Little Mac (SSB4)

Little Mac in Super Smash Bros. 4
Universe	Punch-Out!!
Availability	Starter
Final Smash	Giga Mac

“	Little Mac Punches In!	”
—Introduction Tagline

Little Mac (リトル・マック, Little Mac) is a newcomer in Super Smash Bros. 4. He was revealed on February 13th, 2014 during a Nintendo Direct, commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Punch Out!! franchise, which had debuted in Japan that month in 1984. He has a special mechanic known as the Power Meter, which reaches different levels of charge. When it has fully charged, Little Mac can unleash an extremely powerful uppercut, claimed by Masahiro Sakurai to have the power to OHKO opponents. While he has extremely proficient fighting abilities on the ground, he has very poor aerial abilities, being told in the trailer by Doc Louis that he "ain't no air fighter", and Sakurai later stating such on Miiverse. Little Mac additionally has short jumps and a poor recovery. Little Mac has alternate costumes in the form of "Wireframe Mac" based on the protagonist from the original arcade version of Punch-Out!!, whom the player saw from a first person perspective; this makes Little Mac the only character with more than 8 palette swaps in Super Smash Bros. 4, with 16. When in wireframe form, Little Mac's voice is gone, replaced by 8-bit noises.

Attributes

As popularly advertised in his reveal trailer, Little Mac is a wildly polarized character. With blinding speed in both movement and attacks on the ground (having the third fastest dash in the game), super armor or even invincibility frames on several attacks along with multiple fast and deadly KO moves, he possesses nearly unparalleled and arguably the best ground game in Smash 4. Unfortunately, these numerous strengths come at the cost of Little Mac's air game; Little Mac possesses unarguably the worst air game in the game, nigh the entire series (being worse than that of Zelda's or Bowser's from Melee). Due to this, Little Mac is an easy fighter to pop into a game with, but extremely difficult to play correctly even when used by an experienced player, as one wrong move in the air can cost him his stock even if he has the lead for the entire match.

True to his boxing background, Little Mac's shines on the ground. His ground moves are all ridiculously quick, many of them having no lag, high knockback and damage potential, and as he possesses one of the quickest movement speed, rolls and sidesteps in the entire game, he can be extremely hard to hit. His jab is arguably the best in the entire game- his consecutive jab repeats faster than any other existing jab (even surpassing Fox's already quick jab), allowing him to easily throw it out and catch moving targets, and with its infinite jab hitting extremely quickly and ending with one of the strongest finishing moves of any jab, makes it a reliable damage racker and KO move against lighter characters. His forward tilt has the best reach of his entire ground moveset and has little starting and ending lag while having KO potential despite its speed at high percentages, making it useful at a distance as a "poking" move. His up and down tilts, despite having little KO potential, are decently fast, up tilt useful for protecting against aerial attacks as its hitbox covers the entirety of Little Mac's upper body and down tilt able to connect with opponents should his jab be unable to do so. With Little Mac's blindingly fast movement speed, his dash attack can combo with his forward jab or even his forward smash at low percentages, allowing Little Mac to rack up as much as 35% if the opponent is caught in it, and can be used as a punish against an opponent's carelessly used laggy attack. His smash attacks are no laughing matter either- every one of his smash attacks benefit from having super armor until the attack is complete, allowing Little Mac to plow through even the strongest attacks to hit his opponents. His forward smash has the most utility, being able to turn into three different attacks if a direction is held: either a simple straight or uppercut that comes out quickly and is almost guaranteed to take a stock if it connects at 90% or more, or a body hook that has negligible knockback but does a whopping 22%, perfect for raising damage quickly against a careless opponent. His up smash, though only hitting in front of Little Mac, is useful for guarding against aerial foes and has a powerful sweetspot in the first frame, doing as much damage and knockback as his forward smash aimed up, giving him another reliable KO move in his arsenal, while his down smash, though slightly lacking in damage and knockback compared to his other smash attacks, comes out quick and semi-spikes opponents, which can take a stock of an opponent with terrible horizontal recovery such as Marth. With all his strongest attacks being lightning quick, possessing uninterruptibility and frightening KO potential, getting hit by any of them can be the end of a stock for his opponent.

In addition to his already solid normal attacks on the ground, Little Mac's special moves are all strong and have utility as well. Straight Lunge, though extremely difficult to land outside of matches with multiple players (but having incredible KO potential when fully charged, KOing as early as 75% near the edge), gives Little Mac a good amount of super armor while charging, making it have use as an unusual method of holding his ground against projectile attacks especially if used near an opponent. It can be used as an edgeguard technique against ledge-hanging opponents as well, as inexperienced players may have the habit of edge attacking Little Mac if he is charging the move near the edge, whereas Little Mac will completely ignore the knockback and can proceed to land the move against the unexpecting opponent once their edge attack is complete. Jolt Haymaker gives Little Mac full immunity to projectiles and attacks if performed on the ground and can be unleashed at any time while he lunges forward, making it useful as a surprise attack against projectile-spamming opponents and can be used as a safe escape move if he's in trouble, and Rising Uppercut can surprise opponents that do not expect Little Mac to leave the ground, especially since it also packs KO potential at 90% if the opponent gets hit by it in the air. As he also possesses a counter in the form of Slip Counter, Little Mac can use it to give himself some breathing space and prevent opponents from throwing him around with attacks. Notably different from the cast too is that he possesses a Power Meter which builds from attacking or being attacked, and once fully maxed out Little Mac can perform the KO Uppercut, a ferocious attack that, though with significant ending lag if missed, is capable of KOing as low as 30%, allowing him to swiftly turn the tables on his opponent. Even if he doesn't unleash it, the mere sight of the flashing KO icon may be enough to put an opponent off from approaching Little Mac especially if they are in the mid percentages, even more so if they are at their final stock, allowing it to be used for mindgames. Hence, Little Mac can be played in two ways: a formidable rushdown opponent similar to Captain Falcon, or with a patience similar to his appearance in Punch-Out, where he waits for his opponent to make a move before socking them with a ridiculously painful punish.

Unfortunately, to compensate for his dominance on the ground, Little Mac has one glaring flaw: a horridly pathetic air game. His aerial attacks are all extraordinarily weak with pathetic reach and have absolutely no damage or KO potential, making Little Mac painfully easy to juggle as he has no options to protect himself while in the air. There are some exceptions: his forward aerial can be used as a spacing option if an opponent tries to hit him with a laggy air attack, while his neutral air is surprisingly fast, combos into itself and traps opponents in hitstun, allowing him to drag his opponent back onto the ground into a jab or perform intricate combos that can gimp opponents, though apart from that, nothing notable. His special moves also become considerably less effective when used in midair, with a significant decrease in distance or lacking invincibility frames that their ground versions have, and are perhaps the most pathetic and predictable moves when used as a recovery, with Rising Uppercut giving very little vertical distance and with no horizontal momentum while not auto grabbing the edge until the end of the move, and Jolt Haymaker moving Mac a negligible amount of horizontal distance while also causing helplessness, making Little Mac infamous for getting baited into using it and getting sent off the edge for a self-destruct as the move does not stop at the edge like Fox Illusion. Because of his literal lack of useful moves in the air, this technically cuts Little Mac's moveset by half, as his only reliable attacks all consist of his ground moves, making him an extremely predictable opponent and hence limiting his approach options. These already glaring flaws are aggravated, as Little Mac also has incredibly short jumps, light weight and a high falling speed, making it extremely easy to knock him into the air or far off stage where he is absolutely powerless, and almost anything that causes knockback to him offstage can gimp his attempted (and absolutely horrible) recoveries due to his high falling speed- even his own airdodge can cost him his stock offstage. His main nemesis is grabs: because of his dominance as a close ranged fighter, he has to stay close to his opponents, and a single grab can send him into the air where he is powerless to prevent every followup imaginable by his opponent. This makes matchups against opponents with far-reaching or tether grabs such as Bowser or Zero Suit Samus respectively extremely risky.

In essence, Little Mac is a double-edged sword: a fighter that can easily take a stock of an opponent in a matter of seconds, while also risking that the same happens to him. Although he possesses one of the strongest ground games any character in Smash has been given, he has to stay rooted to the ground, relying on his armor and powerful lightning-fast attacks in order to stay a frightening foe as, in the words of Doc Louis, he truly is no air fighter due to his lack of useful moves in the air and arguably some of the worst recovery moves ever seen in Smash to date.

Moveset

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			2%	Two jabs, followed by a series of rapid punches ending with an uppercut. Has very good knockback for a jab.
			2%
			7%
			1% (loop), 3% (last)
Forward tilt			4% (hit 1), 8% (hit 2)	Two jabs, the second of which has moderate knockback.
Up tilt			9%	Swipes his fist above his head.
Down tilt			8%	Punches along the ground.
Dash attack			10%	A swinging overhead punch.
Forward smash	↗		19% (hand), 17% (arm)	A straight punch. When angled, produces significantly different attacks: angling up is an uppercut with vertical knockback, while angling down is a body hook that does more damage but much less knockback.
	→		19% (hand), 17% (arm)
	↘		22%
Up smash			20% (clean), 15% (late)	Punches above himself. The first frame of the attack has a powerful sweetspot.
Down smash			12%	Punches in front of and behind himself along the ground. Weak compared to his other smashes, but is a semi-spike.
Neutral aerial			2%	A short jab angled downwards. A very weak attack that can be used to edgeguard off stage with limited efficacy. However, its incredible speed allows it to be used in intricate combos.
Forward aerial			5% (hand), 4% (arm)	A swinging punch forwards.
Back aerial			6% (hand), 4% (arm)	A swinging backhand punch behind himself.
Up aerial			5% (hand), 4% (arm)	A sweeping punch upwards.
Down aerial			5% (hand), 4% (arm)	Punches downwards. The middle hitbox is a meteor smash, though it is the most ineffective Meteor Smash in the game.
Grab			—
Pummel			2.1%	A body shot.
Forward throw			4% (hit 1), 4% (throw)	Punches the opponent forwards.
Back throw			4% (hit 1), 5% (throw)	Turns around with the opponent and uppercuts them.
Up throw			4% (hit 1), 3% (throw)	Quickly uppercuts the opponent.
Down throw			4% (hit 1), 5% (throw)	Smashes opponent with both fists.
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)			7%
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)			7%
Floor attack (trip) Floor getups (trip)			5%
Edge attack Edge getups			7%
Neutral special	Default	Straight Lunge	14%/12%/9% (uncharged ground), 25%/20% (fully charged ground), 10%/7% (uncharged air), 15% (fully charged air), 35% (KO ground), 13% (KO air)	A chargeable, dashing punch. If the Power Meter is fully charged, turns into the KO Uppercut instead.
	Custom 1	Flaming Straight Lunge	1.5%/3% (uncharged ground loop/last), 1.8%/6% (fully charged ground loop/last), 1.2%/3% (uncharged air loop/last), 1.4%/5% (fully charged air loop/last), 35% (KO ground), 13% (KO air)	Charges faster and deals multiple hits.
	Custom 2	Stunning Straight Lunge	10%/7% (uncharged ground), 20%/18% (fully charged ground), 8%/5% (uncharged air), 12% (fully charged air), 35% (KO ground), 13% (KO air)	Travels farther and faster, can paralyze targets when fully charged.
Side special	Default	Jolt Haymaker	14%	A lunging overhand punch similar in appearance to a Superman punch. It propels Mac quite a distance and can dodge any projectile while he is in the air. When used in the air, its distance and speed are much shorter and slower, respectively. It is advised not to use this attack around the edge of a stage, since it sends him into helplessness.
	Custom 1	Grounding Blow	9%	Has a much higher leap compared to the Jolt Haymaker and buries opponents into the ground if done on land. While in air, it will result in a meteor smash if it connects with an opponent. It has great vertical height that is compensated by its lack of horizontal movement, making it a better recovery somewhat. It is also much safer to use near the edge due to the movement.
	Custom 2	Guard Breaker	18%	Distance and speed are much shorter and slower, respectively. However, it is unblockable and powerful.
Up special	Default	Rising Uppercut	1% (loop), 3% (last)	A corkscrewing vertical punch. When used on the ground, it goes much higher, moves more horizontally and deals more damage. Conversely, it is worse overall when used in the air.
	Custom 1	Tornado Uppercut	3%/4%	Travels farther, but does less damage and knockback. The aerial version's distance is comparable to the Rising Uppercut's ground distance.
	Custom 2	Rising Smash	16% (hit 1), 4% (hit 2)	Does much more damage and knockback, but travels even less far and has a lot of start up and ending lag.
Down special	Default	Slip Counter	1.3x (min 10%)	Counters attacks with an invincible strike. In the air, this can be used to either give him a better recovery or hinder him due to its slide and the direction his opponent is at.
	Custom 1	Compact Counter	1.3x (min 4%)	Less damage and knockback, but is faster overall and also provides him with a faster recovery overall as well.
	Custom 2	Dash Counter	1.3x (min 7%)	Dashes forwards upon countering, giving him a far better recovery than before if used in the air.
Final Smash		Giga Mac	—	Transforms Little Mac into Giga Mac, which is even more powerful than his normal form. Some attacks with Giga Mac can One-Hit KO opponents at full charge.

Taunts

• Up taunt: Turns his back to the screen, bends down, then raises his fist triumphantly. Doc Louis occasionally says "Hit 'em, baby!".
• Side taunt: Adjusts his boxing gloves while crossing his fists and scoffing. Doc Louis occasionally says "Let 'em have it, Mac!".
• Down taunt: Performs a series of punches while facing the screen. Doc Louis occasionally says "Show 'em what you've got, Mac, baby!".

Update history

1.0.4

• Neutral attack 2 damage: 3% → 2%
• Neutral attack 3 damage: 8% → 7%
• Forward tilt hit 1 hitbox 2 x-offset: -5.0 → -3.8
• Forward tilt hit 2 hitbox 1 x-offset: -5.0 → -3.8
• Neutral aerial SDI multiplier: 1.0 → 2.0

Power Meter

As stated in the introduction, Little Mac has a Power Meter, that when fully charged, replaces his neutral special with a new, one-shot attack.

• Neutral Special: KO Uppercut; an extremely powerful uppercut that can KO opponents at low damages, though the higher the weight, the more damage is needed to KO them (characters can be KO'd as low as 12%). The attack has drastically lower knockback and damage when used in the air, and it cannot kill unless the opponent has at least around 150% damage.
• The meter charges both by hitting enemies with Mac's attacks and getting hit by their attacks. When Little Mac is attacked, it is double to quadruple the amount he would if he would hit an opponent.

Trophies

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS + WIIU. trophy descriptions

Little Mac's regular trophy can be obtained by completing Classic Mode with him and his alternative trophy can be obtained by completing All-Star mode with him.

Little Mac

NA: This little boxer from the Punch-Out!! series makes up in heart what he lacks in height. He wasn't afraid to take on the boxing champs, and he's not afraid of the Nintendo stars. In Smash Bros., he packs a serious punch. When his KO Meter fills up, wade in and trigger a devastating uppercut.

PAL: The little guy from Punch-Out!! has come a long way since his humble beginnings fighting the almost literal boxing giants. Above his damage display, you'll notice he has a little meter that fills up as he fights. When it's full, you'll see a flashing "KO" there. That means you can unleash a devastating uppercut!

Little Mac (Alt.)

NA: No matter his opponent, Little Mac always puts his best fist forward. He enters a charge state before unleashing his Straight Lunge special and can unleash it while charging by pressing the button again. He won't flinch while charging. At max charge, the launching power of this move is scary!

PAL: Little Mac always puts his best fist forward, especially when you use Straight Lunge! You start by charging, then unleash the punch whenever you press the button again. Charge it to the max and its launching power is formidable! Also, attacks won't make you flinch while you're charging or once you've fully charged the move.

Little Mac (Captain Rainbow)

NA: Wait. Is...is that Little Mac from Punch-Out!!? We'd heard he went to Mimin Island to train to become a world champion again, but it looks like he went a few too many rounds in the ring with those island mangoes. If you don't help him get back in shape, we might need to come up with a new name for him...

PAL: Wait a second. This is Little Mac? What happened to the "Little" part?! The star of Punch-Out!! clearly hasn't been keeping up with his training if he's ended up like this! Now that he's moved to Mimin Island, though, all hope is not lost. It's said wishes come true there - hopefully, that includes Mac's wish to get back to his former glory.

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  Classic (3DS)

• LittleMacAllStarTrophy3DS.png

  Alt. (3DS)

• 

  Classic (Wii U)

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  Alt. (Wii U)

• 

  Giga Mac

Gameplay Trailer

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In Event Matches

Solo Events

• Below the Belt: The player, as Mario, must protect a damaged Little Mac from a giant Little Mac.
• New Challengers 1: Little Mac is one of the seven opponents fought in this event, alongside Villager, Wii Fit Trainer, Rosalina & Luma, Lucina, Bowser Jr., and Duck Hunt.
• No Mere Sparring Match: The player controls a Little Mac with boosted damage, and must defeat 3 other Little Macs in a stock battle.

Co-op Events

• Getting Healthy: Wii Fit Trainer and Little Mac must defeat Kirby and Pac-Man.
• The Ultimate Battle: Two players select a character and must defeat the entire roster.

Alternate costumes

Gallery

• 

  Artwork of Little Mac used on the website.

• 

  Little Mac's introduction picture.

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  Artwork of Little Mac from the 3DS version's boxart.

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  Wireframe Little Mac alternate costume.

• 

  Little Mac's amiibo.

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  The pic of the day shown during Little Mac's reveal.

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  Sweatshirt Little Mac alternate costume.

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  A second pic posted on the initial Miiverse post pointing out what happens when his Power Meter gets fully charged up.

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  Little Mac in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS

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  Wireframe Little Mac punching Link.

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  Little Mac's charging punch attack.

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  Little Mac's special move Uppercut.

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  Using the uppercut on Sonic.

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  Little Mac begins to spin...

• 

  ...and finishes with an uppercut.

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  However, the move does not offer very strong recovery.

• Little Mac Counter.png

  His counterattack.

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  About to transform into Giga Mac.

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  His Final Smash, Giga Mac.

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  A jab.

• 

  His forward smash angled downward.

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  Dash attack.

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  Little Mac appearing to have been hit or getting Screen KO'd.

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  Little Mac facing the screen.

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  Punching with Villager.

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  A size comparison.

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  "Little Mac can deliver some solid punches while fighting on the ground."

• 

  "...However, he's not the strongest fighter while airborne."

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  Side by side with Samus.

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  With Diddy Kong.

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  The three different variations of Little Mac's forward smash.

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  A trophy depicting Little Mac in Captain Rainbow.

Trivia

• Little Mac's promotional poster image is a reference to both the arcade Punch-Out!!, and Punch-Out!! Wii, where Donkey Kong appeared as a hidden fighter. Coincidentally, he was revealed on the same day that Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze was released in Japan.
• Samus's appearance in Little Mac's introduction trailer is a reference to an image of her and Little Mac on his Assist Trophy Character profile, with her questioning his ability to fight due to his small size (in the trailer, she pats his head and examines him from an angle, seeming to pose a similar question).
  • This was even further referenced in a picture that Sakurai posted on Miiverse.
• According to Masahiro Sakurai, Little Mac has the lowest online win ratio of all characters as of November 2014.
• Whenever Little Mac grabs a Hammer, he will not properly hold the hammer as it will be on the side of him instead of between his hands. This was fixed in the 3DS 1.0.5 update patch.
• Oddly, Little Mac shares a few animations with Captain Falcon. This includes some of his poses when knocked back with a weak attack, swing animations for battering items such as the Beam Sword and Home Run Bat, being buried and while stunned.
• Upon closer inspection of Wireframe Mac's model in the Wii U version, it can be seen that he has a "mouth" of sorts.