Samus (PM)

Samus in Project M and Project+
Universe	Metroid
Base game appearance	Brawl
Moveset inspiration	Samus (SSBM)
Alternate costume	Light Suit, Fusion Suit, Retro Suit Samus, Dark Suit, PED Suit (Project+)

Samus is a playable character in the Brawl mod Project M. In Project M, her attributes have been restored to how they were in Melee, alongside considerable buffs and a slightly altered moveset that is accessible via her side taunt.

Samus ranks 27th out of 41 on the official tier list, near the top of the C tier. This placement is significantly lower than her Melee placement, where she is ranked 11th out of 26, however slightly higher than her Brawl placement, at 32nd out of 38.

Samus Light Suit alt in Project M 3.5.

Samus Original Power Suit in Project M 3.6.

Dark Samus costume in Project M 3.5, alongside Fusion Suit Samus.

Attributes

Samus is a heavy fighter who is unusually floaty, a characteristic defying those of her weight class. She utilizes a unique array of powerful projectiles in her arsenal, including Charge Shot beams, missiles, and bombs. Additionally, new to Samus's Project M iteration, using her side taunt allows her to switch between either fire and ice elements (with the former being default). This mechanic changes the elements of her forward smash, forward air, up smash, down tilt, and missiles (unusually, it does not change the element for her bombs), which allows Samus to utilize a new set of skills that players are able to use in strategic methods.

Samus does have her flaws, however. Despite being a heavyweight, Samus's vertical endurance is slightly below average due to her very slow falling speed (having the worst vertical endurance of the heavyweights); it also causes her to be easily juggled. Additionally, despite being floaty, Samus's recovery is below average should a few elements be absent, due to a relatively low air speed. Also, her recovery move, Screw Attack, offers very little horizontal and vertical distance (with the former especially occurring should Samus not gain any prior momentum, similar to Link's Spin Attack from Brawl). Samus can, however, improve her recovery by using both her bomb recovery technique and grappling beam for a tether recovery in conjunction.

In addition, she has a below average aerial approach due to her low air and falling speed, resulting in Samus receiving a poor SHFFL, despite her aerials generally having little to no endlag in her aerial attacks.

Changes from Brawl to PM

Samus has received new tools in Project M, notably crawling, the addition of ice beam, and the ability to charge the Charge Shot while airborne.

Aesthetics

• While most characters in Project M keep their Brawl voices and sounds, Samus uses SFXs from Melee for her jumps, Charge Shot, Missiles and Screw Attack.
• Up taunt replaced with her Melee taunt.

Attributes

• Can now crawl via Morph Ball like her previous roll animation, giving her a drastically smaller hurtbox, and has gained a new crawl attack based off of the Boost Ball from Metroid Prime. In addition, Samus remains in Morph Ball mode when she stops crawling while the crouching button is held.
• Super wavedash timing window increased from one frame to two frames.
• Rolling animation is significantly faster, and it has been changed to a conventional side-step animation.
• Can now swap between flame and ice beam types with side taunt; this affects her down tilt, forward smash, forward aerial, up smash, and Missiles. Taunt canceling this will still result in a beam switch. In addition, holding side taunt during her on-screen appearance will have Samus start with the ice beam. This gives Samus a new repertoire of altered attacks to work with, allowing players to be more creative in their styles.

Ground Attacks

• Forward smash now has a flame effect, akin to Super Smash Bros. 4.

Grabs and Throws

• Grapple Beam has faster start-up and ending lag, similar to Link's Clawshot. Dash grab's range has been increased to match standing grab.
• Standing Grapple Beam has shorter reach.

Special Attacks

• Charge Shot can now be charged while airborne.
• Changing to Zero Suit Samus via Zero Laser now requires holding the special button as the laser fires.

Changes from PM to P+

Jab1

• Y Offset 12.8 > 10.3

Forward Tilt

• Non-angled variant: 2 Outermost Hitboxes lowered 0 > 1.2 (change in X offset)
• Forward tilt has arm intangibility from frames 3 to 6

Ice Down Tilt

• Hitboxes now travel forward, but will not travel off of ledges
• Sends grounded characters sliding backwards

Ice Forward Smash

• Stats modified: Damage 17, BKB 40, KBG 85, Angle 361
• No longer freezes

Ice Up Smash

Initial sweet spot

• Angle 65 > 80, BKB 50 > 45, KBG 88 > 90

Ice Forward Air

• Active frames increased by 2
• Auto Cancels 3 frames earlier
• IASA lowered by 2

Standing Grab

• Active frames increased from 11 > 12

Grounded Up Special (Screw Attack)

• Initial hit no longer clanks

Down Special (Power Bomb)

• Initial hit is now clankable
• Explosion is no longer clankable
• Now properly detonates on shields
• Can now transition into crawl

Other

• Height on trip animation lowered
• Fixed a bug that caused Samus’s bury animation to be her wait animation

Aesthetics

• Samus' design is now a combination of her design seen in Metroid Prime and Metroid: Samus Returns.

Revisions

v3.01

• Samus can drift properly after an aerial Charge Shot.

v3.5

• Ice forward smash now freezes characters hit by the second hit.
• Fire up smash has smaller hitboxes and the final hit has reduced knockback.
• Fire forward air's final hit knockback reduced to match Melee Samus.
• Ice forward air autocancels later, and has a later IASA window.
• Bombs no longer damage opponents through shields.
  • They now deal more damage.
• Tether ledge grab range reduced. Additionally, the tether attaches to the ledge later.
• Zair knockback reduced.
• Up air now uses linking hitbox stats from Melee Samus.

v3.6

Beta

• Samus can now start a match in ice mode by holding the side taunt on entry.

Full

• Players can now hold the B button to become Zero Suit Samus when using Zero Laser.

Moveset

Up to date as of version 3.6.

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			3%	A quick jab and then attacks with her arm cannon in a arc. The second hit can be easily shielded or shield grabbed, making it difficult to connect both hits.
			7%
Forward tilt	↗		11%	Does a spinning horizontal kick forward. Good for stopping ground approaches. This move can be angled up or down.
	→		10%
	↘		9%
Up tilt			12% (grounded), 13% (aerial)	Raises her leg and brings it down. Very similar animation to Captain Falcon's up tilt. It is a meteor smash according to the game, but it only works on grounded opponents, making it an unconventional meteor smash. Has low vertical knockback and can combo into itself at low damage percentages.
Down tilt			Fire: 14% Ice: 5% (center), 2% (edge)	Brings down her cannon arm creating either a fiery explosion or an icy explosion depending on which one the player has chosen. The fiery version has stronger vertical knockback, while the icy version has more horizontal knockback at the center and causes no knockback or hitstun at the edge.
Crawl attack			5%	Dashes forward a slight distance while in her Morph Ball form. Deals weak damage and knockback.
Dash attack			13% (clean), 9% (late)	Does a shoulder tackle. Weak horizontal knockback that doesn't KO until over 100%. Combos well with her neutral attack at low damage percentages.
Forward smash	↗		Fire: 15% Ice: 14% (hit 1), 6% (hit 2)	Thrusts her cannon arm forward with either a fiery explosion or an icy explosion at the tip. Both attacks have good horizontal knockback with the fire version being stronger.
	→		Fire: 14% Ice: 14% (hit 1), 6% (hit 2)
	↘		Fire: 13% Ice: 14% (hit 1), 6% (hit 2)
Up smash			Fire: 3% (hits 1-4), 6% (hit 5) Ice: 17% (clean), 14% (mid), 12% (late)	Fire: Aims her arm cannon upward and creates six small fire explosions above her in an arc. Ice: Quickly swings her arm cannon upwards leaving an icy trail. Both attacks have decent vertical knockback with the icy version having slight horizontal knockback.
Down smash			16% (front), 15% (back)	Does a low 360° sweep kick. Fast and has good knockback, knocking opponents up and behind Samus.
Neutral aerial			14% (clean), 10% (late)	Kicks her foot in front of herself, dealing horizontal knockback. Has sex kick properties.
Forward aerial			Fire: 5% (hits 1-5) Ice: 14%	Fire: Shoots five small explosions in front of her with her arm cannon. Ice: Does a quick downward swing with her arm cannon leaving behind an icy trail. Both attacks have horizontal knockback.
Back aerial			10% (leg), 14% (foot)	Kicks her foot behind her. The sweetspot is at her foot, which deals more damage and knockback. A useful move for edgeguarding.
Up aerial			3% (hit 1), 1% (hits 2-5), 4% (hit 6)	Brings her legs above her body and spins in a drill.
Down aerial			16%	Swings her arm cannon in an arc below. This move is a meteor smash and is good for edgeguarding.
Grab aerial			4%	Fires her Grapple Beam forward. Has long reach and can be used for a tether recovery offstage.
Grab			—	Samus sends out her Grapple Beam to catch the enemy.
Pummel			3%	Chops the enemy with her left hand.
Forward throw			9%	Brings the enemy up with her Grapple Beam and then throws them forward.
Back throw			8%	Flings the enemy behind her.
Up throw			1% (hits 1-6), 3% (throw)	Holds the enemy from above with her Grapple Beam, then launches them upward.
Down throw			6%	Violently picks the foe up with her Grapple Beam and slams them to the ground.
Floor attack (front)			8%	Gets up and performs a low sweep kick on both sides.
Floor attack (back)			8% (hit 1), 6% (hit 2)	Stands on her arm cannon and does a spinning double kick.
Floor attack (trip)			5%	Kicks her leg in front and behind her, then gets up.
Edge attack (fast)			9%	Flips up with a kick.
Edge attack (slow)			10%	Slowly gets up, and then thrusts her arm cannon in front of her.
Neutral special		Charge Shot	3-25%	Charges up her arm cannon before firing a ball of white and bluish energy in front of her. Charging can be interrupted with a shield input or side step. At full charge, it can KO as early as 80%.
Side special		Missile	Fire: 5% (homing), 12% (super) Ice: 7% (homing), 10% (super)	Deploys a plasma or ice missile depending on whether the player is in Plasma or Ice Mode (can be toggled via side-taunt). The missile can either be a homing missile (when B is pressed while tilting the control stick) or a Super Missile (when B is pressed while smashing the control stick forward). Super Missiles travel straight forward instead of homing in the opponent, and are faster and stronger than homing missiles. Super Ice Missiles have a shorter range than its plasma counterpart. Homing Ice Missiles do not explode after a certain distance, they keep on going until they either hit their target, terrain, or go offscreen.
Up special		Screw Attack	Ground: 2% (hit 1), 1% (hits 2-12) Air: 1% (hits 1-12)	Shoots up into the air while spinning around rapidly via the "Screw Attack" ability from the Metroid series.
Down special		Bomb	8%	Goes into Morph Ball mode and drops a timed bomb that explodes in a few seconds. Can be used to extend Samus's recovery.
Final Smash		Zero Laser	40-78%	Fires a bluish white large beam of energy in front of her that traps opponents caught in the blast before blasting them away. Move lasts about 5 seconds and passes through any terrain. Has decent knockback and makes Samus lose her Power Suit if the B button is held whenever the move ends.

In competitive play

Notable tech

Labbing Discord Tech Post

Notable players

•  Morsecode762- The best Samus player in the world. Ranked 6th on PMRank 2019.

Alternate costumes

Project M

Samus had three new costumes added in version 3.5. They are based on the Classic Power Suit, Light Suit, and Fusion Suit. The Fusion Suit-colored costume has also been changed to resemble Dark Samus.

Version 3.6 replaced the Dark Suit color scheme with the actual Dark Suit, and gave all her other alternate costumes brand new aesthetics.

An unreleased patch reveals Samus would have had an alternate costume based off the PED Suit from Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, which would have given her five model swapping costumes.

Samus' costumes in PM

Project+

In Project+, Samus is one of few characters to have their overall design changed. Her new design incoporates elements from the Metroid Prime series and Metroid: Samus Returns. It includes a new blue recolor to replace the one based on Dark Samus and an alternate costume inspired by the Phazon Suit from Metroid Prime.

All costumes introduced in Project M were modified to match the proportions of Samus' new design. In addition, the previously unused PED Suit in Project M is now properly implemented as an alternate costume, sharing the same modifications as her other costumes. The Fusion Suit also received recolors inspired by the suit upgrades in Metroid Fusion for team battles, as well as the Classic Suit.

Samus' alternate costumes in P+

Z-Secret Costume: vBrawl Samus

R-Secret Costume: Prime Power Suit Samus

Trivia

• In Project M, Samus has the highest amount of model-swapping costumes in the game, with four (Light Suit, Fusion Suit, the Retro Suit, and Dark Suit). Project+ raises this to seven (PED Suit, her Brawl design, and her Prime Power Suit).
  • If her new design is included, this would bring it to eight.
• By pure coincidence, the ability to charge Charge Shot in midair would later be added into the series officially through Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
• Samus is the only character who was unable to crawl in Brawl but now able in Project M.
• In Project +, the Retro Suit's pose is almost identical to one of the North American boxarts for Metroid.
• For some coincidental reason, Samus's green color scheme for her default and NES costumes in Project+ seemingly resemble those of the protagonists from games like Halo and Doom.
  • Alternately, the green color scheme for her NES costume may be in reference to when Metroid II: Return of Samus is played on the original Game Boy.