Mario (SSBB)

This article is about Mario's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. For other uses, see Mario.

Mario
Mario
Universe	Mario
Appears in	SSB SSBM SSBB
Availability	Starter
Tier	F (31)

Mario returns once again for Super Smash Bros. Brawl. His moveset is basically the same as the previous games, except that his Down Special Move has been changed to F.L.U.D.D., while Mario Tornado has become his Down Aerial.

His tier position (F tier) is the worst it has ever been, ranking 31 out of 37 (the lowest ranked character in the Mario series), compared to 5 of 12 in SSB, and 14 of 26 in SSBM, largely because his slightly nerfed range and power, lack of outstanding attributes (outside of edge-guarding), his huge lack of range (which isn't disjointed and lacks the priority of Luigi's aerials) without the mobility to compensate for it, poor and unreliable recovery, and reduced hitstun (meaning weaker combos) result in slightly below average matchups.

Attributes

Mario is considered a beginner character that people can learn with. This is due to him having no major size or speed flaws and is considered all around and balanced. He is a middleweight, and he is well balanced in both power and speed. Despite being an average-sized middleweight, Mario is one of those who King Dedede can infinitely chain grab without a wall, which is a true problem at high level play. Some of his finishers require some sort of setup in order to work well, as they do not kill at impressively low percents or have particularly good range. For example, his forward aerial is a meteor smash which helps him edgeguard, but it is slow and can be difficult to meteor smash with, it has quite low knockback for a meteor smash as well, but if sour-spotted, it deals good horizontal knockback that can kill off-stage foes at high percentages. His forward special, the Cape, allows him to turn enemies around and reflect projectiles. The cape also propels him forward a little when used in the air. Additionally, the cape reverses momentum and can be used to Cape Glide which greatly enhances his edgeguarding capabilities. His Neutral Special, the Fireball, is spammable and helps him control approach. His Down Special, F.L.U.D.D., has to be charged up and deals no damage but pushes enemies back similar to Kyogre or Water Gun which also can be used as edge-guard on recoveries like Link's Spin Attack. This can make it impossible to recover for some characters, while for others, it is a mere hinderance. Also, it takes a long time to charge, meaning Mario must wait a good amount of time before it is effective, although it can be saved by shielding and rolling. Excluding F.L.U.D.D. and Fireball, Mario does not have many long ranged attacks. For his recovery, he can wall jump and use his Cape, along with his Super Jump Punch. Super Jump Punch, however, is a relatively poor recovery move in general and is easily edge-guarded due to its predictable trajectory (straight upwards, slightly diagonal), though, it is considered to be a great out-of-shield option.. F.L.U.D.D. can also be used to push him back horizontally. His Smash attacks are quick, so he can execute them with little start-up lag. He is also known for being a good juggler with his quick attacks and aerials. F.L.U.D.D, like Water Gun, has high priority and shuts down many approachs. It also has an interesting property that if an opponent outprioritizes the water, they will temporarily get stuck on a frame and will be open to attack.

Moveset

Ground Moves

Normal

• Neutral Attack - Jabs with his right, then his left, and then kicks with his right foot. All are from Super Mario 64. Beneficial in making combos. First hit jab locks character laying on the ground. 9% damage
• Dash Attack - Slides forward and kicks with both feet. Also from Super Mario 64. Low priority, damage, and knockback. (Has IASA frames near the end of the attack)7-9% damage.
• Forward Tilt - Does a roundhouse kick with his right leg. Has average damage and knockback, but has some range compared to some moves. (Has IASA frames after the kick; some odd momentum properties if exploited.) Does 8% to foes.
• Up Tilt - Delivers an uppercut while spinning. Similar to a move in Super Mario RPG. Average damage and above-average knockback. 7%. An excellent combo technique into itself.
• Down Tilt - Sweeps low to the ground with his leg. Though it has a very fast start-up, it deals very little damage damage, has high ending lag, low knockback and has no hitstun. Near useless move because if hits he'll give the opponent a chance to hit for much more damage. Best never to use it. 5% to enemies, 7% if sweetspotted.

Smash

• Side Smash - Steps back, and then moves forward, shooting fire out of his hand. One of Mario's longest-ranged moves. Damage is highest when sweetspotted (at the flame), but strangely, knockback is somewhat greater around the hand than when sweetspotted. Can also be angled up and down. The move is derived form Mario's ability to shoot fireballs. Does 18-23% normally, but up to 25% if aimed up and 22% if aimed down.
• Up Smash - Sends opponents skyward with a headbutt. Has some good upwards knockback, and can Star KO some foes at middle-damage. 15% uncharged and 21% fully charged.
• Down Smash - Does a break dance sweep. Some of the best knockback out of Mario's moves. Another move from Super Mario 64. 16% uncharged and 22% fully charged.

Other

• Ledge Attack (below 100%) - Does a somersault and then kicks upwards, from a laying down position. 8%.
• Ledge Attack (above 100%) - Gets up then does an attack, similar to his forward tilt. 10%.
• Floor Attack -Gets up then punches behind him, then in front of him. 6%.
• Trip attack-Kicks behind him, then in front of him while getting up. 5%.

Aerial Attacks

• Neutral Aerial - Performs a Sex Kick kick in the air. Similar to an attack from Super Mario 64. This can be used to break certain chaingrabs. Initially does 10% with high priority, then 5% afterwards.
• Forward Aerial - Punches downward, this is a slow Meteor Smash. Spikes if it connects below Mario's body. Does 13%.
• Back Aerial - Spins and kicks backward. Similar to his Fair in the original Super Smash Bros. 12% damage. Decent KO move with ok knockback.
• Up Aerial - Does a somersault and kicks upward. Incredible comboing potential. 11% with horizontal knockback.
• Down Aerial - Mario Tornado. Spins with fists then strikes with both on opposite sides. Like the original move, it looks somewhat like the Spin Jump from various Mario games, like Super Mario World. Up to 5% on the smaller hits, then 7% on the final for up to 12% damage.

Grabs & Throws

• Pummel - Headbutt 3% damage.
• Forward Throw - Mario spins around once then throws his opponent in front of him. 9% damage
• Back Throw - Mario spins around several times then throws his opponent backwards. It is similar to when Mario grabs Bowser by the tail, and then swings him around in an attempt to throw into the bombs in Super Mario 64. While a fairly long throw, he can damage other characters with the character he is swinging around. 12% damage
• Up Throw - Mario throws his opponent high into the air. 8% damage
• Down Throw - Mario slams his opponent into the ground. Good for starting combos. 6% damage

Taunts

• Up - Turns into Super Mario. The way he does it is how he changes in the original Super Mario Bros. (Same as in SSB and Melee.)
• Side - Takes off his hat, twirls around, and puts his hat back on, similar to the level clear animation from New Super Mario Bros. or "Super Mario Sunshine".
• Down - Spins in the air and falls on his back, based on the dying animation from the original Donkey Kong.

Changes from Melee to Brawl

Mario has been nerfed from Melee to Brawl. He has less options and cannot combo as effectively because of the reduced hitstun. Many of Mario's attacks are slightly weaker and/or have less range. For example, his fireballs travel considerably less distance and deal 1% less damage. On the upside, they now have slightly more hitstun and a larger hitbox. Mario now has a slightly smaller model. Mario also has a new down special move (F.L.U.D.D.) and down aerial (Mario Tornado), making his recovery worse because he can no longer preform the Rising Tornado technique. Mario's cape now reverses the enemy's momentum rather than just reversing their direction. However, it's no longer as effective as an edge-guarding technique due the auto ledge grab feature. On the upside, it is more effective in assisting recovery. Mario's neutral aerial is weaker, and his forward aerial now requires a sweetspot to meteor smash (along with dealing 1% less damage and having lower knockback). However, his back aerial is stronger. Mario's back throw now launches enemies more vertical than horizontally (somewhat like Dr. Mario). Mario's side smash can now KO even without being sweetspotted.

In term of cosmetics, Mario has been updated graphically, with his overalls looking more realistic. His Fireballs look more realistic as well. While he has the same voice actor as in Melee, Mario now has a new voice, instead of having recycled voice clips from Super Mario 64. His back air now has the animation of his forward aerial in SSB. He no longer speaks during his first jump, and all of his jumps make variations of the "boing" noise from Super Mario Bros.; the pitch increases with each jump: the short ground and wall jumps make a shortened version, the high ground jump uses the unaltered standard version, and the second jump and Super Jump Punch each make higher pitched versions.

In competitive play

Super Smash Bros. Brawl Character Matchups

Avg.

Role in the Subspace Emissary

In the beginning, a trophy of Mario and Kirby are thrown into the Midair Stadium, where they come to life and have a friendly fight. The player chooses the one they want to play as. If Mario is chosen, the opponent will be Kirby, and vice-versa. After the battle between the two, the winner revives the loser, they shake hands, and wave to the crowd. Suddenly, red ominous clouds appear above the stadium, and the Halberd emerges from it. It releases Shadow Bugs which form into Primids. Peach and Zelda, who were watching the match, come to help, and after defeating all of the enemies, they are all confronted by the Ancient Minister. After seeing the two R.O.B.s setting up a Subspace Bomb, Mario runs to try and stop it, only to be blasted out of the stadium and Star KOed by a cannonball.

File:Subspace mario.PNG

Mario in the SSE

During his descent from Skyworld, Pit finds Mario's trophy, and revives him. Once Mario recounts what happened, the two proceeded on their journey. When they reach the ground, they fight Primids across the Plain and attempt to stop the Ancient Minister from delivering another Subspace Bomb. Mario attempts to reach the Minister, but falls short; Pit also tries to get him by using a Footstool Jump on Mario, but he also fails. They then continue on their quest.

The Lake Shore

False Peach

At the shore, Kirby chases after a menacing noise he heard, unaccompanied by Peach. The abandoned princess is turned into a trophy by Bowser's Dark Cannon. A False Character of Bowser appears and dissolves, engulfing Peach's trophy. Brought to life is a cloned Peach which tries to fire a Dark Cannon at Mario. Luckily, Link destroys the gun using his Master Sword, and fights the princess with Yoshi. Mario notices them standing by Peach's trophy, which disintegrates. Enraged, Mario attempts to attack Link, but he dodges the attack. Link, Yoshi, Mario, and Pit get into a two-on-two fight. Afterward, King Dedede's cargo, stolen from Wario and already loaded with the trophies of Zelda, Ness, and Luigi, grabs Link and Yoshi's trophies with its mechanical arm. Fortunately Kirby appears from behind and severs the arm with Final Cutter while reviving Link and Yoshi; Kirby had realized that the noise he heard was Dedede hijacking the cargo from Wario. King Dedede turns around and tries to get away, but Pit blows the cargo's tire with Palutena's Arrow.

The five follow Dedede across some plains and follow him into the Cave, where they see Dedede's castle in ruins from an ambush by Bowser. They pursue Bowser through a hole in the castle wall. Mario and friends then confront Bowser at a cliff. Mario jumps at the Koopa, but misses with his attack. Pit fires an arrow; Bowser, while sidestepping to dodge the arrow, drops the Dedede Brooch attached to Zelda's chest. He loses footing and falls off the cliff into the Koopa Clown Car with the trophy of Zelda, where he laughs maniacally as he flies up to the Halberd.

False Zelda

At the shore, Kirby chases after a menacing noise he heard, unaccompanied by Zelda. The abandoned princess is turned into a trophy by Bowser's Dark Cannon. A False character of Bowser appears and dissolves, engulfing Zelda's trophy. Brought to life is a cloned Zelda which tries to fire a Dark Cannon at Link. Luckily, Pit destroys the gun, and fights the princess with Mario. Link notices them standing by Zelda's trophy, which disintegrates. Enraged, Link attempts to attack Mario, but he dodges the attack. Link, Yoshi, Mario, and Pit get into a two-on-two fight. Afterward, King Dedede's cargo, stolen from Wario and already loaded with the trophies of Peach, Ness, and Luigi, grabs Mario and Pit's trophies with its mechanical arm. Fortunately Kirby appears from behind and severs the arm with Final Cutter while reviving Mario and Pit. King Dedede turns around and tries to get away, but Link blows the cargo's tire with his Hero's Bow.

The five follow Dedede across some plains and follow him into the Cave, where they see Dedede's castle in ruins from an ambush by Bowser. They pursue Bowser through a hole in the castle wall. Mario and friends then confront Bowser at a cliff. Mario jumps at the Koopa, but misses with his attack. Pit fires an arrow; Bowser, while sidestepping to dodge the arrow, drops the Dedede Brooch attached to Peach's chest. He loses footing and falls off the cliff into the Koopa Clown Car with the trophy of Peach, where he laughs maniacally as he flies up to the Halberd.

Story Merge

They later catch up to the Ancient Minister in a desert, and after failing to stop a Subspace Bomb from detonating, barely escape the blast. Mario then leads his team at the Canyon, saving Marth, Ike, Lucas, Pokémon Trainer and Ice Climbers from a horde of Primids. The ten of them camp out for a while, until Mario spots an enormous explosion of Subspace Bombs from the Isle of the Ancients. Shortly afterward the Halberd lands, which has been retaken by Meta Knight, Lucario, Snake, Peach, Sheik, Fox, Falco and Mr. Game & Watch. Next to it is the Falcon Flyer, containing Samus, Pikachu, Olimar, Captain Falcon, Diddy Kong, Donkey Kong and R.O.B.

Mario and friends destroy the Subspace Gunship and prepare to attack Tabuu. Unfortunately, their plan of assault is interrupted by Tabuu's Off Waves. Mario is later resurrected by King Dedede, Ness, Luigi and Kirby and helps the other heroes through the Great Maze. In Tabuu's Residence, Tabuu poises to unleash more Off Waves; Sonic impedes his doing so. Mario joins the battle against Tabuu, eventually defeating him and ending the Subspace invasion.

Exclusive Stickers

The following stickers can either only be used by Mario, or can only be used by a select few, including Mario:

• 1-Up Mushroom: [Leg] Attack +4
• Bowser (Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix): [Throwing] Attack +20
• Bowser (Mario Kart 64): [Weapon] Attack +13
• Bowser (Super Paper Mario): [Arm] Attack +23
• Coin: [Specials: Indirect] Attack +4
• Dice Block: [Arm] Attack +8
• Dr. Mario: [Head] Attack +18
• Koopa: [Body, Spin] Attack +10
• Lakitu (Mario Kart: Super Circuit): [Leg] Attack +13
• Mario (Mario Kart DS): [Leg] Attack +22
• Mario & Yoshi: [Specials: Indirect] Attack +13
• Mega Rush Badge: [Specials: Direct] Attack +8
• Mushroom: [Arm, Leg] Attack +5
• Peach (Super Princess Peach): [Weapon] Attack +23
• Peach (Mario Superstar Baseball): [Slash] Attack +5
• Rawk Hawk: [Arm] Attack +5
• Red Fire: [Flame] Attack +26
• Super Mario Bros.: [Arm, Leg] Attack +15
• Toad & Toadette: [Head] Attack +16
• Waluigi (Super Mario Strikers): [Slash] Attack +15
• Waluigi (Mario Superstar Baseball): [Specials: Indirect] Attack +8
• Yoshi (Yoshi Touch & Go): [Arm, Leg] Attack +8
• Yoshi (Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door): [Throwing] Attack +5

Costume Gallery

File:Alt-mario3.jpg

Mario's changeable clothing in SSBB

Trivia

• Mario is tied with Kirby for being the most playable character in the Subspace Emissary, being playable in 9 levels. Despite this, it is possible to never play as him at any time as your never forced to play as Mario unlike Kirby.
• Mario's cape is the only reflector that can reflect the water from F.L.U.D.D..
• Mario rarely smiles in Brawl compared to his games and in Melee (he didn't have a mouth in SSB).
• Mario, Bowser, and Ganondorf are the only returning characters in Brawl to have at least one completely different move. Mario's Down Special Move, FLUDD, is completely different from his previous Mario Tornado, while Bowser and Ganondorf have new Side Special Moves.
• In Mario's bio section of the Prima Super Smash Bros Brawl guide, it incorrectly calls him "Maria"
• Mario is the only character to have a special move from a previous game turned into a standard attack in Brawl.
• Although Mario still has the same voice actor (Charles Martinet) as in his own games, in SSBB, it is somewhat less cartoonish than in said games - the same applies to Luigi and Wario.

External links

• Mario's page at Smash Bros. Dojo!!
• Mario Character Guide at SWF