Mr. Game & Watch (SSB4)
| Mr. Game & Watch in Super Smash Bros. 4 | |
|---|---|
 
| |
| Universe | Game & Watch |
| Other playable appearances | in Melee in Brawl |
| Availability | Unlockable |
| Final Smash | Octopus |
| Tier | F (37) |
Mr. Game & Watch (Mr.ゲーム＆ウォッチ, Mr. Game & Watch) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. 4. After making a cameo in Pac-Man's trailer, Mr. Game & Watch was formally revealed on October 23rd, 2014 alongside Bowser Jr. during the Super Smash Bros. for Wii U: 50-Fact Extravaganza. Like in Melee and Brawl, he uses Game & Watch-esque sound effects to represent his "voice".
Mr. Game & Watch is currently ranked 37th out of 58 on the tier list, placing him at the top of the F tier and making him the highest ranking low-tier character. This is a drop from his ranking in Brawl, where he was ranked 16th out of 38. Mr. Game & Watch's strengths include great combo and air games and, despite being a lightweight, a high overall damage output. His overall mobility is also decent, with his recovery in particular being impressive due to Fire's long coverage, large edge sweetspot, and general safety.
However, Mr. Game & Watch possesses notable weaknesses as well. His biggest flaw is his surprising inability to KO, due to his finishers being plagued in one way or another. This includes them either being situational (Judge or Oil Panic), having large sourspots (forward and down smashes), minimal range (up smash), unreliability in connecting properly (up aerial), high start-up or ending lag, or simply lacking sufficient knockback (forward and down tilts). He is also the third lightest character in the game, making him prone to getting KO'd quite easily, which is further exacerbated by the loss of Bucket Braking. Due to his short stature, Mr. Game & Watch's range is mediocre overall, despite most of his hitboxes being disjointed. His moves also suffer from high ending lag despite their damage outputs and knockback.
His grab game is also lackluster outside of down throw, as his pummel is one of the slowest in the game, and none of his other throws possess the utility that his down throw does, nor are they strong enough to KO at realistic percentages. His neutral game is also lacking, due to having no aerials that autocancel from a short hop and his limited amount of safe options on shield. Lastly, some of his moves are considered to be situational, due to either needing luck (Judge) or needing the opponent to have an energy-based projectile (Oil Panic).
Overall, Mr. Game & Watch's strengths are generally on par with his weaknesses. While his tournament representation is poor overall due to his character flaws and unpopularity in competitive play, he has achieved above average tournament results, such as Regi placing 17th at EVO 2016.
How to unlock
Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS
- Play 90 VS Matches.
- Complete Classic Mode 10 times.
Mr. Game & Watch must then be defeated on Flat Zone 2.
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
- Play 80 VS Matches.
- Clear Classic Mode on Intensity 2.0 or higher with 5 characters.
Mr. Game & Watch must then be defeated on Flat Zone X.
Attributes
Mr. Game & Watch's archetype as a lightweight slightly differs from the majority of his fellow lightweights: he has the third lightest weight, the fifth slowest falling speed, below average gravity, low jumps and is tied for the third slowest air acceleration. However, he is small, he has decent walking and dashing speeds, a low short hop and above average air speed. Overall, Mr. Game & Watch's speed when moving is quite exceptional for a lightweight, but his slow air acceleration and falling speed can be somewhat detrimental. His short height also makes him difficult to hit, especially when crouching.
Unlike most lightweights, Mr. Game & Watch has moves with disjointed hitboxes, with some of them reaching relatively far from him. His damage output is above average, and he has a good combo game, allowing him to easily rack up a decent amount of damage with few moves. His down throw is a reliable combo starter, being able to be followed by his up tilt (on floaty characters) or neutral attack (on fast-fallers) at low percents, Judge, up smash or Oil Panic from low to high percents, all aerials except down aerial from mid to high percents, and Fire at high percents. His combo game is further compounded by his great air game, with his neutral, forward, back and up aerials having good combo utility and being fairly damaging.
His neutral aerial has pretty high range above him and does very high damage if all hits connect and the last hit has moderate knockback, making it difficult to punish, as well as being rarely escaped by SDI and able to be followed up by other moves. His forward aerial has decent range and knockback (when clean), making it useful for edgeguarding, and the late hit can be followed up by another attack when late despite the moves' ending lag. His back aerial, while less damaging than in Brawl, is still pretty useful due to its disjointed range and low knockback that allows it to be followed by another one, giving it effective wall of pain ability. His up and down aerials are mainly used for KOing. His up aerial is his strongest one, but its windbox can make it difficult to connect into the second hit, which carries all the knockback. Nevertheless, its windbox can also safely space the move and juggle opponents. Meanwhile, his down aerial is an effective meteor smash as well as being a stall-then-fall, giving Mr. Game & Watch an effective move for edgeguarding, ending a stock early, and getting out of juggles.
While he has fairly damaging moves, Mr. Game & Watch also has plenty of reliable and powerful finishers for his weight class, which can put him on par with some heavyweights. The most notable examples include his forward and down tilts at high percents, all of his smash attacks, his aerials, Judge 9 and Oil Panic. Finally, his special moveset is pretty decent, albeit polarized. His neutral special, Chef, is weak but can effectively stun players, as well as work as an efficient anti-pressure option from afar. His up special, Fire, grants exceptional vertical distance and deals average knockback, as well as slows his descent down after usage, giving Mr. Game & Watch an amazing recovery that is also difficult to edgeguard. His side special, Judge, is infamously polarized due to being luck-based; its effects range from causing no knockback while damaging Mr. Game & Watch himself (1) to inflicting extremely high knockback that can KO even at very low percents (9). Finally, Oil Panic can absorb three energy-based projectiles (or one extremely powerful energy-based projectile) before unleashing a powerful attack that can score a one-hit KO depending on how much damage it has absorbed. However, it only works on characters with absorbable projectiles such as Zelda and Samus, making it very situational and generally not that useful.
While Mr. Game & Watch does have many positive traits, he also possesses many notable weaknesses. He is one of the lightest characters in the game, which makes him susceptible to early KOs, especially vertically. He has a very short roll that is quite slow, often punishable even when used sparingly. His grab game is also very poor outside of grab combos: his grab still has very short reach, his pummel is slow and he has no useful throws other than his down throw. His attacks, despite possessing large, disjointed hitboxes that are far reaching from him, mostly have poor to mediocre reach. Their range was also nerfed from Brawl, with his attacks being much less wide and far. While the majority of his moveset has quick startup, it suffers from particularly high ending and landing lag in most of his attacks, allowing him to be easily punished when his moves are whiffed. Finally, some of his special moves are considered to be situational depending on the matchup, with Judge being an unsafe move in general due to its randomness, and Oil Panic being only useful when facing a character with an absorbable projectile.
Mr. Game & Watch has a few noteworthy custom moves. Short-Order Chef is weaker, but much faster, allowing him to space more easily. Chain Judge has no special effects but deals more damage the higher the number is, significantly improving the move's consistency and damage racking capabilities. Heavy Trampoline grants less distance at the cost of being stronger, while Trampoline Launch has no parachute at the cost of granting more distance and being stronger as well.
All in all, Mr. Game & Watch's pros are generally on par with his cons. Like his fellow lightweight Mewtwo, Mr. Game & Watch can be considered a glass cannon due to his impressive overall damage output and his ability to powerfully finish opponents, yet being very susceptible to being finished earlier than most characters. Due to his lack of tournament representation, he ranks below average in most tournaments and has very few players. Although small, Mr. Game & Watch's playerbase includes notable players such as GimR and Regi, who have managed to achieve decent tournament results with him.
Changes from Brawl
Mr. Game & Watch was overall nerfed in his transition to SSB4, with the buffs he received failing to compensate for the more drastic nerfs to his important abilities. The changes to hitstun canceling indirectly removed Bucket Braking and momentum canceling, which were a huge part of his previous success, severely hinder his overall survivability, and many of his moves have more lag, such as his neutral, forward and back aerials no longer autocanceling in short hops, reducing his options to approach or punish opponents. However, the changes to hitstun canceling can be considered a double-edged sword, as they allow him to combo his opponents better thanks to his down throw giving him new follow-up options, which can lead to highly damaging combos.
His smash attacks, while becoming slightly weaker, are still viable options that reliably KO under 100%, and some of his other moves are still strong. While Oil Panic has had its valuable Bucket Braking ability removed, it also fills faster, letting Mr. Game & Watch use one of his most situational moves more frequently. His recovery has also been improved due to his increased air speed, Fire's increased vertical distance and a unique jump boosting mechanic in Oil Panic. As a result, some players such as GimR and Regi have shown he is still a decent character despite no longer being as viable as he was before.
Aesthetics
Mr. Game & Watch's design has changed. He now has a smaller and rounder nose, circular hands and smaller feet. His animations are also more choppy to better simulate the frame-by-frame movement within the Game & Watch games.- Mr. Game & Watch has a new down taunt. He now sits down and sighs, rather than jumping once with his hands open. The new taunt originates from the Game & Watch version of Mario Bros.
Attributes
- Mr. Game & Watch is smaller. This gives him a slightly smaller hurtbox, but slightly hinders his range.
Mr. Game & Watch's smaller size, when combined with the general change in size between smaller and larger characters, significantly improves his crouch's defensive potential for dodging attacks.- Mr. Game & Watch walks faster (1.1 → 1.1242).
Mr. Game & Watch dashes slower (1.553 → 1.5264).- Mr. Game & Watch's air speed is faster (1.081 → 1.12).
- The lingering hitbox on most of Mr. Game & Watch's attacks, such as forward aerial and forward smash, has either been shortened or removed.
- Walk's animation has been changed. Mr. Game & Watch now walks more flippantly while he repeatedly looks back and forth. This originates from Helmet.
Ground attacks
- Neutral attack now transitions into a finisher, a larger blast of gas from the insecticide pump.
- Up tilt can now hit twice at very low percentages, which allows it to potentially deal 6% more damage (8% → 14%). It also has less start-up lag (frame 13 → 10).
- Up tilt has more ending lag (8 frames → 14). Its hitboxes are also noticeably smaller, making it unable to effectively hit opponents in front of or above Mr. Game & Watchand thus hindering its KO potential.
- Forward tilt is stronger and has a longer duration (6 frames → 8).
- Forward tilt has slightly more ending lag (20 frames → 21).
- Down tilt is much stronger and has received a windbox outside its hitbox. The windbox deals little damage, no flinching and pushes upward, which affects both opponents and certain projectiles, such as Link's Bombs.
- Down tilt has significantly more ending lag (10 frames → 29).
- Dash attack deals 1% less damage (11% → 10%) and has more ending lag (8 frames → 19).
- Dash attack is stronger, despite its decreased damage output. This grants it KO potential at high percentages when fresh and/or with rage.
- Forward smash's sourspot takes priority over its sweetspot, making it much more difficult to land its sweetspot.
- Forward smash's animation has slightly changed. Mr. Game & Watch now swings the torch with both hands, rather than just one.
- Up smash deals 2% less damage (18% → 16%) and has less knockback, making the move much weaker. Its hitbox duration was also shortened (4 frames → 2) and it has more ending lag (10 frames → 14).
- Up smash now has partial invincibility on frames 4-25, improving its utility.
- Down smash has more range.
- Down smash has much more ending lag (33 frames → 42). Its sourspot is both larger and much weaker.
Aerial attacks
- Neutral and up aerials have more landing lag (9 frames → 12).
- Neutral aerial can no longer autocancel.
- Neutral aerial's first few hits connect together better and its last hit has more knockback, improving its follow-up potential.
- Neutral aerial has more ending lag (35 frames → 43).
- Forward aerial deals 4.5% less damage (16% → 11.5%) and is much weaker, hindering its KO potential.
- Forward aerial has less landing lag (22 frames → 15).
- Back aerial deals 6% less damage (15% → 9%) and has more landing lag (12 frames → 19).
- Back aerial's hits connect together much better, improving its reliability.
- Up aerial has smaller hitboxes.
- Up aerial's second hit has more knockback, granting it KO potential at high percentages.
- Down aerial deals less damage (14% (clean)/13% (late)/6% (landing) → 11% (attack)/3.5% (landing)) and has significantly more landing lag (15 frames → 28).
Throws/other attacks
- All grabs have increased ranges, going from being the third shortest overall in Brawl to slightly below average overall in SSB4.
- Pummel deals 0.2% more damage (3% → 3.2%).
- All throws are much faster, allowing less time for the opponent to DI correctly.
- The changes to hitstun canceling improve down throw's combo potential.
- Down throw deals 2% less damage (6% → 4%), but its lower damage output further improves its combo potential at high percentages. It also launches at a higher angle. This improves its combo potential, but removes its meteor smashed follow-up and tech-chase potentials.
- Front and back floor attacks deal 1% more damage (6% → 7%).
Special moves
- Judge can now have the same number appear consecutively, instead of having to wait three swings later. While this is more random overall, it eliminates the need to pull "dummy" hammers.
- Fire has faster start-up and more vertical distance.
Grab release glitch has been fixed.- The removal of the grab release glitch allows Mr. Game & Watch to re-use Fire if he has been grabbed in midair.
- Oil Panic can now fill up multiple units at once if a projectile is strong enough, significantly improving its reliability.
- Using Oil Panic in the air and right after a jump increases the jump's height and floatiness, granting it recovery potential.
- Oil Panic can no longer be used to stall in the air and also has significantly more ending lag.
- Oil Panic's momentum canceling has been fixed.
- The removal of momentum canceling removes Bucket Braking, significantly hindering Mr. Game & Watch's survivability.
- Octopus now has the Final Smash aura as an outline.
- Octopus's duration is 2 seconds shorter.
Update history
Mr. Game & Watch has received a mix of buffs and nerfs via game updates. The changes on shield mechanics in update 1.1.1 notably benefit him, as he is now capable of breaking shields easier due to a number of his moves hitting multiple times or having high damage outputs, hitstun and hitlag, most notably his forward and down smashes, back aerial and Judge 3 and 9. However, his potential in doubles play has been significantly weakened due to Oil Panic now dealing halved damage should he absorb a teammate's projectile.
- All variations of Chef have had their pan's hitbox size increased: 5.76u → 6.76u.
- Up tilt's second hit's angle altered: 100° → 115°, hindering its combo potential.
- Down tilt's knockback increased: 10 (base)/120 (scaling) → 40/125.
- Down tilt's windbox size increased: 9u → 10.5u.
- Back aerial's landing lag decreased: 24 frames → 19.
- Oil Panic deals halved damage from absorbed teammates' projectiles.
Moveset
| Name | Damage | Description | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neutral attack | 3% | Rapidly presses an insecticide pump, pumping gas onto the opponent. Excellent for escaping pressure and hard to escape from. The last hit can KO at very high percentages near the ledge. Originates from Green House. | ||
| 1% (loop), 2% (last) | ||||
| Forward tilt | 10% (clean chair), 9% (clean body), 4% (late) | Thrusts a chair forward to hit with its legs. Launches opponents at a semi-spike angle at high percents. Full priority against other attacks due to lack of hurtbox. Light KO potential at high percentages when clean, especially near the edge. Originates from Lion. | ||
| Up tilt | 7% (hit 1), 7% (hit 2) | Swings a flag overhead. Good as a follow-up from down throw, but its very small hitboxes makes it inconsistent at connecting both hits in various situations. The second hit launches opponents upward and backward, which can combo into his back aerial at medium percents. Combos into itself with fast-fallers and heavyweights at lower percents. KOs at very high percentages. Originates from Flagman. | ||
| Down tilt | 6% (clean), 1% (late) | Flips a manhole. Has a windbox capable of juggling enemies from above, as well as break or derail projectiles with proper timing. It is a semi-spike and deals strong horizontal knockback, making it capable of KOing under 150% near the edge. Very useful for pushing recovering opponents high up, especially against those who cannot immediately grab the edge with their special moves, such as Little Mac. Interestingly, the manhole lid is actually rendered in 3D, whereas all of the other objects used in his moveset are rendered in 2D. Originates from Manhole. | ||
| Dash attack | 10% (clean), 6.5% (late) | A sliding headbutt while wearing a helmet. It has good range and is very fast, sliding Mr. Game & Watch forward in a choppy frame-by-frame manner, making it very difficult to react to. This move is a tool for both approaching and punishing close by opponents. Low ending lag, good knockback, and decent range make it a decent KOing option near the edge and useful for edgeguarding before an opponent can grab the edge. Originates from Helmet. | ||
| Forward smash | 18% (head), 14% (handle) | Swings a lit torch downward. The sweetspot is at the fire, while the sourspot is at the torch. Disjointed hitbox with great base knockback and even greater knockback scaling, as well as coming out relatively quickly and having good interruptibility. Sweetspot KOs at 106%, sourspot KOs at 130%. Originates from Fire Attack. | ||
| Up smash | 16% | An upward headbutt while wearing a diving helmet. The hitbox extends a short way above the helmet. Has noticeable start-up lag, but a short invincibility frame window upon start-up. This lets Mr. Game & Watch perform a pseudo-counterattack against almost all attacks that hit him during start-up, which makes it good for interrupting aerial approaches or attacks. It also has low ending lag, making it a viable strategy to spam at KO percents. Can be used out of a down throw at very low percentages on heavyweights. One of the strongest up smashes in the game, KOing at 102% uncharged and 60% fully charged. Originates from Octopus. | ||
| Down smash | 15% (hammers), 13% (body) | Swings two hammers downward and on both of his sides. Solid range. Hammer heads deal vertical knockback while the handles semi-spike. When sweetspotted, this is one of the most powerful down smashes in the game, KOing at 105%. However, the sourspot cannot KO reliably below 150%. Its fast interrupting ability can surprise people by using it again after a missed one. It is effective at edgeguarding as the sourspot semi-spikes, and even though the sweetspot has vertical knockback, its great knockback can still KO a recovering opponent. Originates from Vermin. | ||
| Neutral aerial | 5% (hit 1), 4% (hits 2-4) | Tosses out a pair of fish from a bowl. Large hitboxes enable it to covers every area except below him. The last hit has moderate knockback, allowing it to KO at high percentages, but only lasts for 1 frame. Can combo out of a down throw at low to medium percentages. However, the hits fail to connect together at high percentages, and the opponent will fall out. Originates from Tropical Fish. | ||
| Forward aerial | 11.5% (clean), 6% (late) | Swings a boxed package. Long range and disjointed hitbox, as well as full priority against other attacks due to lack of hurtbox. Great for edgeguarding due to its strength and it can be used for a wall of pain on opponents at low to medium percentages. Originates from the Game & Watch version of Mario Bros. | ||
| Back aerial | 2% (hits 1-3), 3% (hit 4), 3% (landing) | Swings a snapping turtle. Disjointed range and has full priority against other attacks due to lack of hurtbox. When being shielded, opponents often drop their shields too soon due to the turtle's hitlag causing it to have unexpected duration when it is landed. Interestingly, the landing hitbox knocks opponents upwards vertically while landing the final aerial hitbox knocks opponents away horizontally from Mr. Game & Watch. Because of the last aerial hitbox's properties, it can be used for a wall of pain on opponents like his forward aerial, but with better wall of pain potential. Originates from Turtle Bridge. | ||
| Up aerial | 7% (hit 1), 9% (hit 2) | Blows air upward twice. Notorious for its huge wind area outside the main hitbox, with the wind being more powerful the closer the opponent is to Mr. Game & Watch, while its second hit has high knockback. Spamming this move can make it difficult for opponents to land. The wind hitbox can be used to help teammates with their vertical recovery, and can also be used to possibly gimp certain character's recoveries like Ness' or Lucas' should they not be ready to change the direction of PK Thunder's arc. At high percentages, connecting both hits can KO around 110%. Originates from Spitball Sparky. | ||
| Down aerial | 11% (attack), 3.5% (landing) | Drops downward while holding a key beneath himself. A stall-then-fall, it meteor smashes powerfully on the first frames. Can be moved left or right a bit. While it can cause Mr. Game & Watch to self-destruct while using it off-stage, his effective recovery and the move being being slower than other stall-then-falls makes this unlikely. It is a safe stall-then-fall when edgeguarding and has KO potential at high percentages. Originates from the Game & Watch version of Donkey Kong Jr. | ||
| Grab | — | Reaches out to grab the opponent. Originates from Mario's Cement Factory. | ||
| Pummel | 3.2% | Hits the opponent with a bell. Slow, but tied with Luigi's as the third most damaging pummel in the game. Originates from the Game & Watch's alarm feature. | ||
| Forward throw | 8% | Juggles the opponent and tosses them forward. Originates from Ball. | ||
| Back throw | 8% | Juggles the opponent and tosses them backward. Originates from Ball. | ||
| Up throw | 8% | Juggles the opponent and tosses them upward. Combos into Fire at 0%. Originates from Ball. | ||
| Down throw | 4% | Juggles the opponent and drops them downward. Deals half as much damage as the other throws, but makes up for this with its impressive combo potential. Combos include up tilt (on floaty characters) or neutral attack (on fast-fallers) at low percentages, Judge, up smash or Oil Panic from low to medium percentages, neutral and up aerials from medium to high percentages, and Fire at high percentages. Guaranteed follow-ups stop around 130%, though up aerial can KO at high percents if the opponent's reaction is read. Originates from Ball. | ||
| Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge |
— | — | ||
| Techs | — | — | ||
| Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front) |
7% | Swings a hammer downward in front of himself and then behind himself. It is very fast. Originates from Vermin. | ||
| Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back) |
7% | Swings a hammer downward in behind himself and then in front of himself. Originates from Vermin. | ||
| Floor attack (trip) Floor getups (trip) |
5% | Swings a hammer downward in front of himself and then behind himself. Originates from Vermin. | ||
| Edge attack Edge getups |
7% | Swings a bell forward while climbing up. Originates from the Game & Watch's alarm feature. | ||
| Neutral special | Default | Chef | 5% (pan), 4% (bacon), 4% (steak), 4% (shrimp), 4% (fish) | Flips food out of a frying pan. Moves slowly through the air in varying arcs. The food can be used defensively to cancel attack animations of opponents as a zoning tool as well as to prevent aerial approaches and can be used for edgeguarding against opponents with linear recoveries. Hitting with the pan itself is much more rewarding when edgeguarding, however, as the pan can semi-spike and possibly gimp opponents with short-ranged recoveries, such as Ganondorf. |
| Custom 1 | XXL Chef | 2% (pan), 9% (bacon), 8% (steak), 7% (shrimp), 7% (fish) | The food is bigger and stronger, but is a lot slower. Bacon has some vertical KO potential at very high percents. | |
| Custom 2 | Short-Order Chef | 0.5% (pan), 2% (bacon), 1.5% (steak), 1% (shrimp), 1% (fish) | Flips three weaker food out of a frying pan in front of the player very quickly, opening a zoning and approach option. Fish causes no hitstun. | |
| Side special | Default | Judge | 2%-32% (Varies) | Swings a hammer in front of him, and raises a flag with a random number from 1-9 with his other hand. It can have any one of 9 effects, which vary based on number; 1 only damages himself, while 9 is a near one-hit KO. An infamous follow-up from his down throw, but timing for a true combo is very strict.
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| Custom 1 | Extreme Judge | 5%/23% (Varies) | Only chooses numbers 1 and 9, though with less extreme effects on each.
| |
| Custom 2 | Chain Judge | 1%-28.4% (Varies) | Instead of additional effects, the number displayed equals the number of hits the attack will deal. | |
| Up special | Default | Fire | 6% | Trampolines upward, opening a fall-slowing parachute afterward. Capable of canceling into any move when falling. Has KO potential at high percentages near the left and right blast lines. Very good at stage-spiking, due to out-prioritizing most aerials and dealing strong knockback, making Mr. Game & Watch very difficult to edgeguard. The move can also be used as a possible follow-up option after up throw at low percentages against fast-fallers and heavyweights. |
| Custom 1 | Heavy Trampoline | 16% (clean), 10% (late) | The jump deals more damage, but grants less height. | |
| Custom 2 | Trampoline Launch | 12% (near), 8% (far) | Functions like a traditional recovery move, as Mr. Game & Watch simply jumps and deals damage. The jump grants more height, deals more damage and has KO potential at high percentages near the upper blast line, but has no parachute or lasting hitbox. | |
| Down special | Default | Oil Panic | Based on absorbed attacks | Holds an oil can, which absorbs energy-based projectiles. Once three units are absorbed, it turns into a powerful counterattack with almost no start-up lag that inflicts 2.8x the combined damage of the absorbed attacks, capping to 60%. OHKOs when it inflicts 60%. Despite its appearance, the oil spill is not a projectile and thus cannot be reflected. |
| Custom 1 | Efficient Panic | Based on absorbed attacks | The can is filled in one shot, but the oil spill is weaker and has less range. Has less ending lag when a projectile is absorbed. | |
| Custom 2 | Panic Overload | Based on absorbed attacks | The oil spill is bigger and slower, but the absorption radius is smaller. | |
| Final Smash | Octopus | 15% | Turns into the large octopus that appears in its eponymous game, Octopus. Damage is dealt on contact and range can be increased by pressing the attack buttons. Lasts for 15 seconds. | |
| Numbers | Judge | Extreme Judge | Chain Judge |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2% | 5% | 1% |
| 2 | 4% | - | 2% (hit 1), 3% (hit 2) |
| 3 | 6% | - | 3% (hits 1-3) |
| 4 | 8% | - | 2% (hits 1-3), 3% (hit 4) |
| 5 | 3% (hits 1-4) | - | 3% (hits 1-5) |
| 6 | 12% | - | 2% (hits 1-5), 3% (hit 6) |
| 7 | 14% | - | 2.5% (hits 1-6), 4% (hit 7) |
| 8 | 9% | - | 2.4% (hits 1-7), 4.2% (hit 8) |
| 9 | 32% | 23% | 2.3% (hits 1-8), 10% (hit 9) |
| Damage Needed to Fill Up the Bucket | Oil Damage | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Move | Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | Minimum | Maximum |
| Oil Panic | < 10% | > 10%, < 20% | > 20% | 18% | 60% |
| Efficient Panic | - | - | > 1% | 10% | 24% |
| Panic Overload | < 10% | > 10%, < 20% | > 20% | 15% | 45% |
On-screen appearance
- Moves along a row of Game and Watch LCD frames until reaching the foreground.
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Taunts
- Up taunt: Rings his bell high. Originates from the Game & Watch's alarm feature.
- Side taunt: Rings his bell low. Like his up taunt, it originates from the Game & Watch's alarm feature.
- Down taunt: Sits down and sighs. Originates from the Game & Watch version of Mario Bros. when Mario and Luigi finished a level.
| Up taunt | Side taunt | Down taunt |
|---|---|---|
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Idle poses
- Hops in place.
- Briefly looks behind himself.
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Crowd cheer
| English | Japanese | |
|---|---|---|
| Cheer | ||
| Description | Game and Watch! | Game and Watch! |
| Pitch | Group chant | Group chant |
Victory poses
- Moves around in different poses.
- Rings his bell.
- Jumps up and down in the air.
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In competitive play
Official Custom Moveset Project
| Character | Custom sets available | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Mr. Game & Watch |
3331 | 3321 | 3311 | 1331 | 1321 |
| 1311 | 3323 | 3131 | 2331 | 2311 | |
Notable players
ChillyChili - Ranked 6th on the Alabama Smash 4 Power Rankings.
expansioN - Ranked 10th on the Austria Smash 4 Power Rankings.
Extra - Ranked 1st and 2nd on the Victoria Smash 4 and the Australia Smash 4 Power Rankings, respectively.- GimR - One of the first and most known American Mr. Game & Watch players, 17th at Paragon Orlando 2015 and 13th at PAX Prime 2015.
Kakpu - Arguably the best Mr. Game & Watch in Europe, has won tournaments in Luxembourg and has had close sets with LoNg0uw and vyQ.- KOSSismoss - Ranked 5th on the NorCal Smash 4 Power Rankings, 7th at 2GGT: The False Awakens, 5th at 2GGT: Mexico Saga.
Regi - The best Mr. Game & Watch player worldwide, ranked 13th on the Mexican Smash 4 Power Rankings, 13th at EVO 2015, 17th at EVO 2016, 7th at Smash Factor 5.
Songn - The best Japanese Mr. Game & Watch player, 4th at Super Sumabato, 9th at Sumabato for THE BIG HOUSE.- Strobics - Ranked 9th on the Central Florida Smash 4 Power Rankings.
Tier placement and history
Since the early metagame, Mr. Game & Watch has maintained a mixed perception in regard to his tier placement and viability, due to the fact that he had been nerfed overall in his transition from Brawl. Players acknowledged his heavily damaging combos, high raw power and one of the best recoveries in the game, but very light weight, lack of reach and poor grab game. Mr. Game & Watch's results had always been rather obscure until EVO 2015 where Regi, a player from Mexico, placed 13th out of 1,926 entrants, and opinions of his potential became more positive over time due to some decent results brought by GimR as well. This led him to drop down to the 35th spot in the first tier list, placing him in the middle of the F tier.
However, Mr. Game & Watch's overall tournament results and representation still remain rather low in competitive play, even with the recent high placings of KOSSismoss and Regi's even higher placing of 17th out of 2,662 entrants at EVO 2016, in contrast to the previous EVO tournament. Currently, Mr. Game & Watch is ranked 37th on the second tier list, placing him at the top of the F tier; while this drop is negligible from his ranking on the first tier list, it is attributable to the inclusion of Bayonetta and Corrin due to them being absent from the first tier list, as his rather high placings have served well to allow him to not drop significantly on the tier list.
Trophies
- Mr. Game & Watch
Game & Watch was first released in 1980, making the series the father of the Game Boy and Nintendo DS. Or maybe an older sibling? Anyway...in Smash Bros., Mr. Game & Watch uses distinct retro moves to damage his foes. However, he's only two dimensional, so he's pretty easy to send flying.
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Game & Watch was a series of handheld video games that started in 1980, which pretty much makes Mr. Game & Watch the father of the Game Boy and Nintendo DS. Or maybe an older sibling? Anyway...in Smash Bros., Mr. Game & Watch uses distinct retro moves to damage his foes. However, he only has two dimensions, so he's pretty easy to send flying.
Game & Watch was a series of handheld video games that started in 1980, before even the Game Boy. In this game, you can play as the guy who starred in them, moving about in his quirky, oh-so-retro little way. He can string together some pretty powerful attacks but, unfortunately, being 2D makes him very easy to launch.
- Game & Watch (04/1980)
- Mr. Game & Watch (Alt.)
- Mr. Game & Watch's Oil Panic special catches shots and turns them into oil. After catching three, the bucket will be full and you'll be able to throw oil all over your enemies. Some shots, like Samus's fully powered Charge Shot, will fill the bucket in one go! Throwing the oil you get from a shot like that can KO your foes in a flash!
- Game & Watch (04/1980)
- Octopus
- The Game & Watch title Octopus featured a hero collecting treasure while avoiding a bothersome giant octopus's tentacles. Activate Mr. Game & Watch's Final Smash to transform into that octopus! Ram into opponents, and use the attack button to extend the tentacles. The only thing you can't do is change the direction you're facing.
- Game&WatchTrophy3DS.png
Classic (3DS)
- Game&WatchAllStarTrophy3DS.png
Alt. (3DS)
Classic (Wii U)
Alt. (Wii U)
In Event Matches
Solo Events
- All-Star Battle: Melee: Mr. Game & Watch is one of the opponents fought in this event. All of the opponents debuted in Melee.
- Great Fox Defense: As Falco, the player must defeat three Mr. Game & Watches without allowing a single one to land on the stage. The first Mr. Game & Watch has 3 stocks on Easy, 5 on Normal and 7 on Hard. The second Mr. Game & Watch has 2 stocks on Easy, 3 on Normal and 5 on Hard. The third Mr. Game & Watch has 1 stock on Easy, 2 on Normal and 4 on Hard.
- That Elusive 9: Mr. Game & Watch must defeat a metal Mr. Game & Watch by using Judge 9.
Co-op Events
- Keep 'Em off the Ship!: Fox and Falco must defeat four Mr. Game & Watches without allowing a single one to land on the stage. The first Mr. Game & Watch has 4 stocks on Easy, 8 on Normal and 11 on Hard. The second Mr. Game & Watch has 5 stocks on Easy, 9 on Normal and 12 on Hard. The third Mr. Game & Watch has 4 stocks on Easy, 7 on Normal and 9 on Hard. The fourth Mr. Game & Watch has 3 stocks on Easy, 6 on Normal and 8 on Hard.
- Secret Smash: Mr. Game & Watch and Duck Hunt must defeat another Duck Hunt and Mr. Game & Watch.
- The Ultimate Battle: Two players select a character and must defeat the entire roster.
- Unlikely Allies: Ganondorf and Palutena must defeat sixteen Mr. Game & Watches.
Alternate costumes
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Gallery
Mr. Game & Watch's amiibo.
Alternate amiibo stances.
Mr. Game & Watch's first four alternate costumes.
Using Judge 9 on King Dedede.
Using Oil Panic on Fox.
Using his netural attack's finisher on Mega Man.
Using up smash on Final Destination.
Using Octopus in water.
Using Fire while surrounded by fire.
Using his forward tilt against the Mii Fighters wearing Lion Hats on Flat Zone 2, in reference to the Game & Watch game Lion.
Trivia
- Mr. Game & Watch's official artwork in Super Smash Bros. 4 is the first in the series to feature him without his bell.
- Mr. Game & Watch is the first and only veteran to be officially shown but not confirmed before Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS's release, due to him having been revealed in Pac-Man's trailer.
- Mr. Game & Watch was the last veteran to be shown as a playable character by an official source, as Jigglypuff was shown off multiple times in the 50-Fact Extravaganza, while Mr. Game & Watch was not revealed until after the Direct was over.
- As he has an outline of his own, Mr. Game & Watch does not use a black outline like the rest of the characters in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS. As a result, it is his gray outline that changes colors to denote team affiliation and other such effects.
- Unlike his other attacks, Mr. Game & Watch's down tilt is rendered in 3D. This was also the case in Brawl.
- However, it will be rendered in 2D version it is used at the edge of a stage/platform or on a flat stage, such as Flat Zone X, Flat Zone 2, Duck Hunt, etc.
- Mr. Game & Watch has many various animations in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS that are different aesthetically in comparison to Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.
- The parachute used in Fire and its custom variations spreads further out in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS than in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.
- When using up aerial, his head visibly inflates then deflates in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and remains stagnant in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.
- His hands in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS are spread out when running, but in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, his hands are clenched fists.
- On a side note, when Mr. Game & Watch uses his taunts, his hands change back to how they appeared in Brawl. This only occurs in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U version.
- In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, Mr. Game & Watch does a small jump on the spot, one of his idle poses, after choosing a path in Classic Mode, instead of taunting.
- Mr. Game & Watch, Wii Fit Trainer, and Bayonetta are the only three characters to have special charging sounds for their smash attacks, with his being a low-pitched beeping noise.
- He is also the only veteran with this trait.
- Mr. Game & Watch and R.O.B. are the only unlockable veterans in both versions to appear in a newcomer's poster art.
- Mr. Game & Watch, along with Lucina, are the only unlockable characters to appear in more than one newcomer poster art.
- Although he lacks visible eyes, Mr. Game & Watch's character select screen portrait in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U still emits the small sparkle effect when he is selected, with the sparkle appearing where his eyes would be positioned.
| Fighters in Super Smash Bros. 4 | |
|---|---|
| Veterans | Bowser · Captain Falcon · Charizard · Diddy Kong · Donkey Kong · Dr. Mario · Falco · Fox · Ganondorf · Ike · Jigglypuff · King Dedede · Kirby · Link · Lucario · Lucas · Luigi · Mario · Marth · Meta Knight · Mewtwo · Mr. Game & Watch · Ness · Olimar · Peach · Pikachu · Pit · R.O.B. · Roy · Samus · Sheik · Sonic · Toon Link · Wario · Yoshi · Zelda · Zero Suit Samus |
| Newcomers | Bayonetta · Bowser Jr. · Cloud · Corrin · Dark Pit · Duck Hunt · Greninja · Little Mac · Lucina · Mega Man · Mii Fighter (Mii Brawler · Mii Gunner · Mii Swordfighter) · Pac-Man · Palutena · Robin · Rosalina & Luma · Ryu · Shulk · Villager · Wii Fit Trainer |
 Game & Watch universe
| |
|---|---|
| Fighter | Mr. Game & Watch (SSBM · SSBB · SSB4 · SSBU) |
| Stages | Flat Zone · Flat Zone 2 · Flat Zone X |
| Trophies, Stickers and Spirits | Trophies (SSBM · SSBB · SSB4) · Stickers · Spirits |
| Music | Flat Zone · Flat Zone 2 |
