Little Mac (SSBU)

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Little Mac in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Universe	Punch-Out!!
Other playable appearance	in SSB4
Availability	Unlockable
Final Smash	Giga Mac Rush

“	As a boxer, Little Mac fights with his fists alone—no kicks! When his Power Meter fills up, he can use a special KO Uppercut, which can really turn a battle around. For his Final Smash, he turns into Giga Mac and pummels the opponent with a furious rush of punches!	”
—Super Smash Blog, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Official Site

Little Mac (リトル・マック, Little Mac) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, officially confirmed on June 12th, 2018. Little Mac is classified as fighter #49.

Kosuke Toriumi reprises his role as Little Mac in the game, via reused voice clips from Smash 4.

How to unlock

Complete one of the following:

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

With the exception of the third method, Little Mac must then be defeated on Boxing Ring.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. 4

Little Mac has gained significant buffs in the transition from Smash 4 to Ultimate. His notoriously poor recovery in the previous game has been remedied due to readdition of directional air dodges, Jolt Haymaker no longer causing helplessness while traveling more distance, KO Uppercut granting recovery distance in midair, and his general air speed being considerably faster. The universal changes benefit Mac as well, most notably with the readdition of dash dancing granting him one of the game's best dash dances, the universal nerf to shield grabs and grabs in general making him more difficult to punish out of shield, and dash cancels giving him arguably the biggest benefit of any fighter, as he now has access to all his grounded options at any time. Finally, the universal reduction to landing lag allow his aerials to function as risky, yet usable combo starters, while Straight Lunge, previously an extremely situational move, can now be shield-canceled and can be turned around if needed.

However, Little Mac has received significant nerfs as well. KO Uppercut has been reduced in knockback and no longer KOs excessively early, while his down tilt is slower, thus nerfing previously guaranteed combos. In addition, despite the benefits some universal changes have granted him, Little Mac is one of the characters to benefit the least from more specific changes. Since defensive options (shielding, air dodges, rolls, and spot dodges) have been nerfed, Little Mac is more susceptible to juggling and gimps despite his improved recovery, while the universal reduction of landing lag benefits him far less while strengthening most of the cast's aerial games, making it harder for him to contest against aerial rushdowns. The inability to run past shields make it easier to corner Little Mac and read his fairly linear approach. Finally, despite the significant improvements to Jolt Haymaker's aerial distance, it can now only be used once before landing, making any misuse or interruption of the move fatal offstage.

As a result, Little Mac has been rebalanced to fare better when recovering while also hitting as hard as he used to, though at the cost of his ground game being less effective, since he is now required to capitalize on reactions rather than guaranteed combos from his ground attacks.

Aesthetics

• As with all veterans returning from SSB4, Little Mac's model features a more subdued color scheme. His clothing now features simple detailing and his muscles are slightly more pronounced.
• Little Mac no longer has sixteen alternate costumes, only eight. Of the cut costumes, his blue and orange outfits have been removed, while Wire-Frame Mac has notably been reduced to just two outfits: his standard and sweatshirt outfits.
• For certain attacks, the visual effects will match the color of Little Mac's boxing gloves.
• Side taunt has been altered to have a significantly more noticeable glove-tightening and arm-swinging animation.
• Air dodge has an altered animation.
• Once KO Uppercut is used or lost, the Power Meter now shows the meter physically draining to zero, rather than cutting immediately to the lowest level.
• Little Mac now winces and frowns while clapping during the results screen.
• Doc Louis' quotes have been shortened in Little Mac's victory poses.
• Doc Louis no longer appears in Little Mac's victory pose during Team Battles.

Attributes

• Like all characters, Little Mac's jumpsquat animation now takes three frames to complete (down from 5).
• Little Mac benefits from the re-addition of directional air dodges, which grant him increased offstage survivability and a new option to mix up his landings.
• Little Mac benefits significantly from the ability to dash cancel almost any grounded attack, increasing the versatility of his ground game.
• As characters no longer dash through each other, many of Little Mac's moves now connect consistently better, most notably with forward smash, Straight Lunge, and KO Uppercut.
  • This change hinders his mixup options, as he can no longer run through opponents for a positional advantage.
• Little Mac dashes much faster (2.24 → 2.464).
• Little Mac walks slightly faster (1.32 → 1.386).
• Little Mac's air speed is much faster (1 → 1.208), going from tied for 31st fastest in Smash 4 to tied for 12th in Ultimate. Among other things, this improves his recovery.
• Little Mac's max additional air acceleration is slightly higher (0.028 → 0.03).
• Little Mac jumps higher, now being able to reach the lower platforms of Battlefield with one full hop, and the top platform with both jumps. This improves his offstage survivability and prevents him from being camped as easily.
• Little Mac's falling speed (1.8 → 1.95) and fast falling speed (1.95 → 3.12) are much faster, now tied with King Dedede for the 2nd highest falling speed. This increases his survivability but makes him easier to combo.
• Little Mac is heavier (82 → 87). This increases his survivability but makes him easier to combo.

Ground attacks

• Like most neutral attacks in the game, the first two hits of Mac's jab can now jab reset, though it can be difficult to land on smaller characters.
  • Due to the universal improvements to neutral infinites, Little Mac's neutral infinite connects significantly better, as it could be escaped from relatively easily in SSB4.
  • The first and second hits deal less damage (2% → 1.5% (hit 1), 2% → 1.5% (hit 2)).
  • Holding down the standard attack button now causes Little Mac to do his three hit jab, while mashing it causes him to perform his neutral infinite. Previously, the infinite would be initiated by holding down standard attack.
• Up tilt deals less damage.
• Up tilt deals far less knockback, allowing for greater combo potential at later percents.
• Down tilt has more ending lag (FAF 22 → 26), reducing its combo ability.
• All smash attacks now cause the screen to shake.
• While using any smash attack, Little Mac now voices out in pain if he takes damage during the move. This allows for a minor mindgame when Mac is hit during his super armor state, but is otherwise a small detail.
• All smash attacks trigger a Special Zoom effect if Little Mac is hit during their startup and lands the move on an opponent.
• Unangled forward smash now produces a softer "wind" sound, rather than the sharp punching sound effect used in Smash 4.
• Unangled forward smash deals less knockback.
• Downward angled forward smash deals more knockback.
• Forward smash no longer has a blindspot.

Aerial attacks

• All aerials except for neutral aerial have less landing lag and more KO power, although they are still extremely weak.

Throws/other attacks

• Grab range has been increased.
• Pummel is much faster.
• Little Mac has altered swing animations for battering items like the Beam Sword, no longer performing a stab forward when using a forward smash. This applies to all except his dash attack. Like in Smash 4, he shares this change with Captain Falcon.
• Down throw deals more knockback, weakening its combo potential.

Special Moves

• Straight Lunge:
  • Straight Lunge can now be canceled by shielding.
  • Like with most non-storable charge moves, Straight Lunge can be unleashed in the opposite direction upon releasing the move.
  • Fully-charged Straight Lunge no longer has a blind spot, as characters can no longer pass through each other.
  • Straight Lunge now gains power and damage as it is charged; previously, it had fixed damage values for an uncharged and fully-charged attack.
    • Uncharged Straight Lunge deals less damage (14% → 12%).
    • Fully-charged Straight Lunge deals more damage (25% → 30%), and now deals consistent damage throughout the move instead of having a weaker late hit.
• KO Uppercut:
  • KO Uppercut has a new animation. Little Mac now performs a jumping uppercut while facing the screen, making it appear more identical to the Star Punch from Punch-Out!! on the NES.
  • KO Uppercut no longer zooms in on Little Mac in a non-1v1 match due to the new Special Zoom mechanic.
  • KO Uppercut's new animation gives the move more vertical range, allowing it to hit opponents on the lower platforms of Battlefield. It also grants recovery distance if used in midair.
  • KO Uppercut is performed faster in general, making it harder to punish.
  • KO Uppercut has lowered knockback, causing it to KO later.
  • KO Uppercut is lost faster if Little Mac is hit.
  • Aerial KO Uppercut can now be countered by counterattacks. [1]
  • KO Uppercut's short jump and increased forward momentum now makes it possible for Mac to be sent offstage accidentally, even when used on the ground.
• Jolt Haymaker:
  • Grounded Jolt Haymaker makes Little Mac spend less time in the air. He also lands with significantly more traction.
  • Grounded Jolt Haymaker has reduced ending lag.
  • Jolt Haymaker deals less knockback.
  • Grounded Jolt Haymaker travels a shorter distance.
  • Jolt Haymaker no longer renders Little Mac helpless and keeps more forward momentum, thus granting more distance. This significantly improves his recovery and turns what was previously a common suicidal mistake into a potent edge guarding tool.
  • Aerial Jolt Haymaker can only be used once until Mac touches the ground again, even if he is hit out of it.
• Rising Uppercut:
  • Rising Uppercut is stronger and travels a higher distance when performed on the ground.
  • Aerial Rising Uppercut snaps to the ledge earlier on during the move, instead of only during startup and after the final hitbox appears.
  • Aerial Rising Uppercut travels slightly higher.
  • Aerial Rising Uppercut keeps a small amount of forward momentum, slightly improving its horizontal distance.
  • Rising Uppercut's first hit now has a trail to highlight its hitbox.
• Slip Counter:
  • Slip Counter grants less momentum after an aerial counter. This lowers its recovery potential, but makes it less likely that Mac gets accidentally sent offstage by a counter.
  • Slip Counter now produces an aesthetic spark upon retaliating.
• Final Smash:
  • Little Mac has a new Final Smash called Giga Mac Rush. Rather than using Giga Mac as a controllable transformation, Little Mac transforms into his Giga Mac form and rushes forward, and if he comes into contact with an opponent, he unleashes a rush of punches before launching them.

Classic Mode: Friendly Sparring

Little Mac fights fighters that are close range martial artists. During the battles, every item except the Sandbag is disabled. As such, the Sandbag can be hit but will only spawn visual confetti.

Round	Opponent	Stage	Music	Notes
1	Incineroar	Boxing Ring	Battle! (Elite Four) / Battle! (Solgaleo/Lunala)
2	Ryu	Suzaku Castle	Ryu Stage
3	4 Mii Brawlers	Arena Ferox	Battlefield - Super Smash Bros. Brawl
4	Captain Falcon	Port Town Aero Drive	Dream Chaser
5	Wireframe Mac	Boxing Ring	Jogging / Countdown	If playing as Wireframe Mac, he faces the default Little Mac instead.
6	Donkey Kong	Boxing Ring (Ω form)	Donkey Kong / Donkey Kong Jr. Medley
Bonus Stage
Final	Master Hand	Final Destination	Master Hand	On intensity 7.0 and higher, Crazy Hand fights alongside Master Hand, and the track Master Hand / Crazy Hand plays during the battle.

Role in World of Light

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

Little Mac can be found near a city area blocked through a door. To reach him, the player must first complete the power plant sub-area so the door can open. In the fight against him, he is an Attack spirit and has 3300 power. He is fought on an Omega version of Boxing Ring.

Alternate costumes

Gallery

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  Little Mac's fighter card.

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  Using Jolt Haymaker on Shadow Moses Island.

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  Punching Ganondorf on Coliseum.

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  Performing his side taunt on Wrecking Crew.

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

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

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  Giga Mac pummeling Wario.

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  Attacking Bowser on Mushroomy Kingdom.

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  Little Mac being taunted by Captain Falcon on Arena Ferox.

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

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  Hit by Incineroar on Big Blue.

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  Using Jolt Haymaker on Kirby in the Boxing Ring.

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  Getting slammed by Pikachu’s down throw in the Boxing Ring.

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  Getting kicked by Snake on Kalos Pokémon League.

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  Little Mac being attacked by Marshadow on Temple.

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

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  Performing his up taunt on the Bridge of Eldin.

Trivia

• Little Mac's Showcase Video has him follow Wario's motor bike while wearing his pink sweatsuit. This is a reference to the Punch-Out!! series, where Little Mac runs alongside Doc Louis on his bicycle.
• Little Mac's pose in his official art resembles the pose he performs while using Slip Counter.
• Little Mac's Classic Mode has a high spawn rate of Sandbag, as a reference to his reveal video where he has a Sandbag in his training ring, as well as usage of similar punching bags by real boxers.
• Little Mac's penultimate battle in Classic Mode is against Donkey Kong, which alludes to their previous bout in the Wii version of Punch-Out!!.
• Little Mac is unlockable in Mario's Classic Mode column, which could be referencing how Mario refereed the bouts in the NES Punch Out game.