Dash
- "Run" redirects here. For information on the CPU mode in Brawl, see Evade.
Dashing is a form of ground movement faster than walking. It is performed by tapping sideways on the control stick. The player's character enters his or her initial dash animation, in which they change directions with very little lag, and then proceeds to his or her running animation. In Brawl, a character attempting to dash can Prat Fall instead. While dashing, characters can also perform their dash attack, shield or jump. The Bunny Hood item increases a character's running speed. The concept of the initial dash is vital to many forms of ground movement, such as dash-dancing, Fox-trotting and pivoting.
Other terminology
The initial dash is the first part of a character's dash during which a character can change directions with only 1 frame lag—much less than during run, where this lag can be as high as 51 frames (Marth in Melee). The concept of the initial dash is vital to many forms of ground movement, such as dash-dancing, fox-trotting, and pivoting.
A stutter step is the term for when a character begins to dash but stops almost immediately, often used for positioning and mindgames. Along with merely stopping, characters can also Dash cancel via a variety of other methods.
In Super Smash Bros. Melee
Initial dash
Because the initial dash animation translates into the running animation much later than in Brawl, it is a vital tool for movement in general and dash-dancing in particular. During the initial dash, the following actions can be used:
- Altering the speed of the dash with the control stick, most notably backwards to Moonwalk.
- Turning around by mashing the control stick in the opposite direction. Turning around takes one frame during which the character is standing and can do all ground attacks except neutral B. If the control stick stays in a neutral position after this pivot frame, the character will keep standing.
- Pressing A or C-Stick forward/backward during the first 3 frames to do a small step forward smash. This is only possible after dashing forward, not backward.
- Pressing A after the first 3 frames to do a dash attack.
- Pressing L or R to shield. During the first two frames of a forward dash, L/R always trigger a roll. On frame 3, they trigger the shield, but with 1 frame delay.
- Pressing L+A, R+A or Z to do a dash grab.
- Jumping.
- Using forward special.
Run
During the run—the later part of the dash—different options are available:
- Pressing down to crouch. (Spending 1 frame in the RunBrake animation is necessary before the crouch can start.)
- Turning around by mashing or pushing the control stick in the opposite direction. Turning around takes very long, up to 51 frames (Marth). During the turnaround animation, only jump can be used to interrupt it.
- Pressing A or C-Stick forward/backward during the first 3 frames to do a small step forward smash. This is only possible after dashing forward, not backward.
- Pressing A to do a dash attack.
- Pressing L or R to shield.
- Pressing L+A, R+A or Z to do a dash grab.
- Jumping.
- Using special moves.
Running speed
Running speed is the rate at which a character can run.
Super Smash Bros. rankings
| Rank | Character |
|---|---|
| 1 | Captain Falcon |
| 2 | Fox |
| 3 | Pikachu |
| 4 | Samus |
| 5 | Yoshi |
| 6-7 | Donkey Kong and Kirby |
| 8 | Mario |
| 9-10 | Link and Jigglypuff |
| 11-12 | Luigi and Ness |
Taken from Antdgar's Frame Data
Super Smash Bros. Melee rankings
- A ">" means that the character to the left of the ">" accelerates to his/her top speed quicker than the character to the right of the ">."
- A "=" means the two or three characters between the "=" have the same exact acceleration.
| Rank | Character |
|---|---|
| 1 | Captain Falcon |
| 2 | Fox |
| 3 | Marth |
| 4-6 | Sheik > Pikachu > Pichu |
| 7-10 | Young Link > Roy > Yoshi > Donkey Kong |
| 11-15 | Falco > Dr. Mario = Mario > Mr. Game & Watch > Bowser |
| 16-20 | Samus > Kirby = Mewtwo > Ice Climbers > Ness |
| 21 | Ganondorf |
| 22 | Luigi |
| 23-24 | Link > Peach |
| 25-26 | Jigglypuff > Zelda |
Super Smash Bros. Brawl rankings
| Rank | Character |
|---|---|
| 1 | Sonic |
| 2 | Captain Falcon |
| 3 | Luigi |
| 4-5 | Toon Link and Samus |
| 6 | Meta Knight |
| 7-8 | Ivysaur and Lucario |
| 9-10 | Diddy Kong and Ike |
| 11 | Pikachu |
| 12-13 | Toon Link and Donkey Kong |
| 14 | Yoshi |
| 15 | Mr. Game & Watch |
| 16-20 | Ness, R.O.B., Bowser, Squirtle, and Pit |
| 21 | Zero Suit Samus |
| 22-23 | Wolf |
| 24-27 | Olimar, Lucas, Fox, and Ice Climbers |
| 28-30 | Marth, Charizard, and King Dedede |
| 31-33 | Wario, Ganondorf, and Snake |
| 34-35 | Link and Peach |
| 36-37 | Zelda and Kirby |
| 38-39 | Jigglypuff and Mario |
Note that several slow runners can use their dash attack to travel a far distance quicker, and some characters have a DACUS to increase mobility.
