Yoshi (SSB4)

Yoshi in Super Smash Bros. 4
Universe	Yoshi
Other playable appearances	in SSB in Melee in Brawl
Availability	Starter
Final Smash	Super Dragon

“	Yoshi Rolls into Battle!	”
—Introduction Tagline

Yoshi (ヨッシー, Yoshi) was confirmed to return as a playable fighter in Super Smash Bros. 4 during the April 8th, 2014 Super Smash Bros. Direct. He was among the first wave of amiibo figures and was the last of the original eight starting characters of Super Smash Bros. to be announced.

Yoshi is voiced by Kazumi Totaka, whose voice clips were used from earlier installments of Super Smash Bros., and every other game Yoshi spoke in since Yoshi's Story.

Attributes

Yoshi is relatively heavy, possesses average walking speed and air acceleration, a fast dashing speed, the fastest air speed, below average gravity and among the lowest falling speed and traction ratings. These give him phenomenal aerial mobility and great ground mobility, without making him frail or susceptible to juggling. He additionally has the ability to crawl.

Yoshi's greatest strength is the utility of his moves. His neutral and tilt attacks are all very fast, leaving him exposed for very small amounts of time. They additionally send opponents either vertically or horizontally, allowing follow-ups or edgeguarding opportunities. His dash attack has decent knockback and a lot of momentum, allowing easy cross-ups and making it tricky to punish. His smash attacks are decently quick and have high power, while not lacking in range either. His down smash is, like down tilt, a semi-spike, making it very good at edgeguarding and a dependable KO move. His aerial game is also versatile and benefits a lot from Yoshi's stats. His neutral aerial has a lasting hitbox and comes out very quickly, on frame 3, making it great at breaking combos and juggles. His forward aerial can either meteor smash or send opponents diagonally with high knockback, as well as autocancelling in a short hop. His up aerial is his strongest aerial and can easily KO opponents vertically, complimented by its long range. His back aerial is excellent at edgeguarding, because the first two hits have the autolink angle and the third hit has high base knockback. Finally, his infamous down aerial is the most damaging aerial in the game, dealing 32% damage, making it deadly against shields.

His special moveset is also very useful. Egg Lay immobilises opponents and allows for free hits. If opponents don't break out of the egg while near the edge, they will also be KOed or unable to recover. Egg Roll can be used instead of dashing as a retreating option and deal some damage in the process. Egg Throw gives Yoshi a dependaple projectile that can be used to stop approaches, or let Yoshi close in on the opponent. Lastly, Yoshi Bomb can be used out of shield, as a surprise KO move, or as an alternative to fast falling.

However, Yoshi has noticeable weaknesses. His main weakness is his vertical recovery. While his stats alone allow for long horizontal recovery, his Egg Throw gives minimal vertical distance. Even though he has the highest midair jump with a certain amount of launch resistance, he is overly reliant on it to recover, and has no hope of doing so if he's hit out of it. This makes him heavily susceptible to meteor smashes and footstool jumps. Another weakness is his terrible grab game. His grab, despite having good range, has moderate startup and high ending lag, making it very punishable if missed. His pummel is the only positive trait of his grab game, being quick and decently damaging. His forward and back throws are his fastest and strongest throws, but they can't KO until 270% and have only two follow-ups (dash attack and forward aerial), neither of which are guaranteed. His down throw has too high base knockback and is too slow to combo effectively. Lastly, his up throw is too weak to KO even well over 350%, too strong to combo, and too slow to pressure. Finally, his ability to escape pressure is limited, since his rolls don't give much distance, and along with his sidestep, are among the slowest in the game.

Yoshi can gain noticeable benefits from his custom moves. Lick can act as a potential KO move, since it has unusually high knockback for a special move. Egg Launch deals more damage and can throw oppontents offstage, minimizing their chances of recovering and giving Yoshi some space. Heavy Egg Roll is slower, but deals much more damage and has launch resistance throughout. Light Egg Roll has more power and moves higher and faster, but ends after the bounce. High Jump gives more distance, improving vertical and horizontal recovery, at the cost of not throwing eggs. Star Bomb has less power, but the stars are larger and more damaging. Crushing Bomb is slower and has no stars, making it easily punishable, but has much more power, KOing as low as 80%.

Overall, Yoshi is a balanced character. His weaknesses are easily exploitable, but outside of that, he has no real problem dealing with any opponent.

Changes from Brawl

Yoshi has been significantly buffed in the transition from Brawl to SSB4. Many of his attacks have more speed and utility in addition to improving his combo game. He also has less trouble KOing with some of his attacks thanks to his new KO set-ups and his KOing options having been strengthened. Yoshi can now jump out of shield, removing his main weakness in Brawl. Nonetheless, Yoshi will revert to his previous hunched standing animation if he holds a small item, which curiously includes his old idle poses as well. However, Yoshi received slight nerfs to his damage racking game. Many of his attacks deal less damage and he can no longer perform his powerful air release infinite. Additionally, his grab game is underwhelming despite having considerable range. None of his throws can allow for guaranteed combo set-ups, and each one of his throws does not KO until the mid-300% range, save for walk-offs. His throw also suffers from considerable amounts of ending lag, especially his pivot grab. However, Yoshi can benefit from a grab release that can link into his neutral attack, but it should be noted that the opponent can shield in time if they are aware of this grab release chain.

Despite these nerfs, Yoshi is significantly better than how he was in Brawl.

Aesthetics

• Yoshi looks significantly more cartoonish and his body has been somewhat re-proportioned, making him better resemble his recent appearances in the latest Mario and Yoshi games. To further keep in-line with the more vibrant aesthetics in SSB4, his overall color scheme is now noticeably brighter compared to the more reserved color scheme he had in Brawl.
• Like Bowser, Yoshi's posture is more erect and he has a more "battle ready" stance after having stood hunched over like a dinosaur in the previous Super Smash Bros. games. This is translated into his moveset, be it through a tweaked animation or through a completely new attack. The straighter pose also adjusts Yoshi's hurtbox so that its shape is less awkward.
• The eggs formed with Yoshi's on-screen appearance, shield, Egg Throw, Egg Lay and Egg Roll now match his selected color. However, a Yoshi swallowed by Kirby's copied Egg Lay will be trapped in an egg featuring his own selected color.
• Egg Throw now leaves a small rainbow trailing behind the egg when Yoshi throws it.

Attributes

• Yoshi is lighter (107 → 104).
• Yoshi is able to jump out of shield for the first time since SSB. This greatly expands his defensive options and allows him to combat pressuring situations with much greater ease than in Brawl. [1]
• Yoshi's double jump now decelerates after starting at full speed.
• Yoshi dashes faster (1.68 → 1.86).
• Yoshi's air speed is slightly slower (1.316 → 1.28).

Ground attacks

• Neutral attack hit 1 can set up moves more reliably, particularly up smashes.
• Jab combo does less damage (9% → 7%).
• Forward and down tilts have been sped up.
• Up tilt, forward tilt, down tilt, up smash, forward smash and down smash all deal less damage (11%/10% → 7% (up tilt), 8%/9%/10% → 8%/7% (forward tilt), 10%/5% → 5%/4% (down tilt), 16% → 14% (up smash), 16% → 15%/14%/13% (forward smash), and 14%/13% → 12%/10% (down smash)).
• Yoshi has a new dash attack, a running side kick. It has more range, less lag, and a longer slide afterwards compared to the previous dash attack.
• Yoshi has a new up smash, a backflip kick. It has less ending lag as well as more knockback (23 base/83 growth → 37 base/ 95 growth) compared to the previous up smash.
• Up smash has significantly less backwards range.
• Down smash's sweetspot has much stronger knockback (30 base/53 growth → 40 base/81 growth) and is now a reliable KOing option again, although it is not as powerful as it was in Melee.

Aerial attacks

• All aerials deal less damage (12%/9%/6% → 10%/7%/5% (neutral aerial), 16%/15% → 15%/14% (forward aerial), 13% → 12% (up aerial), 14% → 10% (back aerial), and 33% → 32% (down aerial)) and except for up aerial, their knockback was compensated.
• Forward aerial is faster (Frames 16-20 → Frames 19-21).
• Back aerial now has a more accentuated final hit and its hits connect better.
• Back aerial now only hits three times as opposed to four.
• Down aerial's final blow now hits grounded opponents horizontally, which makes the move safer to use on grounded, non-shielding opponents. The animation is also significantly faster.
• Down aerial's final hit sends aerial opponents upwards, removing its potential of meteor smashing.

Throws/other attacks

• Yoshi is incapable of an air release chain grab.
• Pivot grab has more ending lag.
• Yoshi's floor attacks deal slightly more damage.

Special moves

• Egg Roll no longer puts Yoshi into a helpless state. Yoshi can also, for the first time, jump during Egg Roll, allowing the player to mix up the way by which they approach the target as well as dodge incoming projectiles.
• Egg Throw is slightly faster.
• Yoshi no longer loses horizontal momentum while performing Egg Throw, allowing it to be used for approaching and combos, as well as greatly increasing his horizontal recovery.
• Egg Throw deals less damage (9% → 6%). It also covers less distance.
• Yoshi can no longer edge cancel his eggs.
• Aerial Yoshi Bomb's base knockback has been increased (55 → 70) and its knockback growth has been slightly increased (68 → 70). This restores its niche as a situational KOing option and a potent surprise attack.
• Super Dragon deals overall less damage. It also lasts for a small amount of time.
• Fireball deals 1% more damage and passes through multiple players.
• Yoshi no longer vocalizes when performing Yoshi Bomb.

Update history

Game updates have brought Yoshi a few slight nerfs. These include increases to the landing lag of his down air and the start-up lag of Egg Lay in update 1.0.4 and his forward smash's range being decreased in update 1.0.6. However, he has also obtained a few buffs as well that help compensate, as well as making his recovery better with customs on. Yoshi also benefits from the changes to shield mechanics brought about recent updates, which allow his down aerial and Yoshi Bomb to damage shields much easier.

1.0.4

• Fixed a glitch that allowed Yoshi to perform a super high High Jump immediately after using Yoshi Bomb.
• Fixed a glitch which allowed Yoshi to teleport back to an edge after using his up special.
• Fixed the Giant Yoshi Glitch, which allowed characters to grow to gigantic sizes in Multi-Man mode.
• Yoshi can no longer slide on slopes with Yoshi Bomb.
• Landing lag of his down air is increased.
• Start-up lag of Egg Lay has been increased.
• Egg Lay and Egg Launch's grab bubble's 0 radius decreased: 5.0 → 4.0
• Egg Lay and Egg Launch's grab bubble's 2 radius decreased: 6.8 → 5.9
• In certain situations, Yoshi gains five frames of intangibility.

1.0.6

• Ledge attack has less ending lag.
• Part of forward smash has been made irreversible.
• Upward angled forward tilt has less start-up.
• Forward smash has decreased range.

1.1.0

• Back aerial has reduced SDI multiplers: 1.0 → 0.5 and a different hitbox angle 365° → 366° making the move link better.
• Back aerial stops autocancelling on frame 6 instead of frame 11.
• Yoshi Bomb ledge glitch fixed.

1.1.1

• High Jump's ending lag reduced by 4 frames.
• Ledge get-up attack's shield damage increased: 0 → 1.

Moveset

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			3%	Yoshi quickly kicks with his left leg and then his right leg. The first hit can set up a KOing move like down smash, the second can combo into dash attack or dash grab at low percents.
			4%
Forward tilt	↗		8%	Yoshi spins and swipes opponents with his tail. A very reliable move for set-ups.
	→		7%
	↘		8%
Up tilt			7%	Yoshi crouches down and flicks his tail upward. Good combo starter.
Down tilt			5% (base), 4.5% (mid), 4% (tip)	Yoshi performs a low sweep with his tail.
Dash attack			9% (clean), 6% (late)	Yoshi performs a running side kick followed by an awkward stumble.
Forward smash			13% (tip), 15.5% (nose), 14% (body)	Yoshi performs a powerful headbutt.
Up smash			14% (clean), 12% (late)	Yoshi performs a backflip kick. It can hit opponents at immediately after performing Egg Lay.
Down smash			12% (tail), 10% (body)	Yoshi quickly strikes both sides with his tail.
Neutral aerial			10% (clean), 7% (mid), 5% (late)	Yoshi performs a flying kick. A standard sex kick, the size of his foot is larger during the attack to indicate an extended reach. Useful for spacing and a viable edge-guarding option.
Forward aerial			15% (body), 14% (head)	Yoshi winds up and slams his head downward. Can meteor smash if spaced properly. It has a slightly tweaked animation in that Yoshi now bends his head to the side while performing the attack. It is surprisingly safe on shield.
Back aerial			2.5% (hits 1-2), 5% (hit 3)	Yoshi rapidly wags his tail to repeatedly swat the opponent. The final hit has been accentuated.
Up aerial			12%	Yoshi flips his body and flicks his tail upward. A viable KOing option.
Down aerial			3% (hits 1-6 center), 2% (hits 1-6 sides), 2.2% (hits 7-13 center), 1.5% (hits 7-13 sides), 1% (hit 14), 1% (landing)	Yoshi performs a downward Flutter Jump and rapidly kicks the opponent. The final kick can now hit opponents horizontally, improving the attack's potential on grounded opponents. The most damaging aerial in the game. Great to pressure shields.
Grab			—	Yoshi uses his tongue to grab an opponent and pull them into his mouth. His dash grab cause him to trip if he does not grab the opponent. Despite its appearance, Yoshi's tongue is not a tether, though its range and lag is between tethers and normal grabs.
Pummel			2%	Yoshi chews on the opponent.
Forward throw			7%	Yoshi spits the opponent forward.
Back throw			7%	Yoshi spits the opponent backward.
Up throw			5%	Yoshi spits the opponent upward.
Down throw			4%	Yoshi spits the opponent into the ground. Worse than most down throws to start combos, but can still set up an up air on fast-fallers.
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	Egg Lay	7%	Yoshi swallows the foe and turns them into an egg. When encased in an egg, the victim receives less damage and can repeatedly tap buttons to break free, but is completely immobile and vulnerable to Yoshi's attacks while trapped.
	Custom 1	Lick	10%	Yoshi pokes the enemy with his tongue, similar to how it operated in The Subspace Emissary'. Surprisingly powerful, it is able to KO under 150%.
	Custom 2	Egg Launch	10%	The egg Yoshi lays is fired backwards, but it is easier to break out of.
Side special	Default	Egg Roll	4% (base), more with speed	Yoshi eggs himself and rolls around, barreling through opponents to attack. While he can jump, the move does no damage unless grounded. Has low utility because of how easy it is to punish it.
	Custom 1	Heavy Egg Roll	4% (base), more with speed	Significantly slower and stronger.
	Custom 2	Light Egg Roll	4% (base), more with speed	Considerably stronger and faster, but bounces once and breaks on the second bounce.
Up special	Default	Egg Throw	1% (contact), 5% (explosion)	Throws an egg in a controllable, parabolic arc. When used in midair, it gives Yoshi a small boost upward, which gets weaker and weaker the more times it is used consecutively. A very good projectile and a reliable combo starter.
	Custom 1	High Jump	0%	Increases the height gained, but does not throw eggs.
	Custom 2	Timed Egg Throw	9%	Eggs thrown are stronger when they explode and travel harmlessly through enemies instead of exploding on contact.
Down special	Default	Yoshi Bomb	4% (hop), 15% (ground drop), 12% (air drop), 4% (stars)	Yoshi quickly leaps into the air to perform a Ground Pound, which produces stars when he lands.
	Custom 1	Star Bomb	3% (hop), 4% (drop), 8%/6%/4% (stars)	It has much less power, but the stars produced are larger and stronger.
	Custom 2	Crushing Bomb	5% (hop), 18% (drop)	It has much more power, but is slower and produces no stars.
Final Smash		Super Dragon	3% (contact), 6%/4%/3% (fire breath), 18%/14%/12% (fireball)	Yoshi sprouts a pair of angelic wings and gains the ability to breathe fire. While transformed, he can shoot large fireballs with the attack button, and can breathe a continuous stream of flames by staying idle. Lastly, Yoshi can make use of his newfound power of flight and invincibility to charge into rivals, but taking damage reduces the amount of time he stays transformed, as with other Transformation Final Smashes.

Taunts

• YoshiUpTauntSSB4.jpg
• YoshiSideTauntSSB4.jpg
• YoshiDownTauntSSB4.jpg

• Up Taunt: Dances around in a circle and cries "Yoshi!" upon finishing.
• Side Taunt: Yoshi chases his tail, followed by a brief pause to stare at it.
• Down Taunt: Looks towards the screen and jumps excitedly up and down with his arms flailing. He cries "Yoshi! Yoshi!". The taunt originates from Super Smash Bros..

Idle Poses

• Does a short dance.
• Looks around.

On-Screen Appearance

Yoshi bursts out of a Yoshi Egg. Depending on the color of the Yoshi, the spots on the egg will be the same color.

Victory Fanfare

A flourished remix directly from Brawl based on the beginning of the title theme in Yoshi's Story.

Victory Poses

• YoshiPose3WiiU.png
• YoshiPose2WiiU.png
• YoshiPose1WiiU.png

• Punches the air, then makes a "ta-da" pose. This is his "character chosen" animation in Super Smash Bros..
• Looks up at the sky with his hands together, spins once, and gives the V sign.
• Angrily, he punches a few times, and then turns his back on the screen facing right.

In Competitive Play

While Yoshi is considered a high-tier and a possible top-tier character, Yoshi's tournament results are very lackluster and have even brought professional smasher Seagull Joe to question his overall viability.

Official Custom Moveset Project

Character	Custom sets available
Yoshi	3111	2111	1311	1211	3211
	3311	2211	2311	2113	3112

Notable players

•  Crenando
•  Firefly
•  Flow-Yo
•  GenMuH
•  KDB
•  Leepuff
•  Poltergust
•  Raptor
•  Rice
•  Sky

Trophies

Yoshi

As dependable a partner as one could hope for, Yoshi often aids Mario in his adventures. Yoshi can swallow just about anything and make an egg of it instantly. He's got some serious airborne power, making launching opponents skyward and then following up with more attacks a wise choice.

They say man's best friends is a dog, but Mario's may well be Yoshi. He lives on Yoshi's Island, and can swallow up just about anything, then lay it as an egg. In this game, jumping is his forte - he can leap really high, then quickly land again, making chasing after launched opponents and getting in sneaky follow-up strikes easy.

: Super Mario World (08/1991)

: Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (10/1995)

Yoshi (Alt.)

Yoshi's up special move Egg Throw is a projectile attack that travels farther the longer the button is held. Yoshi will also rise a bit if this move is used in midair. The side special Egg Roll turns Yoshi into a rolling, damaging egg. Yoshi won't roll off an edge if no directions are pressed.

When you use the Egg Throw up special, how far Yoshi throws the egg depends on how long you hold the button. In mid-air, the move also makes him rise a bit. Egg Roll, a side special, sends him rolling inside an egg. If you don't control him while he's rolling, he'll stop just before he rolls off the edge of a platform.

: Super Mario World (08/1991)

: Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (10/1995)

Super Dragon

Wings sprout from Yoshi's back and he transforms into a super-cool dragon! While transformed, Yoshi is invincible and will constantly breathe fire. He can also ram into foes and shoot fireballs at them. The fireballs are great for launching foes and most powerful when used at close range.

A pair of wings appear on Yoshi's back, turning him into an angelic dragon. While the Final Smash is active, he can fly freely through the air, and is invincible to boot. He constantly breathes fire, can ram into opponents, and can also shoot fireballs that deal a lot of damage and have great launching power, especially at close range.

• 

  Classic (3DS)

• YoshiAllStarTrophy3DS.png

  Alt. (3DS)

• 

  Classic (Wii U)

• 

  Alt. (Wii U)

• 

  Super Dragon

In Event Matches

Solo Events

• All-Star Battle: Regulars: Yoshi is one of the opponents fought in this event. All opponents are starter characters from the original Super Smash Bros. game.
• King of the Yoshis: Yoshi must defeat seven other Yoshis in a stock match.

Co-op Events

• Food Fight: Yoshi, Wario, and Pac-Man are all opponents that Kirby and King Dedede must defeat.
• Robots vs. Dragons: A giant Yoshi appears as one of the opponents that Mega Man and R.O.B. must defeat.
• Scheming Sorcerer: Yoshi and Toon Link must defeat male and female Robin, followed by giant male Robin and giant metal female Robin.
• The Ultimate Battle: Two players select a character and must defeat the entire roster.

Alternate costumes

The eggs Yoshi creates are now in the selected color.

Gallery

• 

  Yoshi's introduction picture.

• 

  Yoshi's amiibo.

• 

  Taunting alongside Kirby, Pikachu, and Villager.

• 

  Yoshi's forward tilt with Zelda's Phantom Slash.

• 

  Using Egg Throw on a Smash Ball.

• 

  Egg Lay.

• 

  A pose.

• 

  Yoshi Bomb with Bowser and Toon Link.

• 

  Egg Lay.

• 

  Down taunt with Kirby.

• 

  Getting hit by a banana peel from Diddy Kong.

• 

  Posing with Luma.

• 

  Jumping away from a shark with Pikachu and Diddy Kong.

• 

  Yoshi on the cover for the 3DS version.

Trivia

• Yoshi is the only veteran that is not an alternate form or part of a set to have splash art and an introduction tagline accompany his reveal.
• Yoshi is the only member of the Original 8 and one of the only three SSB characters to be absent in any of promotional posters containing newcomers, the other two being Ness and Jigglypuff.
  • He is also the only one of the "Original 8" to not be revealed at E3 2013 and the last one to be revealed overall.
• Even though Yoshi does not vocalize the Yoshi Bomb anymore, he still has the sound effect in the Sound Test.
• This is the first game where Yoshi recieves new alternate costumes.