Falling speed
Falling speed is the usual rate at which a character can move downward in mid-air. A character's falling speed can greatly impact his fighting style - for instance, Fox, a fast-faller, uses his aerial speed to perform shffl'd attacks very quickly, whereas Jigglypuff, a floaty character, uses its low falling speed to attack multiple times in mid-air.
Additionally, falling speed directly affects the vertical component of attacks' knockback. Attacks of upward trajectory knock back slow-falling, floaty characters more than they knock back fast-fallers. Though both falling speed and weight affect knockback, they are independent of each other - a fast-falling character is not necessarily heavy, and vice versa.
The items Bunny Hood and Metal Box increase the user's falling speed. Some stages can also affect a character's falling speed, the flying-type switch in Pokemon Stadium 2, and the falling portion of Summit. All characters can also fastfall at any time to increase falling speed.
Categories of falling speed
Falling speed is divided into two categories: floaty and fast-faller. each of which have certain advantages and disadvantages depending on playstyle.
Fast-faller
Fast-faller is a name that refers to many characters is relatively fast falling speed. Fox and Captain Falcon are prominent examples in the Super Smash Bros series.
Fast-fallers enjoy increased speed in the air and faster shffl'd approaches; however, they suffer from shorter recoveries. They are also susceptible to different combos from floaty characters. For instance, Captain Falcon can chain grab floaty characters with down throw, but cannot do so against fast-fallers. On the other hand, he can tech-chase fast-fallers with up throw, which he cannot do against floaty characters. Generally, fast fallers are more vulnerable to chain grabs and combos (although weight and character size are other factors as well); such as Marth's up throw chain grab that he can finish with a forward smash.
Floaty
Floaty is a name that describes characters with relatively slow falling speed. Jigglypuff is a prominent example of having a very slow falling speed (the slowest falling speed to be exact). Samus is also a very floaty character in all 3 games, unusual for a heavyweight.
Floaty characters have great benefits in terms of performing aerial attacks since one would able to perform multiple aerial attacks in succession (such as Jigglypuff's slow falling speed and multiple mid-air jumps allows it to do Wall of Pain) and easier recoveries due to slow falling speeds allow easier maneuvering while consequently suffer the vulnerability of being Juggled and having their recoveries easily predictable. On the flip side, floaty characters tend to be less vulnerable to chain grabs and combos.
Falling Speed in SSB
Tested by placing characters on the vanishing clouds in Yoshi's Island (SSB) with one stock each.
1) Captain Falcon
2) Link
3) Fox
4) Yoshi
5) Donkey Kong
6) Ness
7) Pikachu
8) Kirby
9) Mario
10) Luigi
11) Samus
12) Jigglypuff
Average Falling Speed Ranking In Melee
This is a ranking of each character's average falling speed, from fastest to slowest, based in comparison to Mario and Dr. Mario.
| Speed | Character |
|---|---|
| 159% | Fox |
| 152% | Falco |
| 151% | Captain Falcon |
| 128% | Donkey Kong |
| 128% | Roy |
| 118% | Ganondorf |
| 118% | Sheik |
| 117% | Link |
| 117% | Marth |
| 117% | Young Link |
| 116% | Bowser |
| 108% | Pikachu |
| 107% | Pichu |
| 107% | Yoshi |
| 103% | Ness |
| 101% | Dr. Mario |
| 101% | Mario |
| 101% | Mr. Game & Watch |
| 098% | Ice Climbers |
| 097% | Mewtwo |
| 096% | Kirby |
| 096% | Peach |
| 095% | Luigi |
| 095% | Samus |
| 092% | Zelda |
| 086% | Jigglypuff |
Top Falling Speed
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.
1) Falco
2) Captain Falcon
3) Fox
4-5) Roy > Donkey Kong
6) Marth
7-9) Sheik > Link = Young Link
10) Ganondorf
11) Yoshi
12-14) Bowser > Pichu = Pikachu
15) Ness
16-18) Dr. Mario = Mario = Mr. Game & Watch
19-21) Ice Climbers > Kirby > Luigi
22-23) Mewtwo > Peach
24-25) Zelda > Samus
26) Jigglypuff
Average Falling Speed Ranking In Brawl
This is a ranking of each character's average falling speed, from fastest to slowest.
1. King Dedede
2. Captain Falcon
3. Fox
4. Wolf
5. Snake
6. Falco
7. Ike
8. Ganondorf
9. Link
10. Sheik
11. Donkey Kong
12. Pikachu
13. Marth
14. Sonic
15. Zero Suit Samus
16. Diddy Kong
17. Pit
18. Wario
19. Meta Knight
20. Bowser
21. Lucas
22. Ivysaur
23. Charizard
24. Ness
25. Olimar
26. Squirtle
27. Yoshi
28. Toon Link
29. Mario
30. Mr. Game & Watch
31. Luigi
32. Ice Climbers
33. Lucario
34. R.O.B.
35. Kirby
36. Zelda
37. Samus
38. Peach
39. Jigglypuff
References
- Mew2King's page of statistics
- An SWF post about Brawl's weight and falling speed
- Another SWF post about Brawl's weight and falling speed
