Fast fall

Not to be confused with falling speed, which measures how fast a character falls naturally.

Differences with fast falling: the Samus on the left uses the technique, while the Samus on the right does not.

Fast falling is the act of falling quicker than usual in mid-air. It is performed by tapping down on the control stick while falling. The character will continue to fast fall until landing on the platform or taking a hit. Gravity is ignored once a fast fall is begun; the character's downward velocity is simply set to their fast falling speed without accelerating. Fast falling is a technique commonly used to speed up a character's game, especially after a short hop. It is a part of SHFFL'ing, an advanced technique.

Stall-then-fall aerials have an effect similar to fastfalling, though the move is an attack, and most of the time cannot be stopped or slowed.

If players press down while hanging from a ledge, their character will begin to fast fall, whereas if pressed in the opposite direction of the ledge, the character will merely let go of the ledge. This also works with down + B attacks, except for ones that slow down falling or gain height. (An example is Fox's Reflector or Luigi's Luigi Cyclone.)

In Super Smash Bros. and Super Smash Bros. 4 ([1]), the character will flash and a white star will appear at his or her torso when fast-falling. In Super Smash Bros. Melee, a "whoosh" sound will be heard when fast falling, but there is no visual indicator, making it harder to tell when many other noisy things are going on. There is also no indicator in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Fast falling speeds in SSB

JPN

Rank	Character	Regular Falling Speed	Fast Falling Speed	Speed Increase
1	Link	64	102	59.375%
2	Captain Falcon	60	100	66.7%
3	Fox	60	96	60.0%
4	Donkey Kong	56	89	58.9%
5	Ness	55	88.25	60.45%
6	Yoshi	55	88	60.0%
7	Pikachu	52	83	59.6%
8	Kirby	48	79	64.583%
9	Mario	44	70	59.09%
10	Luigi	42	67.5	60.7%
11	Samus	42	67	59.5%
12	Jigglypuff	38	60	57.9%

NTSC

Rank	Character	Regular Falling Speed	Fast Falling Speed	Speed Increase
1	Link	64	102	59.375%
2	Captain Falcon	66	100	51.51%
3	Fox	60	96	60.0%
4	Donkey Kong	56	89	58.9%
5	Ness	55	88.25	60.45%
6	Yoshi	58	88	51.72%
7	Pikachu	52	83	59.6%
8	Kirby	48	76	58.3%
9	Mario	44	70	59.09%
10	Luigi	42	67.5	60.7%
11	Samus	42	67	59.5%
12	Jigglypuff	38	60.5	59.21%

Notes

• Oddly enough, Metal Mario's fast falling speed (70) is lower than his regular falling speed (100). This means that he would actually slow down by fastfalling, though he would probably then quickly re-accelerate to his regular falling speed.
• Giant Donkey Kong's fall speed and fast falling speeds are 72 and 100, respectively.

Fast falling speeds in Melee

Rank	Character	Regular Falling Speed	Fast Falling Speed	Speed Increase
1-2	Falco	3.1	3.5	12.9%
1-2	Captain Falcon	2.9	3.5	20.7%
3	Fox	2.8	3.4	21.4%
4-5	Link	2.13	3	40.8%
4-5	Sheik	2.13	3	40.8%
6	Donkey Kong	2.4	2.96	23.3%
7	Yoshi	1.93	2.93	51.8%
8	Roy	2.4	2.9	20.8%
9	Pikachu	1.9	2.7	42.1%
10	Ganondorf	2	2.6	30.0%
11-12	Pichu	1.9	2.5	31.6%
11-12	Marth	2.2	2.5	13.6%
13	Bowser	1.9	2.4	26.3%
14-18	Mario	1.7	2.3	35.3%
14-18	Dr. Mario	1.7	2.3	35.3%
14-18	Samus	1.4	2.3	64.3%
14-18	Mewtwo	1.5	2.3	53.3%
14-18	Mr. Game & Watch	1.7	2.3	35.3%
19-20	Young Link	2.13	2.2	3.3%
19-20	Ness	1.83	2.2	20.2%
21-24	Luigi	1.6	2	25.0%
21-24	Peach	1.5	2	33.3%
21-24	Kirby	1.6	2	25.0%
21-24	Ice Climbers	1.6	2	25.0%
25	Zelda	1.4	1.85	32.1%
26	Jigglypuff	1.3	1.6	23.1%

Notes

• Giga Bowser and Wireframes have fast falling speeds that equal their regular falling speeds. Because of this, fast falling with them does not have any effect except for slightly increasing how fast they reach their regular falling speed.
• Not only is Young Link's speed change the lowest in Melee, but also the entire series.

Fast falling speeds in Brawl

Rank	Character	Regular Falling Speed	Fast Falling Speed	Speed Increase
1	King Dedede	1.95	2.73	40.0%
2	Link	1.6	2.666	66.625%
3	Captain Falcon	1.837	2.5718	40.0%
4	Fox	1.831	2.5634	40.0%
5	Snake	1.73	2.422	40.0%
6	Falco	1.708	2.3912	40.0%
7	Pikachu	1.5	2.379	58.6%
8-9	Ganondorf	1.65	2.31	40.0%
8-9	Ike	1.65	2.31	40.0%
10-11	Donkey Kong	1.58	2.212	40.0%
10-11	Sheik	1.58	2.212	40.0%
12-13	Squirtle	1.3	2.1	61.5%
12-13	Marth	1.5	2.1	40.0%
14-15	Diddy Kong	1.43	2.002	40.0%
14-15	Zero Suit Samus	1.43	2.002	40.0%
16	Sonic	1.45	2	37.9%
17	Pit	1.42	1.988	40.0%
18	Wario	1.4	1.96	40.0%
19-20	Bowser	1.39	1.946	40.0%
19-20	Meta Knight	1.39	1.946	40.0%
21	Lucas	1.37	1.918	40.0%
22-24	Kirby	1.2	1.9	58.3%
22-24	Toon Link	1.28	1.9	48.4375%
22-24	Wolf	1.8	1.9	5.556%
25-26	Ivysaur	1.35	1.89	40.0%
25-26	Charizard	1.35	1.89	40.0%
27	Ness	1.31	1.834	40.0%
28	Olimar	1.3	1.82	40.0%
29	Yoshi	1.29	1.806	40.0%
30	Mario	1.28	1.792	40.0%
31	Mr. Game & Watch	1.24	1.736	40.0%
32	Luigi	1.22	1.708	40.0%
33-35	Lucario	1.2	1.68	40.0%
33-35	Ice Climbers	1.2	1.68	40.0%
33-35	R.O.B.	1.2	1.68	40.0%
36	Zelda	1.13	1.582	40.0%
37	Samus	1.07	1.498	40.0%
38	Peach	1.05	1.47	40.0%
39	Jigglypuff	0.98	1.372	40.0%

Notes

• Most characters in Brawl have a 40% speed increase ratio. The only characters not to have this are Wolf, Sonic, Toon Link, Kirby, Pikachu, Squirtle, and Link.