with both hands, followed by a short series of fast punches. Based on the Vulcan Jab move he can perform with the Fighter ability in his main games.
4%
1% (loop)
Forward tilt Spinning Kick (スピニングキック) 11% Kirby does a quick roundhouse kick forward. Decent range. Can be angled. Very quick and powerful and good for hitting an opponent offstage.
Up tilt Back Kick (カービィテイル, Kirby Tail) 8% (clean), 6% (late) Kirby thrusts his back leg upwards. Most useful if the opponent is behind Kirby. Was thought to be useless at one point, but is now considered to be one of his better moves. Can juggle opponents and lead to combos.
Down tilt Squish Kick (ローキック, Low Kick) 10% Kirby kicks forwards while crouching. Fast with decent range. Very useful since Kirby can crouch under most attacks.
Dash attack Fire Kirby (バーニング, Burning) 8% (NTSC clean), 9% (PAL clean), 5% (late) Kirby dashes forward with a fiery spiraling headbutt. Based on the Burn move from the Fire ability in his games. Uniquely, it can fall off ledges and platforms. This attack has transcendent priority. This move has high ending lag and is punishable if missed.
Forward smash Smash Kick (スマッシュキック) 15% (clean), 13% (late) Kirby slides forwards, delivering a very large jump kick. Has weak knockback for a forward smash. Can be angled up or down. Based on the Spin Kick from the Fighter ability.
Up smash Kirby Flip Kick (エアカッター, Air Cutter) 15%/13% (clean), 14%/12% (mid), 13%/12% (late) Kirby does a bicycle kick. Deals more damage and knockback if the opponent is closer to Kirby's foot and the sweetspot has great knockback.
Down smash Propeller Kick (プロペラキック) 14% (clean), 10% (late) Kirby does a split kick, hitting on both of his sides. Has decent knockback. Both of Kirby's feet are intangible during the early part of the animation. Great move to use with crouch canceling.
Neutral aerial Twinkle Star (ティンクルスター) 10% (clean), 8% (mid), 6% (late) Stretches out and spins rapidly in a somersaulting spin. Has a long lasting hitbox. The move is supposed to have four hitboxes with the clean hit dealing 12% however, it is overlapped by the 10% hitbox as the 10% hitbox spawns before the 12% hitbox.
Forward aerial Spiral Kick (カービィスパイラル, Kirby Spiral) 5% (hits 1-2), 8% (hit 3) (≈16.83% total), 3% (landing) Kirby kicks forwards three times. Last hit has medium knockback. If not L-cancelled, it also has a landing hitbox that can stack up with the three kicks if timed perfectly. Good move to use off the edge and a decent approach move.
Back aerial Drop Kick (ドロップキック) 14% (clean), 10% (late) Quickly crouches in midair then kicks both his legs behind him. Can be used in the fence of pain. Good knockback. Great kill move and one of his best moves in general.
Up aerial Floating Flip Kick (エアカッター, Air Cutter) 15% Kirby flips in midair, kicking upwards. Great knockback (while also not being too slow), possibly Kirby's best KO move and the third strongest up aerial in Melee. Sends opponents horizontally and can set up an edgeguard.
Down aerial Screw Driver (スクリュードライバー) 3% (hits 1-6), 2% (landing) (≈18.47% total) Kirby spins around, drilling downwards with both his feet. Has a somewhat long start-up, but acts as a weak meteor smash. It also has a landing hitbox that has horizontal knockback, and can stack up with the six hits. Good move to stop recoveries, it even stops Fox's Fire Fox.
Grab Grab (つかみ)
Pummel Slap (つかみびんた, Grab Slap) 3% A quick jab to the opponent, but contains more ending lag than most pummels.
Forward throw Power Bomb (パワーボム) 8% Kirby does a suplex, hitting the opponent on the ground. Can be used to Kirbycide. Escapable during the throw. Based on the Jumping Body Slam from the Suplex ability in Kirby Super Star, also known as Rock Drop in Kirby Super Star Ultra.
Back throw Brain Buster (ブレーンバスター) 8% Kirby flips backward, hitting the opponent on the ground. Can be used to Kirbycide. Escapable during the throw. Based on the Backdrop ability from Kirby's Adventure.
Up throw Ninja Drop (いずな落とし, Izuna Drop) 10% Kirby jumps high up into the air, and comes back down, ramming the opponent to the ground by doing a suplex. Can be used to Kirbycide on certain stages. During the fall, it can also pass through soft platforms. However, this move will remove all of Kirby's jumps. Based on the Air Drop from the Ninja ability in Kirby Super Star.
Down throw Victory Dance (もうれつストンピング, Fury Stomping) 7% Kirby throws the opponent on the ground, then stands on the opponent, hitting the enemy with his feet. Despite the animation, only the final hit does damage. Send enemies vertically afterward. Based on the Quick Stamping from the Suplex ability in Kirby Super Star.
Forward roll
Back roll
Spot dodge
Air dodge
Techs
Floor attack (front)
Floor getups (front)
  6% Gets up and does a spin kick.
Floor attack (back)
Floor getups (back)
  6% Gets up, quickly kicking on one side, then the other.
Edge attack (fast)
Edge getups (fast)
  6% Kirby does a flip kick onto the stage.
Edge attack (slow)
Edge getups (slow)
  6% Kirby does a spinning split kick onto the stage.
Neutral special Swallow 8% (copy), 10% (spit), 8-19% (star collision) Kirby sucks up his opponent. He can exhale them as a star to deal damage, or copy their neutral special move. The star Kirby spits out acts as a projectile and hurts nearby foes. Damage of the star depends on the character's weight.
Side special Hammer Ground: 23% (sweetspot), 16% (sourspot)
Air: 4% (loop early), 2% (loop late)
Kirby swings his hammer. The sweetspot is located on the head of the hammer, while the sourspot is on the handle. In the air, Kirby does a vertical spinning attack that hits multiple times.
Up special Final Cutter 8% (rise), 2% (drop), 6% (wave) Kirby uses his Final Cutter attack. Kirby rises with a hitbox, then plunges down to the ground until a platform is hit. This move cannot be cancelled. Upon impact with the ground, the beam fires forward as a projectile.
Down special Stone 18% Kirby uses his Stone ability to turn into a heavy object and plunges to the ground, sliding on non-flat surfaces. While in this form, only grabs will affect Kirby. The attack will time out after a short period of time, and it can also be cancelled with another use of the move.

Stats[edit]

Data.png This article or section may require additional technical data.
The editor who added this tag elaborates: Needs double jump height
You can discuss this issue on the talk page or edit this page to improve it.

NTSC

Stats Weight Dash speed Walk speed Traction Air friction Air speed Air acceleration Gravity Falling speed Jumpsquat Jump height Double jump height Empty landing Lag
Value 70 1.4 – Initial dash
1.4 – Run
0.85 0.08 0.02 0.78 0.02 – Base
0.04 – Additional
0.08 1.6 – Base
2Fast-fall
3 2.0 - Base
14.82 - Short hop
? 4

PAL

Stats Weight Dash speed Walk speed Traction Air friction Air speed Air acceleration Gravity Falling speed Jumpsquat Jump height Double jump height Empty landing Lag
Value 74 1.4 – Initial dash
1.5 – Run
0.85 0.08 0.02 0.78 0.02 – Base
0.04 – Additional
0.08 1.6 – Base
2Fast-fall
3 2.0 - Base
14.82 - Short hop
? 4

Announcer call[edit]

Taunt[edit]

  • Waves and says his signature elongated "Hi!". The taunt's animation differs slightly, depending on what direction Kirby is facing.
Kirby-Taunt-SSBM.gif

Idle pose[edit]

  • Hops a bit to look back, then hops again returning to normal position.
Kirby Idle Pose Melee.gif

Crowd cheer[edit]

English Japanese
Cheer
Description Kir - by! Kir - by! Kaaaa - bii!
Pitch Group chant Group chant

Victory poses[edit]

The "Level Complete" music that originated in Kirby's Dream Land.
  • Moonwalks left, spins to the center, crouch slides to the right, spins back to the center, then holds his hand up.
  • Skids right while looking up twice, bounces across the screen, shakes away from the camera, bounces to the center, then holds his hand up.
  • Jumps to the right, spins across the screen, crouches twice, jumps to the center, then holds his hand up.
Kirby-Victory1-SSBM.gif Kirby-Victory2-SSBM.gif Kirby-Victory3-SSBM.gif

In competitive play[edit]

Most historically significant players[edit]

See also: Category:Kirby players (SSBM)
  • USA Cereal Rabbit - Considered to be the best Kirby in NorCal and one of the best Kirby players of all time. Placing 17th at NorCal Arcadian #3 and 33rd at HTC Throwdown, these were the best Kirby results seen on the West Coast. His win over Crimson Blur is one of the best wins the character has seen. He is also the only Kirby player to have beaten one of the Five Gods with Armada who was using secondaries. Although it should be noted that this win is not taken too seriously as Armada was intoxicated in the set. He has not been active in the scene since 2016.
  • USA KrazyKirbyKid - A top Kirby player in the early metagame. At a few of the most notable tournaments at the time, he placed 5th at EVO South and made the most impressive Kirby-related major run with 9th at MOAST 3. He also has taken some sets over notable players of that era, mainly Rob$.
  • USA Triple R - The best Kirby player in the world and of all time. He made multiple feats with the character, placing top 8 at a few regionals with 5th at Push More Buttons and 7th at Kings of the North V, and placing 25th at Smash 'N' Splash 2, the best result for a Kirby player in a major since MOAST 3. He has beaten players such as AbsentPage and Luigikid and has been ranked 3rd at the Minnesota Power Rankings several times. Similar to Cereal Rabbit, Triple R has not competed in a tournament since 2016.

Tier placement and history[edit]

Kirby has historically always ranked very low on Melee tier lists; compared to Pikachu, Kirby's nerfs from Super Smash Bros. were much more significant, removing almost all of the aspects that made him dominant in the original Smash Bros. and leaving him with considerably fewer options in both offense and defense. Players immediately noticed that Kirby was left with poor KOing power, a poor approach, and a severe vulnerability to edgeguarding and premature falls due to his light weight, low air speed, and telegraphed recovery. Owing to Kirby's significant drawbacks, there have been only a few professional smashers that have developed his metagame for serious play, with a large number of them failing to place notably in large tournaments. While more prolific Kirby mains were active in the past, such as KrazyKirbyKid and Triple R, there exist few such professionals in present-day competitive Melee, causing Kirby's metagame to remain highly stagnant. Additionally, even prior to the stagnation of his metagame, Kirby was considered to rely on the opponent's lack of matchup experience to win matches.

As a result of this stagnancy and Kirby's numerous flaws, Kirby has consistently ranked as one of Melee's worst fighters. He is currently ranked second-to-last at 25th place on the current tier list. However, some professional smashers, such as Kira and Ginger, believe that Kirby is underrated, as his tournament results and player base have been notably better than other characters such as Bowser, Zelda, and Ness. Armada himself places Kirby at 24th on his own tier list, citing Kirby's crouch, tilts, and aerials as having mild utility while also having a decent edgeguarding game.

In 1-P Mode[edit]

Classic Mode[edit]

In Classic Mode, Kirby can appear as an ordinary opponent, as an ally or opponent in the team battles, alongside Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Pichu, or the Ice Climbers, as a member of a multi-character battle, or as a metal opponent. In Kirby's appearances, he appears either on Fountain of Dreams or Green Greens, and on a team with the Ice Climbers, he appears on Icicle Mountain.

Adventure Mode[edit]

Kirby's sole appearance is on Stage 5: Green Greens. He first appears in a one-on-one fight then 15 Kirbys appear each possessing a Copy Ability. If the single Kirby and the Kirby team are KO'd in less than 31 seconds, the player must also fight a giant Kirby.

All-Star Mode[edit]

Kirby and his allies are fought on Green Greens.

Event Matches[edit]

Kirby is featured in the following event matches:

Congratulations Screens[edit]

Trophies[edit]

In addition to the normal trophy about Kirby as a character unlocked by completing Classic Mode as Kirby on any difficulty, there are two trophies about him as a fighter, unlocked by completing Adventure Mode and All-Star Mode respectively as Kirby on any difficulty. Each of the trophies can also be unlocked by playing 100, 200, and 300 versus matches respectively as Kirby:

Classic Mode trophy
Kirby
A denizen of the far-off, peaceful planet Pop Star, Kirby became a citizen of Dream Land after defeating King Dedede. Even though he's only about eight inches tall, Kirby is an extremely skilled technician. He has the unique ability to absorb the powers of his enemies, and his elastic body makes him a versatile adventurer.
Kirby's Dream Land (8/92)
Adventure Mode SMASH trophy
Kirby SMASH
Kirby's small size lets him dodge many attacks, but his light weight makes him fly far when struck. Using his ability to inflate, he can jump five times. His Swallow attack creates wild combos; not only can he copy foes' moves, but he'll also put on special hats and mimic their voices. His Hammer is unwieldy but powerful.
B: Swallow
Smash B: Hammer
All-Star Mode SMASH trophy
Kirby SMASH
Because of his light weight, Kirby is always in danger of being sent flying, but his ability to puff up and fly allows him to come back from amazing distances. His Final Cutter strikes on the way up and on the way down, and it sends out a beam of force upon landing. Kirby transforms into various objects and crashes down when he uses his Stone technique.
Up & B: Final Cutter
Down & B: Stone

Kirby is also the subject of five trophies that can be considered its own trophy series: the Kirby Hat series, with information about the powers Kirby gains when he uses Swallow on each opponent. The first three are "normally collectible" trophies that can be found during normal play and in the Trophy Lottery, but the last two are awarded once the player has unlocked all the playable characters involved on those trophies.

Alternate costumes[edit]

Kirby Palette (SSBM).png
Kirby (SSBM) Kirby (SSBM) Kirby (SSBM) Kirby (SSBM) Kirby (SSBM) Kirby (SSBM)

Gallery[edit]

Trivia[edit]

  • Kirby's special moves from Melee are used in the game Kirby & The Amazing Mirror, through the use of the ability called Smash. The moves he gets are Twinkle Star (neutral aerial from Melee, although in this game it has much more range), Hammer, Final Cutter, Stone, and Vulcan Jab. He does not, however, receive Burning, which is his dash attack. He gets the ability from Master Hand, who is a boss in the game.
  • Kirby has the shortest taunt, followed by Mr. Game & Watch.
  • Kirby is one of the only two characters in the entire Super Smash Bros. series that has had escapable throws, the other being Olimar.
  • As the first nine hits of Kirby's down throw are meteor smashes, KO'ing an opponent with the move will earn the Meteor Smash bonus, even though neither the last hit nor the throw itself are meteor smashes.
  • A glitch exists where Kirby can dash attack off an edge, land on a different platform, and immediately perform a dash grab. This requires the player to use the dash attack within one or two frames of leaving the edge and then hold down a shield button until Kirby lands. The glitch likely exists because the game allows a buffer between "attack" and "shield" inputs to count as a "grab" input while dashing, which is not properly reset when Kirby attacks off the edge.
    • There is another glitch where if Kirby swallows an opponent and falls off the stage, the opponent will be KO'd and Kirby will not lose a life. With proper timing, a good Kirby player can even recover from a successful KO of this manner. This glitch exists due to the foe's hitboxes reacting to the blast zone before Kirby's, thanks to his small size relative to the rest of the cast.
  • Kirby, Mario, Peach, Yoshi, Link, Young Link, Falco, and Pikachu are the only characters whose portraits on the character select screen match their official artwork.
  • Kirby is one of four characters (alongside Sheik, Samus, and Donkey Kong in NTSC versions) whose neutral special charge is lost if hit out of at least one specific special move. In Kirby's case, if he has copied one of the three aforementioned character's moves, he loses the copy ability's charge level if hit out of any of his specials.
    • In addition to this, he also loses the charge when hit for the first time per copied ability.

External links[edit]