Up tilt
An up tilt (abbreviated "u-tilt"), officially called a strong up (上強攻撃, Up/above/upper strong attack) before Ultimate, is a tilt attack that can be performed by any character by holding the control stick lightly upward and pressing the attack button while on the ground. It can be difficult to pull off an up tilt quickly, as if the player tilts too fast, they'll either jump or do an up smash instead. Turning off tap jump can help avoid the former problem, or the player can do some other action and hold up on the control stick before it ends.
More often than not, up tilts are used for juggling, as they usually lack the knockback to disturb low damage combos outside of a few exceptions such as Ganondorf and Captain Falcon.
Since the Wii Remote-only control scheme lacks both a control stick and any other way to jump, up tilts become unusable without first holding up during a prior action, making them the only normal attack which a player may not be able to use for no in-game reason.
List of up tilts
Character | Description |
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Banjo & Kazooie | Banjo kicks upward with one leg as Kazooie lifts him up. |
Bayonetta | Twirls her gun while whipping it above herself, hitting twice. |
Bowser | Swings his claw in an arc above himself. |
Bowser Jr. | Deploys a pitchfork from the Koopa Clown Car and uppercuts with it. |
Byleth | Performs an overhead swing with the Sword of the Creator. |
Captain Falcon | Swings his leg up and then down in front of himself for an ax kick. |
Charizard | Shrugs its wings upwards. |
Chrom | Slashes in an arc above himself from front to back. |
Cloud | Slashes from back to the front above himself. |
Corrin | Performs an upwards sword twirl. |
Daisy | Points upwards alongside a flower-shaped magic burst. |
Dark Pit | Throws an upwards-angled butterfly kick. |
Dark Samus | Performs an ax kick in front of herself. |
Diddy Kong | Swats in an arc above himself. |
Donkey Kong | Swings his palm in an arc above himself. |
Dr. Mario | Throws a spinning uppercut. |
Duck Hunt | The dog lies down while the duck thrusts its body upwards, wings-first. |
Falco | Throws a scorpion kick behind and above himself. Spins while slashing above himself with one wing after another. |
Fox | Throws a scorpion kick behind and above himself. |
Ganondorf | Lifts his leg up, hangs it in the air, and then slams it into the ground in front of himself alongside a massive explosion. |
Greninja | Swipes its tongue above itself in an arc. |
Hero | Swings his sword in an upward arc. |
Ice Climbers | Thrust their hammers upwards head-first while twirling them for multiple hits. |
Ike | Holds Ragnell parallel to the ground and then performs a jumping thrust with it. |
Incineroar | Performs a jumping, arcing headbutt to the area above itself. |
Inkling | Performs a backflipping kick. |
Isabelle | Swipes a broom in an arc above herself. |
Ivysaur | Plants its vines onto the ground and then vaults off of them to tackle upwards with its body. |
Jigglypuff | Swings its leg upwards behind itself. |
Joker | Throws his knife upwards and lets it twirl above him for multiple hits, then catches it. |
Ken | Tapped: Uppercuts very quickly with his elbow. Held: Throws an upwards punch. |
King Dedede | Headbutts above himself. |
King K. Rool | Throws a quick uppercut. |
Kirby | Swings his leg upwards behind himself. |
Link | Slashes the Master Sword in a wide arc above himself. |
Little Mac | Swipes his fist above himself in a wide arc while crouching. |
Lucario | Throws a sweeping kick upwards. |
Lucas | Flips upside-down and kicks above himself with a PSI spark at his foot. |
Lucina | Swings Parallel Falchion in a wide arc up and around her head. |
Luigi | Throws a quick uppercut. Performs a back-to-front catpaw swing above himself. |
Mario | Throws a spinning uppercut. |
Marth | Swings Falchion in a wide arc up and around his head. |
Mega Man | Performs a very strong jumping and spinning uppercut. |
Meta Knight | Stabs straight upwards. |
Mewtwo | Performs a psychic-powered backflipping tail strike. |
Mii Brawler | Throws an uppercut. |
Mii Gunner | Uppercuts with their cannon while simultaneously releasing a fiery blast from it. |
Mii Swordfighter | Slashes in an arc above themselves. |
Min Min | Performs a wheel kick. |
Mr. Game & Watch | Swings a flag in an arc above himself. Swipes straight upwards with a flag to lead into a second upwards flag swipe with the opposite hand. |
Ness | Thrusts both of his palms straight upwards. Thrusts both of his palms straight upwards while releasing a blast of PSI from them. |
Olimar | Jumps up and spreads his arms out while spinning rapidly for multiple hits. |
Pac-Man | Headbutts above himself. Jabs straight upwards. |
Palutena | Kneels down and releases her staff, letting it spin above her for multiple hits. |
Peach | Headbutts above herself. Points upwards alongside a heart-shaped magic burst. |
Pichu | Swipes its tail above itself in an arc. |
Pikachu | Swipes its tail above itself in an arc. Swipes its tail above itself in an arc while performing a handstand. |
Piranha Plant | Gives its head a vigorous shake above itself. |
Pit | Plants one of his blades into the ground and uses it to perform a double kick out of a handstand. Throws an upwards-angled butterfly kick. |
R.O.B. | Thrusts his arms straight upwards. |
Richter | Twirls the Vampire Killer in a circle above his head. |
Ridley | Cuts above himself in a front-to-back arc with his wing. |
Robin | Performs an inwards uppercutting slash with the Bronze Sword. |
Rosalina & Luma | Rosalina: Launches a Saturnian ring a short distance above her head. Luma: Throws a strong uppercut. |
Roy | Slashes in an arc above himself from front to back in reverse grip. |
Ryu | Tapped: Uppercuts very quickly with his elbow. Held: Throws an upwards punch. |
Samus | Performs an ax kick in front of herself. |
Sheik | Sticks one of her legs straight up and then swings it downwards in front of herself. |
Shulk | Slashes upwards with the Monado for a spinning uppercut. |
Simon | Twirls the Vampire Killer in a circle above his head. |
Snake | Kicks straight up above himself. |
Sonic | Throws a butterfly kick to the area straight above him. |
Squirtle | Hops straight up for a quick headbutt. |
Steve | Swings his axe quickly above himself. |
Terry | Does an uppercut. |
Toon Link | Leans back and slashes in an arc above himself. |
Villager | Twirls a stick upwards for two hits. |
Wario | Thrusts his palms upwards. |
Wii Fit Trainer | Assumes the Triangle pose to swipe upwards with an outstretched arm. |
Wolf | Hops up and swings his leg upwards. |
Yoshi | Performs an upwards headbutt. Flicks his tail up in front of himself. |
Young Link | Slashes above himself in an arc. |
Zelda | Waves her palm above herself in an arc, emitting a magic flash from it. |
Zero Suit Samus | Performs a modified spinning scissor kick out of a handstand. |
Notable up tilts
- Ganondorf's up tilt, known as the Volcano Kick, has the slowest startup of any up tilt, but it deals high damage and extreme knockback. From Brawl onwards, it also creates a vacuum that draws other characters towards him, and is notable from SSB4 onwards for instantly breaking full shields with its sweetspot (and in Ultimate, breaking shields in its entire range, whether sweetspotted or not).
- Marth's up tilt in Melee covers a large area around him, has long-range, and relatively low ending lag, making it one of the best anti-air options in the game, and allowing it to combo into subsequent up tilts, aerial attacks, and even a grab or forward smash against fast fallers, while it can KO floaty characters at mid-high percentages.
- From SSB4 onward, Captain Falcon's up tilt meteor smashes opponents who are struck with his heel, making it the only up tilt in the series that is a conventional meteor smash. Conversely, from Melee onward, Samus and Dark Samus's shared up tilt is an unconventional meteor smash.
- Snake's up tilt in Brawl is often considered the best in the game due to its high knockback, fast startup, and huge disjointed hitbox. In Ultimate, its hitboxes have become smaller, but it still sports a frightening combination of speed and power, causing it to handily retain its status as one of the best up tilts in the game.
- In Brawl, King Dedede's up tilt has more knockback than his uncharged up smash, and the third-highest knockback of any up tilt, after those of Ganondorf and Snake, along with being not particularly slow, making it one of the best up tilts in the game. It also notably grant full intangibility to his body during its first two active frames; which is very rare for a tilt attack. In later games, its knockback has been reduced to the point of being weaker than his up smash.
- Kirby's up tilt in Smash 64 is considered overall one of the best moves in any Smash game, due to its extremely low lag (coming out on frame 4 and lasting only 17 frames), high damage output, extreme safety on shield and hugely disjointed hitbox. It is notable for its ability to easily and quickly rack up damage and break shields, as well as being able to outspace some characters' reliable approach options entirely on its own (such as Yoshi's).
- Mega Man's up tilt is very fast to start up and incredibly powerful, with among the highest knockback of any tilt (KOing at around 85%, earlier than even some uncharged up smashes), but has extremely high ending lag. Additionally, it is one of only two tilts in the series, along with Simon and Richter's shared down tilt, that causes the user to functionally leave the ground.
- Steve's up tilt in Ultimate can be repeated by holding down the attack button. Steve can also walk and jump while performing the move. It is also overall fast and combos into itself and aerials.
Attacks in the Super Smash Bros. series | |
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Standard ground attacks | Neutral attack · Dash attack |
Tilt attacks | Forward tilt · Up tilt · Down tilt · Crouching attack |
Smash attacks | Forward smash · Up smash · Down smash |
Aerial attacks | Neutral aerial · Forward aerial · Back aerial · Up aerial · Down aerial · Grab aerial · Glide attack |
Throws | Grab · Pummel · Forward throw · Back throw · Up throw · Down throw |
Get-up attacks | Floor attack · Edge attack |
Special moves | Neutral special move · Side special move · Up special move · Down special move · Command-input move · Final Smash |