Rising Uppercut
| Rising Uppercut | |
|---|---|
 Rising Uppercut in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U | |
| User | Little Mac |
| Universe | Punch-Out!! |
| “ | Perform a twisting uppercut while launching upwards. | ” |
| —Smash for 3DS's foldout | ||
Rising Uppercut (ライジングアッパーカット, Rising Uppercut) is Little Mac's up special move in Super Smash Bros. 4. It is one of the more powerful up specials in the game and serves as Little Mac's primary means of vertical recovery, but has been cited to be the worst recovery move in the game, if not the entire Smash series.
Overview
Rising Uppercut is an attack similar to Corkscrew, causing Little Mac to spin as he ascends, finishing with an uppercut punch. The attack creates a stream of successive hits, leading into one another, ending with a strong upward blow. Unlike most of his ground moves, this attack does little damage, 10% if all hits connect, but the final hit has great knockback scaling, capable of KOing middleweights at 115% and even earlier if the opponent is high up in the air. Additionally, the grounded version has a few frames of intangibility at the start, allowing Little Mac to potentially escape and catch opponents in the move while he is trapped in multi-hitting attacks (such as Fox's jab infinite) should the enemy be close enough. The aerial version sends Little Mac a shorter distance upwards but keeps its high knockback, making it Little Mac's only dependable aerial KO move. Unfortunately, despite acting as a drill, Rising Uppercut can only hit in the direction Little Mac faces and has extremely limited movement left and right, which can make it quite difficult to catch an opponent in. Regardless, it can catch airborne opponents offguard and is a great surprise option.
This is Little Mac's only means of vertical recovery, but it is very poor at doing so in comparison to other up special moves due to its numerous flaws: it lacks any horizontal momentum and gives completely vertical distance that travels as low as an average jump, giving it some of the worst distance of any recovery move in the series; as a further burden, the move does not ledge-sweetspot until the very end and additionally has a small auto-sweetspot, meaning that Little Mac is completely vulnerable to any attacks until the move is complete and is unable to grab onto a ledge early to make full use of edge invincibility, making it highly punishable if Little Mac even pokes his head above the edge (even being vulnerable to meteor smashes if he recovers low), making another dent in Little Mac's already weak air game. To maximise the move's recovery potential, the player should save Little Mac's second jump and recover low to prevent opponents from punishing the move's vulnerability. Even so, the move gives such mediocre distance that it is common for Little Mac to barely miss the ledge, especially due to the move's small auto-sweetspot.
Customization
Special Move customization was added in Super Smash Bros. 4. These are the variations:
| 1. Rising Uppercut | 2. Tornado Uppercut | 3. Rising Smash |
|---|---|---|
 |
 |
 |
| "Punch upward while twisting into the air. Hits opponents multiple times." | "A twisting uppercut that reaches greater heights. Knocks foes away, only hitting them once." | "Pop up foes, and then leap up to deliver an extra-powerful punch. Doesn't go very high." |
- Rising Uppercut: Default.
- Tornado Uppercut: Increased vertical recovery, but only hits a single time for 2% damage with weak knockback.
- Rising Smash: Increased power and knockback, but only hits twice at the beginning and end of the move. Unlike the default, it does not go any higher on the ground than it does in the air. In the air, it gives even less vertical distance under certain circumstances - if it's used while Mac is falling down, he will continue to fall during the long startup, gaining almost no height at all. Therefore it's a better idea to use the move right after a double jump - in the case, the height gained by this move and the default Rising Uppercut is almost the same.
Origin
The uppercut is one of Little Mac's signature moves in Punch-Out!!. In Punch-Out!! for the NES, Little Mac visibly jumps off the ground when he performs any punches to the head, as he is too small to reach his opponents' heads otherwise. The spinning motion bears a strong resemblance to the 3-Star Uppercut from Punch-Out!! for the Wii, which is a more powerful variant of the uppercut. In Doc Louis's Punch-Out!!, Doc Louis spins in a similar way when he throws a single-star uppercut.
Trivia
- This move has a unique 8-bit sound while Little Mac is in his Wireframe costume.
Gallery
Little Mac begins to spin...
...and finishes with an uppercut.
