Mr. Game & Watch (SSBM)

Mr. Game & Watch in Super Smash Bros. Melee
Universe	Game & Watch
Other playable appearances	in Brawl in SSB4 in Ultimate
Availability	Unlockable
Tier	C- (19) (North America) G (19) (Europe)

Mr. Game & Watch (Mr. ゲーム＆ウォッチ, Mr. Game & Watch) is a character in Super Smash Bros. Melee. He was designed as a composite representation of various generic characters featured in the Game & Watch series, created by Gunpei Yokoi in 1980. He is the last character to be unlocked in the game.

Mr. Game & Watch is currently ranked 19th in Melee's tier list, at the bottom of the C- tier, which is his worst placement in the series. Mr. Game & Watch's positive attributes include extremely powerful KO moves that have a long duration as well as a slew of moderately effective special moves, two of which (Judgment and Oil Panic) can OHKO. However, Mr. Game & Watch's flaws are due to how he was translated to Melee; he has a bad approach due to his slow overall speed, and outside of his throws, his neutral game is rather predictable. His high hitstun and frailty also make him an easy target for combos. Mr. Game & Watch also has the dubious distinction of being the only character in the game who cannot L-cancel most of his aerial attacks, and is considered to have the worst shield in the game, as it fails to completely cover his entire body after even slight damage. All of this gives him very poor matchups against a majority of the cast, especially against higher-tiered characters.

How to unlock

Mr. Game & Watch must be defeated in battle before he can be unlocked. There are two ways the player can encounter Mr. Game & Watch:

• One way is to clear Classic Mode, Adventure Mode, Target Test, or All-Star Mode with all other characters. If the player fails to defeat Mr. Game & Watch, they can re-fight him by clearing any of those modes again with any character.
• Another way is to play 1,000 VS. matches to completion. If the player fails to defeat Mr. Game & Watch, they can re-fight him by playing another VS. match to completion. Mr. Game & Watch will not appear with this method until all the other characters are unlocked.

Mr. Game & Watch is fought on the Flat Zone stage.

Attributes

Mr. Game & Watch's shield, which fails to cover all of his hurtboxes even at full power.

Mr. Game & Watch generally acts as a speedy, weak character; however, he does have some incredibly powerful KO moves, most of which are slow (with the exception of his down tilt). Mr. Game & Watch's attributes tend to be scattered; he has an average falling speed, an above average air speed, an average traction, and the second lightest weight in the game. As a result of these attributes, Mr. Game & Watch has a wavedash that grants decent distance and speed.

Mr. Game & Watch is notable for having unusual properties in most of his attacks; his forward tilt and forward smash, for instance, have sex kick properties, harming others even after the primary hitbox dissipates. Additionally, his up smash and neutral aerial have long hitboxes that do not run out of power, making them good KO options. Additionally, Mr. Game & Watch has many disjointed hitboxes in his attacks (particularly his down smash), giving him deceptively decent range.

Mr. Game & Watch's aerial game is his strongest asset, as his aerials have large disjointed hitboxes, evident with his neutral aerial, often KO'ing opponents under 125%, while having a very large hitbox that covers him. His forward aerial is his best approaching tool as it can be L-canceled and has fast startup, though it has heavy landing lag when not L-canceled. His back aerial is multi-hitting and has a disjointed hitbox, making it somewhat unpredictable to counter. His up aerial is a two-hit attack, with the second hit having high KO power. It can also be used to juggle fast fallers and heavy characters. Lastly, his meteor smashing down aerial is effective at countering foes from below and KO'ing (the sourspot is slightly weaker than the sweetspot and sends foes on a diagonal trajectory). The down aerial's landing hitboxes add 5%-6% more damage, for a total of 19%-20% if the primary hitbox strikes first.

Mr. Game & Watch's specials also allow for significant power; Oil Panic can absorb projectiles and result in a powerful resulting projectile, and his Judgment has near OHKO potential. Mr. Game & Watch also has a rather good recovery from Fire; despite a lack of options and general predictability, it grants him significant vertical distance. The low hitstun and knockback, as well as an unpredictable trajectory gives Chef potential edgeguard capability.

Mr. Game & Watch's grab game is also decent, despite his below-average grab range. The resulting trajectories of his throws gives him solid chaingrab and combo potential, and as all his throws look identical, he can perform mindgames on opponents by challenging the player's perception of where they will end up.

Mr. Game & Watch's main flaw, however, is his awful approach. An awkward dash, mediocre wavedash, and slow, weak tilts on the ground (except for his down tilt) results in him heavily struggling on the ground, causing him to be reliant on dashdancing and foxtrotting to traverse stages. His aerial approach is just as poor; despite an above average falling speed and an average short hop, he has among the worst SHFFLs in the game, primarily due to the fact that his aerials have significant ending lag, and that his neutral, back, and up aerials have the dubious distinction of not having the ability to be L-cancelled due to a programming error that lists them as special moves.

Mr. Game & Watch's defensive game also suffers; despite a relatively small size and a very low crouch, he is very easy to shield stab due to having the smallest max shield in Melee due to a coding error, and his remaining defensive capabilities are poor, with short, slow rolling dodges and an equally short sidestep dodge. Due to his slow tilts and smashes and mostly situational specials, he has poor out of shield options. His recovery also suffers; despite its respectable vertical distance and average horizontal distance, Fire is very predictable and easy to read, inviting edgeguarding or edgehogging.

Mr. Game & Watch also suffers due to his ability to be easily combo'd; his light weight and high periods of hitstun makes him a viable target for combos and juggles, and his light weight also makes him very easy to KO, only making him more vulnerable.

Version history

NTSC 1.02

• Fixed the Item pickup glitch.
• Bucket and oil from Oil Panic no longer turn invisible upon landing on the ground.

Moveset

For a gallery of Mr. Game & Watch's hitboxes, see here.

Mr. Game & Watch's aerial attacks

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack		Greenhouse (グリーンハウス)	3%	Pulls out an insecticide pump and presses on it, shooting a puff of insecticide out. If the button is mashed, Mr. Game & Watch will fire the insecticide repeatedly. Originates from Greenhouse.
			3% (loop)
Forward tilt		Lion (ライオン)	10%	Thrusts a chair forwards. Has a long range, but significant starting lag. Originates from Lion.
Up tilt		Flag Man (フラッグマン)	9%	Pulls out a number one flag and waves it upwards. A good move for juggling. Originates from Flagman.
Down tilt		Manhole (マンホール)	12% (grounded), 9% (aerial)	Flips a manhole cover in front of him. Good vertical knockback, dealing more damage and knockback on a grounded opponent. Valuable combo starter at low percentages, and can KO above 100%. Originates from Manhole.
Dash attack		Helmet (ヘルメット)	9%	Puts on a helmet and charges forwards. Low knockback and sends opponents behind him. Good for racking up damage. Originates from Helmet.
Forward smash		Fire Attack (ファイアアタック)	18% (torch clean), 14% (body clean), 6% (late)	Pulls out a torch and swings it forwards. Very powerful, often KO'ing lightweights at 70%. In terms of knockback (not KO percentage), it is the third most powerful side smash in the game (along with Captain Falcon). Otherwise (due to its diagonal knockback), it is the 11th most powerful side smash in the game. This is Mr. Game & Watch`s most reliable smash attack, as it is faster and stronger than his other two smash attacks. The move lasts for a second after it is executed, where the opponent can still get hit. Originates from Fire Attack.
Up smash		Octopus (オクトパス)	18%	With a diving helmet on, leans backwards, then swings his head forwards. Has some start-up lag but also has high knockback, as well as a long duration. Mr. Game & Watch's head is intangible while the hitboxes are active, however due to a developer oversight his nose lacks intangibility, making the head intangibility useless. Originates from Octopus.
Down smash		Vermin (バーミン)	16% (hammers), 10% (handles)	Pulls out two hammers and swings them down on both of his sides. If the opponent is hit on the tips of the hammers, the opponent is hit upwards with high knockback (sweetspot), but if the enemy is hit with the handles, they are very feebly propelled horizontally. Its power is comparable to Bowser`s down smash. Originates from Vermin.
Neutral aerial		Parachute (パラシュート)	16%	Opens up a parachute. High horizontal knockback (can KO under 125%), but comes with a bit of start-up lag. Its hitbox covers all sides of Mr. Game & Watch. This attack cannot be L-canceled, though its landing lag is rather short (15 frames). Overall the most powerful neutral aerial in Melee and is one the most powerful aerials in the game. Originates from Parachute. This was fused with his recovery, Fire in later games.
Forward aerial		Cement Factory (セメントファクトリー)	16% (clean), 6% (late)	Pulls out a box in front of himself. If the initial hit connects, it has high damage, but only the lingering sourspot hits, the opponent will only receive minor damage with very low knockback. According to the official Melee website, this move originates from Mario's Cement Factory. However, the object looks closer to the boxes from the Game & Watch version of Mario Bros.
Back aerial		Turtle Bridge (タートルブリッジ)	5% (4 hits), 3% (landing)	Thrusts a river turtle backwards, which bites many times. A multi-hitting move, with all hits dealing light knockback. Like his neutral and up aerials, cannot be L-canceled. All hits deal approximately up to 18.65% due to stale move negation. Originates from Turtle Bridge.
Up aerial		Spitball Sparky (スピットボールスパーキー)	7% (hit 1), 9% (hit 2)	Blows upwards twice. The second hit has medium knockback. The first hit has knockback growth, which makes it less likely to lead into the second hit at higher percentages. However, the second hit can be landed without the first hit, if timed correctly. Like his neutral and back aerial, cannot be L-canceled. Both hits deal approximately 15.19% if they connect. Originates from Spitball Sparky.
Down aerial		Donkey Kong Jr. (ドンキーコングＪｒ．)	14% (sweetspot), 13% (sourspot), 6% (landing)	Pulls out a key and plunges downwards. If the opponent is under Mr. Game & Watch and gets hit right when the move comes out, it is a meteor smash. Originates from the Game & Watch version of Donkey Kong Jr.
Grab		Grab (つかみ)	—
Pummel		Alarm (アラーム)	3%	Pulls out a bell and hits the opponent with it. Somewhat slow for a pummel. Originates from the Game & Watch's alarm feature.
Forward throw		Forward Ball (ボール（前）, Ball (Front))	8%	Juggles the enemy as a ball, then launches the opponent forwards. Originates from Ball.
Back throw		Backward Ball (ボール（後）, Ball (Back))	8%	Juggles the enemy as a ball, then launches the opponent backwards. Originates from Ball.
Up throw		Vertical Ball (ボール（上）, Ball (Above))	8%	Juggles the enemy as a ball, then launches the opponent upwards. Can chaingrab fastfallers. Originates from Ball.
Down throw		Drop Ball (ボール（下）, Ball (Below))	8%	Juggles the enemy as a ball, then launches the opponent a short distance in the air. Can chaingrab fastfallers. Originates from Ball.
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)			6%	Pulls out a hammer and slams it in front of him, then behind him. Originates from Vermin.
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)			6%	Identical to frontal floor attack, except the back hit comes out slightly faster. Originates from Vermin.
Edge attack (fast) Edge getups (fast)			6% (body), 8% (bell)	Climbs onto the ledge, and hits forwards with a bell. Strangely, this ledge attack has knockback scaling, so it may be able to KO at extremely high damages, such as 300%.
Edge attack (slow) Edge getups (slow)			6% (body), 8% (bell)	Same as above, but slower. This attack also has knockback scaling.
Neutral special		Chef	5% (pan), 4% (sausage)	Mr. Game & Watch's main projectile. Pulls out a frying pan and tosses sausages, which fly erratically through the air. The sausages do low amounts of damage, but they can be used to deter angled attacks. Can toss up to 5 sausages at a time. If an opponent touches the pan, the attack will deal extra fire damage.
Side special		Judgment	2-32% (Varies)	Attacks with his hammer and holds up a digital display with a random number on it. Effects change depending on the number shown.
Up special		Fire	6%	Jumps upwards off a trampoline.
Down special		Oil Panic	12%+ (1.5x +5 multiplier)	Pull out a bucket in front of himself. The bucket can absorb up to three energy-based projectiles, which then turns into a powerful counterattack that can one-hit KO opponents depending on which projectile gets absorbed.

Judgment Damage Values

Number	Damage	Description
#1	2%	A weak hit with no knockback. Causes 12% recoil damage.
#2	4%	Has very weak knockback.
#3	6%	Another weak knockback attack, although this one causes significant shield damage. Opponents are launched backwards towards Mr. Game & Watch.
#4	8%	A slashing attack that launches foes diagonally forward.
#5	3% (hits 1-4)	An electric attack that hits multiple times. Deals approximately up to 11.19% if all hits connect.
#6	12%	A flame attack that semi-spikes. Has the second strongest knockback of all Judgment attacks.
#7	14%	A moderate knockback attack that produces food if it hits a foe.
#8	4%	A freezing attack with low knockback.
#9	32%	A very, very high knockback attack that was designed to be similar to the home-run bat. While this attack is not a OHKO move, it can KO foes with single digit damages. The attack does, however, have a smaller hitbox.

Stats

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	60	1.5 – Initial dash 1.5 – Run	1.1	0.06	0.016	1	0.02 – Base 0.03 – Additional	0.095	1.7 – Base 2.3 – Fast-fall	4	29 - Base 11.025 - Short hop	26.7	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	60	1.5 – Initial dash 1.5 – Run	1.1	0.06	0.016	1	0.02 – Base 0.03 – Additional	0.095	1.7 – Base 2.3 – Fast-fall	4	29 - Base 11.025 - Short hop	26.7	4

Taunt

• Leans forward and rings his bell in front of him.

Idle pose

• Looks back with an opened mouth.

Crowd cheer

	English	Japanese
Cheer	File:Mr. Game & Watch Cheer NTSC Melee.ogg	File:Mr. Game & Watch Cheer JP Melee.ogg
Description	Game-And-Watch!	Game-Watch!
Pitch	Group chant	Male

Victory poses

Rather than using pre-existing music, this track is unique to Melee. It features bleeping noises that resemble the sound effects from Game & Watch games.

• Rings his bell to the right, then to the left, then faces the right.
• Bows to the right, then to the left.
• Jumps in the air twice.

In competitive play

Most historically significant players

See also: Category:Mr. Game & Watch players (SSBM)

•  DireOnFire - An old-school Mr. Game & Watch player from the Golden Age; he retired from Melee, and later reappeared in the Smash 4 and Ultimate scenes. He was the best Mr. Game & Watch player during the 2000s, placing 9th at Cataclysm 3 and EVO East, which were the best major tournament results during the MLG era.
•  Kuya - Co-mains Mr. Game & Watch with Link. He made his breakthrough with superregional placements with 17th at DreamHack Atlanta 2019 and 33rd at CEO 2019. He is considered to be the current best Mr. Game & Watch player in the world, placing 25th at Tipped Off 14: Resurgence and 33rd at Shine 2023 using both characters, the best major results seen with the character in the post-Slippi era.
•  Qerb - Considered to be the best Mr. Game & Watch player in the world prior to hiatus from competition, and the best Mr. Game & Watch player of all time. He is the only player to make multiple top 64 placements at supermajors with solo-Mr. Game & Watch with 17th at Get On My Level 2019, 25th at Pound 2019, and 33rd at Super Smash Con 2019. Qerb was also ranked as an honorable mention on the MPGR 2019, the only Mr. Game & Watch player to receive such a distinction on a global ranking.
•  Squeachu - Widely considered the best Mr. Game & Watch player in Europe. They are the sole representative at certain European regionals such as 1st at Storm, 7th at Myth, 9th at Short Hop Pear 5 with notable wins such as Skerzo at Fête 2 and top European players such as Fat Tino and Sharp. They are currently ranked 50th on the EURank 2023.

Tier placement and history

Mr. Game & Watch has historically been considered to be a poor character in competitive play, with negative traits ranging from poor endurance, susceptibility to chaingrabs and various KO setups (despite his light weight), inconsistent approaching options, lag in his many of his attacks, and the inability to L-cancel some of his aerials. While many players noted Mr. Game & Watch raw power, flashy combos, and strong punish game, his poor defensive game and approach have hindered such showings at the highest levels of play. As a result of his flaws, he has consistently remained in the lower ends of tiers, failing to make significant rises.

In recent years, however, Qerb has been noticeably successful with him, placing well in many major tournament series such as Super Smash Con as the sole representative of his character. Qerb achieved an honorable mention in the 2019 MPGR, indicating that he was considered close to Top 100 level even with a low-tiered character. Since many of the characters around Mr. Game & Watch on the tier list, such as Young Link and Mario, do not have many comparisons to contend with Qerb's level of results, some argue that he deserves to be placed slightly higher than his current rank. Other players such as Mew2King disagree, believing that his matchup spread overall is still much worse than those characters. As it stands, however, he is generally agreed to be a low-tiered character who still possesses significant difficulty contending against many matchups. With a noticeable rise in Game & Watch players, as well as a still developed metagame, he currently ranks 19th in the current tier list.

In 1-P Mode

In Classic Mode

Mr. Game & Watch can appear as an ally in the team battle and the giant battle. However, he only appears as an opponent in the multi-character battle, where he is fought on Flat Zone.

In Adventure Mode

Adventure Mode makes no concessions to Mr. Game & Watch when he is unlocked.

In All-Star Mode

In All-Star Mode, Mr. Game & Watch appears as the final character the player fights against; his battle is the only one guaranteed to occur at the end, and he does not ally with any other character. The player must fight against a team of twenty-five Mr. Game & Watches, five at a time, on Flat Zone. Defeating all of them allows the player to complete the mode.

In Event Matches

Mr. Game & Watch appears in the following event matches:

• Event 40: All-Star Match 4: Mr. Game & Watch is the last opponent fought in this series of staged battles. The selected character battles him on the Flat Zone stage with a stock of 2 while Mr. Game & Watch has 1. With a timer of four minutes, the player must defeat him and the other four characters one-by-one with the overall time and damage: Marth, Luigi, Jigglypuff, and Mewtwo.
• Event 45: Game & Watch Forever!: Mr. Game & Watch is the player's character, going up against twenty five other Mr. Game & Watches, similar to the final battle of All-Star Mode. However, the player's Mr. Game & Watch, while having three lives, is also light, allowing him to be KO'd easily.

Congratulations Screens

• 

  Classic Mode

• 

  Adventure Mode

• 

  All-Star Mode

Trophies

In addition to the normal trophy about Mr. Game & Watch as a character, there are two trophies about him as a fighter that are unlocked by completing the Adventure and All-Star modes on any difficulty with Mr. Game & Watch.

Classic Mode trophy

Mr. Game & Watch

First appearing in 1980, the Game & Watch series is the father of all portable liquid crystal games. The main character is simple and monochrome but has a timeless individuality. There are 39 different games in the series and they've sold over 43 million units worldwide. Pictured at left is the particularly popular Fire model.

Game & Watch (1980)

Adventure Mode SMASH trophy

Mr. Game & Watch SMASH

A resident of a totally flat world, Mr. Game & Watch's frame-by-frame movement is distinctive. His image is known far and wide, and respected by gamers everywhere. In Super Smash Bros. Melee, he hurls sausages with his Chef technique. The random strength of his Judgment is determined by the number displayed; food appears on lucky 7.

B: Chef

Smash B: Judgment

B: Chef

Smash B: Judge

All-Star Mode SMASH trophy

Mr. Game & Watch SMASH

A man of great stature in the world of Nintendo characters, Mr. Game & Watch is a comparatively light fellow and doesn't feature many powerful attacks. When he's in danger of falling, Fire calls out a rescue brigade to send him skyward once more. He can also catch missile weapons with Oil Panic; once he's caught three, he can dump the bucket on his foes.

Up & B: Fire

Down & B: Oil Panic

Alternate costumes

Gallery

• 

  Jumping on Yoshi's Island.

• 

  Using his neutral attack on Green Greens.

• 

  Using his dash attack on Yoshi's Island.

• 

  Using his forward tilt on Temple.

• 

  Using his up tilt on Corneria.

• 

  Using his down tilt on Princess Peach's Castle.

• 

  Using his forward smash on Green Greens.

• 

  Using his up smash on Yoshi's Island.

• 

  Using his down smash on Princess Peach's Castle.

• 

  Using his neutral aerial on Corneria.

• 

  Using his forward aerial on Princess Peach's Castle.

• 

  Using his back aerial on Green Greens.

• 

  Using his up aerial on Yoshi's Island.

• 

  Using his down aerial on Temple.

• 

  Throwing Mario on Yoshi's Island.

• 

  Using Chef on Temple.

• 

  Using Judgment 7 on Corneria.

• 

  Using Fire on Princess Peach's Castle.

• 

  Using Oil Panic on Yoshi's Island.

• 

  Using Judgment 6 on Fox on Temple.

• 

  Using Oil Panic on Pikachu's Thunder Jolt on Pokémon Stadium.

• 

  Multiple Mr. Game & Watches on Flat Zone.

Trivia

• Mr. Game & Watch, along with Roy, Donkey Kong and Pichu, are the only characters in Melee to have an attack that causes recoil damage. Kirby also counts, if he copies Roy's or Pichu's neutral special moves.
• Mr. Game & Watch's and Jigglypuff's "head sprites" are the only ones to show their entire bodies. Melee also marks the only time Mr. Game & Watch's head sprite shows his whole body. Starting with Brawl, his head sprite only shows just his head.
• Melee reads Mr. Game & Watch's neutral, back, and up aerials as special moves, not as aerial attacks; this explains why they cannot be L-canceled. This error was fixed in Brawl.
• Despite his animations looking like 2D sprites, Mr. Game & Watch actually uses a fully-rendered 3D model, with the values for the z-axis set to zero, thus flattening him (the same method which flattens other characters on Flat Zone.) Mr. Game & Watch's dimensions can best be seen when he's turning while using a Hammer or when he is being grabbed and pummeled.
  • However, even when he does appear to be 3D, he is still flattened out, and moving the camera will not give the player a three-dimensional view of him.
• Mr. Game & Watch, Captain Falcon and Young Link are the only characters in Melee that don't finish their defeat noises upon being KO'd horizontally or falling.
• Despite not being a clone, Mr. Game & Watch curiously shares many movement attributes with Mario, namely walking speed, falling speed, fast falling speed, traction, and gravity. Other than sharing Mario’s attributes, he shared a similar Up smash with him, though he’s wearing a scuba helmet.
  • Coincidentally, multiple Game & Watch games such as Donkey Kong; Mario Bros.; and Mario's Cement Factory featured Mario in a form more closely resembling Mr. Game & Watch, and the Game & Watch Gallery series featured alternate versions of classic Game & Watch games with Mario characters.
• Mr. Game & Watch is the only unlockable character in Melee who has four, rather than three, unlock methods.
• This is the only game where Mr. Game & Watch's down tilt is rendered in 2D instead of 3D.
• Mr. Game & Watch is the only character to use their default color in All Star, as well as the only character to use their default color in their Smash Blue trophy.
• On Tournament Mode's character selection screen, Mr. Game & Watch appears white rather than the default black. This was likely done to make him visible on the dark background.

External links

• Mr. Game & Watch's page at Smabura-Ken
• Mr. Game & Watch's moveset page at Smabura-Ken
• Translation
• Moveset Translation
• Nintendorks' page on Mr. Game & Watch (archive)