Little Mac: Difference between revisions

|firstgame=[[wikipedia:Punch-Out!! (arcade game)|''Punch-Out!!'' (arcade)]] (1983, technical debut)<br>[[wikipedia:Punch-Out!! (NES)|''Punch-Out!!'' (NES)]] (1987, proper debut)

|lastappearance= ''{{s|mariowiki|Luigi's Mansion 3}}'' (2019, cameo)

'''Little Mac''' ({{ja|リトル・マック|Ritoru Makku}}, ''Little Mac'') is the main character of [[Nintendo]]'s ''{{uv|Punch-Out!!}}'' series of video games. Initially debuting as a nameless boxer in the arcade release of ''[[wikipedia:Punch-Out!! (arcade game)|Punch-Out!!]]'', Little Mac gained his name and backstory beginning with ''{{S|wikipedia|Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!}}'' on the NES. As his name implies, Little Mac has a small frame, which grants him his trademark maneuverability and speed. Trained by [[Doc Louis]], Little Mac entered a boxing tournament and managed to become a champion, defeating several opponents much larger and experienced than him, and some of them have twice his age.

[[File:Littlemacnes.gif|thumb|left|60px|Little Mac in ''{{b|Punch-Out!!|NES}}'' for the NES.]]

Hailing from The Bronx, New York, 17-year-old Mac aspired to become a professional boxer. However, he stood at only 4'8"/142 cm in the NES installment (changed to a more reasonable 5'7"/172 cm in the Wii installment), so his below-average stature turned most trainers away from taking him on. Upon meeting former heavyweight champion [[Doc Louis]], however, Mac became strong enough to enter a boxing tournament hosted by the World Video Boxing Association (WVBA) under the ring name Little Mac. He defeated opponents who were increasingly larger than him and ultimately became the WVBA champion by knocking out the top-ranked boxer: real-life boxer {{s|wikipedia|Mike Tyson}} in the original NES installment, Mr. Dream in all re-releases of said installment, or Mr. Sandman in the Wii installment.

After conquering a circuit, Mac would continue to train with Doc, often jogging through New York City in a pink sweatsuit while Doc biked ahead. The Wii version also details the other exercises Mac would go through in Doc's gym. The greatest asset Mac gained from this training was Doc's patented Star Punch technique; after stunning an opponent, Mac could deliver a powerful uppercut instead of his usual jabs and hooks. During matches, he uses a defensive playstyle that focuses on dodging the opponent's attacks before counterattacking, which makes up the gameplay of the entire ''Punch Out!!'' series.

 

Several re-releases of ''{{s|wikipedia|Super Punch-Out!!}}'' refer to the protagonist of the game as "Little Mac", despite him having a different appearance; the protagonist of ''Super Punch-Out!!'' features messy, light brown hair, wears blue shorts, and does not wear a shirt in the ring, though he still retains the green boxing gloves. Owing to this, there exists dispute as to whether or not the two are the same character; while a developer for the Wii version of ''Punch-Out!!'', Bryce Holliday, claimed that the two are different characters, Nintendo officially states that the two are the same character, with Little Mac having changed his appearance after splitting ways with Doc Louis.

[[File:LittleMacBrawlAssist.jpg|thumb|left|Little Mac as he appears in ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl''.]]

Little Mac makes an appearance in ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl'' as an [[Assist Trophy]]. When summoned, he dashes about the stage to opponents, attacking by throwing two alternating jabs and an uppercut. The jabs deal a good amount of damage, while the uppercut is devastatingly powerful; it deals 25%, [[KO]]s under 50%, and is an instant [[shield break]]er. With his speed and immense power, Little Mac is one of the most dangerous Assist Trophies in ''Brawl'', and is very capable of KOing each of the summoner's opponents. However, Little Mac is extremely prone to falling off-stage, even more so than other Assist Trophies, which leaves him very unreliable, especially if the opponents can lure him off-stage. The punching sound effects from ''Punch-Out!!'' can be heard as Little Mac attacks. Little Mac receives his own [[trophy]] in the game, like all other Assist Trophies.

[[File:Little_Mac_-_Brawl_Trophy.png|100px|thumb|left|Little Mac's trophy in ''Brawl''.]]

Little Mac is a [[newcomer]] in ''Super Smash Bros. 4''. He was revealed on February 13th, 2014 during a Nintendo Direct, which commemorated the 30th anniversary of the ''Punch-Out!!'' series. Little Mac's grounded movement is extremely quick, with his rolls, sidestep and dashing speed being among the fastest in the game. On a related note, the majority of his grounded attacks boast quick frame data alongside high damage outputs and knockback. Little Mac also has a unique mechanic called the [[Power Meter]], which originates from his home series. When fully charged via damage dealt or taken, the Power Meter allows him to use the [[Straight Lunge#KO Uppercut|KO Uppercut]], an immensely fast and powerful uppercut that is capable of KOing the entire cast at extremely low percentages. While Little Mac is a nigh-unparalleled ground fighter, he has very poor aerial attacks and recovery to compensate.

Little Mac is currently ranked 44th on the [[tier list]]. While possessing a fearsome ground game due to his high power, quick movement speed and frame data, Little Mac has a notoriously weak aerial game, and what is often considered the worst recovery in the series due to his options being very short-ranged. This is compounded by the combination of his light weight and the fact that even the slightest hit on him can completely foil any of his recovery attempts. With his exploitable weaknesses, Little Mac has difficulty performing in high-level play, but has nevertheless managed to attain average representation and achieve success at varying levels: {{Sm|Cagt}} has achieved several top 10 placings and a few top 25 placings at local and regional tournaments respectively, {{Sm|Destany}} has won several local tournaments in both singles and [[doubles]] play, and {{Sm|Sol}}, {{Sm|Vash}}, and {{Sm|Alphicans}} have each achieved a few respectable placings in singles play and a few high placings in doubles play at regional and national tournaments.

[[File:Little Mac SSBU.png|thumb|Little Mac in ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate''.]]

Little Mac returns as a playable fighter in ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate''. He is now an [[unlockable character]], as opposed to being a [[starter character]].

Despite being a lower mid-tier character in ''SSB4'', Little Mac received a mix of buffs and nerfs in the transition to ''Ultimate'' that resulted in him generally being viewed as being nerfed overall. While he has received good improvements both directly and from game engine changes, he received heavy nerfs to his damage output and combo potential. He also is mostly harmed by the universal engine changes in ''Ultimate'' compared to most of the cast who benefit from said changes.

However, since update 3.1.0 granted useful buffs to Little Mac's ground game, his almost nonexistent representation improved to the point of gaining dedicated mains who are recently getting impressive results in both regional and national tournaments.  

File:Mac.jpg|Little Mac's official art from ''Brawl''.

Little Mac Wireframe.png|Wireframe Mac as he appears in ''Super Smash Bros. 4''.

*Little Mac was the first playable character in the series to have been an [[Assist Trophy]] in a previous game. He would later be followed by [[Dark Samus]] and [[Isabelle]].

***Of the four, he is the only former Assist Trophy to represent a new universe, rather than being an addition to an already represented universe; he is also the only one to have made this transition from ''Brawl'' to ''SSB4''.

***He is also the only male character who was originally a summonable character to become fully playable, as both Dark Samus and Isabelle are female, and Charizard's gender is left ambiguous, as with other Pokémon.

*Little Mac is one of two characters who had their number of alternate costumes reduced from one game to the next, as he has 16 in ''SSB4'' and has 8 in ''Ultimate''. The other character is [[Wario]], whose alternate costume count was reduced from 12 in ''Brawl'' to 8 in ''SSB4''.

*Little Mac is the second character to originate from a real life location, being The Bronx in New York. He was preceded by [[Snake]] and [[Sonic the Hedgehog]], and succeeded by [[Ryu]], [[Simon Belmont]], [[Richter Belmont]], [[Ken Masters]], [[Joker]], and [[Terry Bogard]].