Pikachu (SSBM)

This page is about Pikachu's Melee appearance. For information about his SSB appearance, see here. For information about his Brawl appearance, see here.

Pikachu (ピカチュウ, Pikachū) is a Pokémon and starter character for Super Smash Bros. Melee.

Super Smash Bros. Melee stats

Pros & Cons

Pros

• An agile character
• Small
• A fast, immensely powerful up smash (even more powerful than Fox's)
• Up aerial can semi-spike and KO characters at low percents
• Extremely long, versatile recovery (albeit with some landing lag on Pikachu's up B)
• Decent projectile
• Very quick overall

Cons

• Some of its stronger attacks (such as down aerial) are laggy.
• Poor at comboing.
• Pikachu's light weight and medium falling speed allow it to be juggled fairly easily
• Low range on most of its attacks.

Attacks

• Forward Smash - Pikachu rears back, then ejects an attached jolt of electricity in front from it's cheeks. A powerful attack that can evade some attacks with the initial animation. Has decent range. The hitbox is disjointed, which makes it a wise choice for edge guarding.
• Up Smash - Pikachu does a backflip. This is the most powerful up smash in the game in terms of knockback, and is extremely quick with decent range. Pikachu's Usmash is extremely versatile, whether it be setting up juggles or going for a quick low percent KO.
• Down Smash - Pikachu spins around in place repeatedly. This is a multi-hit attack that comes out very quickly. As with it's other smash attacks, the Dsmash is a useful move for Pikachu. Easily used from a successful crouch cancel, and sets up for an aerial at lower percents.
• Neutral B - Pikachu shoots a jolt of electricity that travels along any hard surface at a medium pace. When used in the air, it will fire a small ball of lightning at a 45 degree angle downwards in the direction Pikachu is facing. This move is useful for Pikachu's runaway game, and can disrupt many characters recoveries.
• Side B - Pikachu charges up briefly (can be held longer by holding B), then launches it's body to the side, damaging any opponent it runs into. Distance and power is dependant on how long you charge this attack. This attack is generally considered too laggy and predictable to be used effectively as an offensive technique. Very rarely will an opportunity arise to use this. However, this attack can be used to aid Pikachu with horizontal recovery. Keep in mind that lag is reduced if Pikachu hits a wall after launching himself.
• Up B - Pikachu pauses briefly, then zips in any one of the 16 directions held by the user after the initial up+B. After it moves in one direction, another of the remaining 15 directional inputs can be used to zip it in another direction, after which it will fall until he hits the ground, gets hit, or grabs a ledge. A solid, unpredictable (in most cases) recovery move. This also hits opponents for minimal damage if you happen to zip through them.
• Down B - Pikachu summons a lightning bolt from directly above. The bolt comes from a set height relative to Pikachu's body, and not necessarily from the top of the screen. This is extremely useful in KOing characters at lower percents when used with the up smash. The lightning bolt can also hit Pikachu's body, producing a rather large hitbox around it that deals great damage and knockback. Timing this method of attack is rather unpredictable, and lags Pikachu even more than if the lightning bolt doesnt hit it.