Pikachu (SSB)/Forward smash

Overview

The hitbox of Pikachu's f-smash.

Pikachu fires a small jolt of electricity from its cheeks, dealing 18% damage. The move consists of two sets of hitboxes. The first hitbox is rather small and only covers a small space in front of Pikachu. The second set of hitboxes are very large and disjointed which can also hit above Pikachu very slightly. Both the early and late hit are identical in terms of power (at least in NTSC versions) KOing Mario at around 102% at the center of Dream Land. While it is a powerful KO move that can easily be done from a distance due to its long disjointed range with a long lasting hitbox, it is very slow compared to Pikachu's other moves not coming out until frame 21 and it is slower and weaker than Pikachu's other smash attacks. It can be used for edgeguarding to intercept characters with linear and/or predictable recoveries, such as Fox and Captain Falcon. The move is punishable on shield if used at close range although if spaced properly, it can easily leave Pikachu at a frame advantage on shield.

The move is worse in the Japanese version due to having less range which overall makes it a worse spacing tool. On the flip side, the move is better in the PAL versions of the game due to the late hit dealing 20% damage. This makes it as powerful as Donkey Kong's non angled forward smash, KOing Mario at 89% at the center of Dream Land. This also makes the late hit even safer on shield.

This article or section may require additional technical data.
The editor who added this tag elaborates:
NTSC-J/PAL hitbox tables.
You can discuss this issue on the talk page or edit this page to improve it.