A forward smash, abbreviated f-smash and officially known as a side smash attack (横スマッシュ攻撃), is a smash attack that any character can perform by tapping the control stick (or d-pad in Super Smash Bros. 64) in a horizontal direction and pressing the attack button immediately afterward or simultaneously, or by tilting the C-Stick in a horizontal direction. Starting in Melee, forward smashes can be charged for a maximum of one second (or 60 frames), resulting in up to 40% higher damage and knockback.
After tapping the control stick forwards, there is a 3-frame window wherein a forward smash can be performed. If the attack button is pressed too late, a dash attack will be performed instead. Pressing the attack button on the last possible frame results in a small step forward smash. In all games except Super Smash Bros. Brawl, forward smashes can be pivoted.
Like forward tilts, certain forward smashes can be angled in up to 3 directions; a select few forward smashes in Smash 64, however, can be angled in up to 5 directions. In Smash 64 and Melee, the control stick or c-stick must be tapped in the desired angle at the start of the move to angle it. In Brawl and Super Smash Bros. 4, however, the attack can be angled by holding the control stick or c-stick in the desired angle as the move's charging period ends.
The c-stick can not be used to perform forward smashes in the single-player modes of Super Smash Bros. Melee, as it instead is used to move the camera.
List of forward smashes in Super Smash Bros.
Character | Description | Damage |
---|---|---|
Captain Falcon | Delivers a spinning side kick imbued with flame that has high reach. | 18% |
Donkey Kong | Slaps his hands together in front of himself. The second strongest forward smash in terms of knockback, but also the slowest. | 20% |
Fox | Performs a spinning dropkick. Weaker than most other forward smashes, but has good speed and range. | 17% |
Jigglypuff | Lunges forward with a kick, similar to Kirby's forward smash but weaker. | 16% (clean), 13% (late) |
Kirby | Jumps forwards while kicking. Has high range and speed, and is the strongest forward smash in the game. | 17% (clean), 13% (late) |
Link | Slashes from top to bottom. Deals good damage and has long reach. | 20% (center), 8% (tip). Deals 24% in the PAL version. |
Luigi | Throws a powerful fist-inflating punch. Similar to Mario's forward smash, but weaker, and with less ending lag. | 15% |
Mario | Throws a powerful fist-inflating punch. Slow, but a great KO move. | 17% |
Ness | Swings his baseball bat. Can reflect projectiles. | 18% |
Pikachu | Releases a jolt of a electricity. Has slow startup, but is strong and has a disjointed hitbox. | 18% |
Samus | Punches with her arm cannon. A quick attack with fair knockback. | 18% |
Yoshi | Rears his head back and performs a headbutt. Above-average knockback and short ending lag. | 18% |
List of forward smashes in Super Smash Bros. Melee
Character | Description | Damage |
---|---|---|
Bowser | Headbutts forward. Noticeably long start-up, but is the strongest smash attack in Melee. | 24%. |
Captain Falcon | Thrusts his elbow forward. Good knockback with a flame effect, but considerable starting lag. The third strongest forward smash in the game. | 20%, deals 1% more angled up and 2% less angled down. |
Donkey Kong | Claps forward with high range and great knockback. | 20%. |
Dr. Mario | Extends his palm, unleashing an electric blast. Similar to Mario's forward smash, but has more knockback, less range, and has no sourspot. | 19%. Deals 1% more angled up, and 2% less angled down. |
Falco | Performs a cartwheeling kick. Similar to Fox's, but with higher knockback, damage, and range. The late hitbox sends the opponent vertically. | 17% (clean), 14% (late) |
Fox | Performs a cartwheeling kick. A rather quick move with enough power to make it a viable finisher. Like Falco's forward smash, the late hitbox sends opponents vertically. | 15% (clean), 12% (late) |
Ganondorf | Lunges forward with an elbow thrust, much like Captain Falcon. Deals high damage with a darkness effect, and is the second-strongest forward smash in the game. | 22%, deals 2% more angled up and 3% less angled down. |
Ice Climbers | Smash both hammers in front of them. High damage and knockback, dealing more damage than Bowser's if fully charged and if both Climbers hit. | 14% leader, 13% partner. |
Jigglypuff | Lunges forward while kicking. Some start-up lag, but strong nonetheless. | 17% (clean), 14% (late) |
Kirby | Jumps forward while kicking. Good reach. | 15% (clean), 13% (late) |
Link | Slashes forward. A second, stronger slash can be performed by hitting the A button or C-Stick immediately following the first. High reach on both slashes. The first hit's high knockback growth prevents it from comboing into the second, stronger hit past 30%. | 14% then 13%. |
Luigi | Performs a horizontal spearhand. Very quick, and has the highest knockback scaling of all forward smashes, making it weak early on but deadly at higher percentages. | 13%, deals 2% more angled up and 1% less angled down. |
Mario | Releases a blast of fire from his extended palm. Poor range, yet very powerful and quick, with the fireball sweetspot dealing more damage and knockback. | 19% sweetspot, 14% sourspot. Deals 1% more angled up, and 2% less angled down. |
Marth | Slashes quickly from top to bottom, with a powerful sweet spot at the sword's tip. It is very fast and has high range. | 20% tipped, 14% base. |
Mewtwo | Blasts psychic energy from its palms. Decent reach, but has a sourspot with weak knockback. | 18% (sweetspot), 12% (sourspot) |
Mr. Game & Watch | Hits the foe with a fire poker. Slow, but strong, with a long-lasting hitbox. | 18% |
Ness | Swings with his baseball bat. Highly powerful, especially with the sweetspot on the bat's tip. It is able to reflect projectiles. | 17% (sourspot), 23% (sweetspot) |
Peach | Swings with one of three weapons - a golf club, tennis racket, or frying pan. All three have a disjointed hitbox. The racket sends opponents flying horizontally stronger than the others, yet is the weakest damage-wise. The frying pan deals the most damage and launches opponents vertically. The golf club is the weakest in terms of knockback and only deals slightly more damage than the racket, yet it has the longest range. | Frying pan 19%; Tennis racket 14%; Golf club 15%. |
Pichu | Releases electricity from its cheeks. Similar to Pikachu's, but with less range, and hits multiple times with the last hit dealing high knockback. | 6 hits: 15% total. |
Pikachu | Releases electricity from its cheeks. Great knockback with a disjointed hitbox, but some start-up lag. | 21% |
Roy | Performs a high-range vertical slash. Similar to, but slightly slower than, Marth's. Deals incredibly high knockback, but is much weaker at the tip. | 20% center, 13% tip. |
Samus | Punches forwards with her arm cannon. Quick, but not particularly strong. | 14%, deals 2% more damage angled up and 1% less angled down. |
Sheik | Performs two rolling kicks forward. The first kick usually leads into the second, which does decent knockback. | 6% then 9%. |
Yoshi | Slams horizontally with his head. Some start-up lag, but good knockback. Yoshi's head is intangible for a short time during the attack. | 16%, deals 1% more angled up and 2% less angled down. |
Young Link | Like Link's, this smash has a second available hit. This one is a bit faster with more horizontal knockback. The first hit is also weaker, so it is easy to trap foes and land both hits. | 10% then 7%; 17% total. |
Zelda | Zaps the foe with magic from her extended hands. Somewhat quick with slightly disjointed hitbox. Multiple hits. | 5 hits: 15% total. |
List of forward smashes in Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Character | Description | Damage |
---|---|---|
Bowser | Reels back and headbutts forward. The most damaging forward smash in the game (46% damage fully charged) with very high knockback and range, but is slow on both ends. | 10% (hit 1), 23%/21% (hit 2) |
Captain Falcon | Thrusts his elbow forward. Powerful, but not particularly fast. | 20% (high), 19% (mid), 18% (low) |
Charizard | Rams its head forward and upwards. Has long range and high knockback, but is slow to start. | 5% (hit 1), 17% (hit 2) |
Diddy Kong | Slaps while spinning around, first hitting weakly with his right arm, and then strongly with his left. Decently powerful, but can be escaped with proper SDI. | 5% (hit 1), 13% (hit 2) |
Donkey Kong | Claps his hands together in front of him. Has great knockback for its speed. Its range is high, but not disjointed. | 18%-21% |
Falco | Performs a slashing cross-chop. Somewhat slow in general, but has solid range and power. | 15% (clean), 10% (late) |
Fox | Performs a powerful cartwheeling kick. It has moderate knockback and range. | 15% (clean), 12% (late) |
Ganondorf | Jabs his elbow forward. Similar to Captain Falcon's, but is slower, stronger, has more range, and deals darkness damage. | 24% |
Ice Climbers | Perform an overhead swing, slamming their hammers to the ground. Fairly powerful, especially when hit with both Climbers. | 13%/12% (leader), 10%/9% (partner) |
Ike | Heaves Ragnell up and over his head and slams it onto the ground. Very slow, especially to end, but is the second-strongest forward smash in the game, especially when sweetspotted. | 17%-22% |
Ivysaur | Plants two vines on the floor and tackles forwards while tethered to the ground. High knockback makes it a decent finisher. | 16% |
Jigglypuff | Jump-kicks forward. It has more startup lag and less range than Kirby's, and deals less knockback but more damage. | 16% (clean), 13% (late) |
King Dedede | Swings his hammer overhead very slowly. Both the strongest forward smash in the game and the slowest to start up. | 13% (early), 24% (clean), 5% (late) |
Kirby | Lunges forward and jump-kicks. Quick start-up, good range, and huge knockback. | 16% (clean high), 15% (clean mid), 14% (clean low), 13% (late) |
Link | Swings his sword from side to side in front of him. The attack button/C-Stick can be hit again to deliver a second, more powerful hit. The first hit's low knockback lets it combo into the second, stronger hit. Slow, but deals high damage and knockback. | 14%-15% (hit 1), 17%-20% (hit 2) |
Lucario | Releases a burst of aura. Lucario's Aura ability does affect this attack; if Lucario is at low damage, it will be weak, while at high damage, it has great strength. It has some start up lag, but has IASA frames shortly after the hitbox ends allowing another forward smash to be started without cooldown. Very hard to punish. | 14% (arms), 16% (blast) |
Lucas | Quickly swings his stick forward. Similar to Ness' forward smash, but faster and less powerful (though still a reliable finisher). | 15% |
Luigi | Performs a quick horizontal spearhand. Has absurdly high knockback for its speed, especially when angled upwards, but deals low damage. | 15% (high), 14% (mid), 13% (low) |
Mario | Thrusts his palm forward, releasing a blast of fire. Quick and has decent range and high power, especially when sweetspotted. | 18% (fire, up), 15% (arm, up), 17% (fire, straight), 14% (arm, straight), 16% (fire, down), 13% (arm, down) |
Marth | Swings his sword downwards over his head. Very fast with great disjointed range, and is very powerful at the sword's tip. | 14% (base), 19% (tip) |
Meta Knight | Pulls his sword back and slashes outwards quickly. Deals a good amount of knockback, but has some startup lag, although its ending lag is incredibly short. | 14% |
Mr. Game & Watch | Swings downwards with a lighted match. Very powerful, with a long-lasting hitbox, making it difficult to punish. | 18% (clean torch), 14% (clean handle), 8% (late) |
Ness | Swings his baseball bat forward. A great finisher with a sweetspot at the tip, but has significant start up lag. It can reflect projectiles. | 18% (base), 24% (tip) |
Olimar | Commands a Pikmin to jump forward and perform a spinning tackle. Great range due to its disjointed hitbox, but as the Pikmin travels farther, the knockback becomes less potent. Damage and knockback dealt depends on the type of Pikmin used. | R: 9%-15% Y: 6%-13% B: 6%-15% W: 3%-9% P: 13%-18% |
Peach | Swings with either a tennis racket, a golf club or a frying pan. Each weapon has varying knockback, damage and range. The tennis racket does little damage and has very weak knockback when sourspotted, but higher knockback when sweetspot, and is the strongest semi-spike in the game, enough to KO at mid percentage (from 60% onwards). The golf club has long range and decent power. The frying pan does the most damage, launching enemies upwards with weaker knockback and shorter range. All three weapons have disjointed hitboxes. | 12%/13% (racket), 15% (club), 18% (pan) |
Pikachu | Releases a burst of electricity from its cheeks. Has a huge disjointed hitbox, but noticeable start-up lag. The closer the opponent is to Pikachu, the stronger the attack is. | 20% (early), 17% (mid), 14% |
Pit | Slashes forwards twice with his swords. The first hit leads into the second. Very fast with good knockback, but is susceptible to SDI. | 7% (hit 1), 12% (hit 2) |
R.O.B. | Blasts electric energy from his eyes. Has a disjointed hitbox, but is weak for a forward smash. | 14% (base), 13% (mid), 12% (tip) |
Samus | Shoves her arm cannon forward. Very fast, but has below average knockback. | 14% (high), 13% (mid), 12% (low) |
Sheik | Performs two consecutive jumping kicks. The first kick has less knockback and easily combos into the second, more powerful one. | 5% (hit 1), 9% (hit 2) |
Snake | Deploys an RPG-7 and launches it towards the ground in front of him. Has a large hitbox and is one of the slowest and strongest forward smashes in the game. | 22% |
Sonic | Winds up and punches forwards. A good KO move, but lacks in range and is slower than most of his other attacks. | 14% |
Squirtle | Retracts into its shell and performs a jumping tackle. Grants armor and has moderate knockback and damage. | 14% |
Toon Link | Slashes downwards and inwards. Like Link's, a second hit can be performed by pressing the attack button or c-stick a second time after the first one. Unlike Link's, however, the first slash has set knockback. | 10% (hit 1), 13% (hit 2 front), 11% (hit 2 back) |
Wario | Performs a shoulder tackle. Poor range, but hits extremely quickly with above-average strength and grants armor for a brief period. | 19% |
Wolf | Thrusts forward with an arm outstretched, then twists his claws. It starts up very quickly and it is the longest-ranging forward smash in the game, but among the weakest to compensate. | 5% (hit 1), 10% (hit 2) |
Yoshi | Thrusts his head forward. Decent knockback. | 16% |
Zelda | Thrusts her arm out and creates a small magic vortex which sucks foes in and deals multiple hits. The last hit has very high knockback. Quick, powerful, and has a disjointed hitbox, but can be easily SDI'd out of. | 1% (hits 1-4), 13% (hit 5) |
Zero Suit Samus | Whips forward with her plasma whip. Has noticeable startup lag and is weak, but has fantastic range, even capable of hitting behind her. | 10%-14% (front), 6% (back). |
List of forward smashes in Super Smash Bros. 4
Character | Description | Damage |
---|---|---|
Bayonetta | Summons the fist of Madama Butterfly, which punches forwards. Deals strong knockback, but can be easily cancelled out even by weaker moves. | 14% (wrist), 16% (fist) |
Bowser | Jumps forward and performs a dropkick. One of The strongest forward smashes in the game with high range, though its startup is slow. If spaced correctly, it's able to hit opponents who are hanging on the edge. | Clean:23% (feet), 20% (body) Late: 17% (feet), 14% (body) |
Bowser Jr. | Commands two drills to close in on the area in front of him. Hits multiple times with great strength on the final hit, and has very little ending lag. | 1% (hits 1-5), 11% (hit 6) |
Captain Falcon | Thrusts his elbow forwards, burning opponents on contact. Has high range and power, but is somewhat slow. | High: 20% Mid: 19% Low: 20% |
Charizard | Winds up and performs a swinging headbutt forward. Has slow start-up, but great range and knockback. | 17% (clean, late body), 14% (late head) |
Cloud | Performs a three-hit combo of slashes in front of him. The third hit has very high knockback, and the move starts quickly but ends slowly. | 3% (hit 1), 2-4% (hit 2), 12-13% (hit 3) |
Corrin | Morphs the free arm into a lance and stabs with it. Has tremendous reach with a powerful sweetspot on the tip, being the farthest-reaching uncharged forward smash in the game. Corrin holds Omega Yato in front while charging the move; this damages nearby enemies repeatedly and can combo into the main portion of the attack. | 0.5% (sword, 1-12 hits) 16% (tip), 15% (mid), 12% (close) |
Dark Pit | Identical to Pit's. | 5% (hit 1), 10% (hit 2) |
Diddy Kong | Slaps forward while spinning, then throws a backhand punch. Has rather short range, but high power. | 5% (hit 1), 11% (hit 2 fist), 9% (hit 2 arm) |
Donkey Kong | Winds up and claps both hands forward. Strong horizontal knockback with good range. | 19% (arms), 20% (hands) |
Dr. Mario | Releases a blast of electricity from his palm. Has high power, especially on the sweetspot at his arm, but its range is below-average. | High: 19.992% (arm), 19.464% (hand) Mid: 19.04% (arm), 15.68% (hand) Low: 19.6112% (arm), 16.1504% |
Duck Hunt | Signals the gunman to fire three shots forward. The longer the move is charged, the longer its range will become, though its power is only average. The knockback angles are randomized to a slight degree, which can cause it to occasionally fail to connect with all three hits. | 4% (hits 1-2), 9% (hit 3) |
Falco | Swings both his wings in an overhead downward swipe. High knockback when sweetspotted, but lacks speed. | 15% (clean), 10% (late) |
Fox | Does a cartwheel kick forward. Has a long-lasting hitbox and covers lots of ground, but deals poor knockback. | 14% (clean), 11% (late) |
Ganondorf | Leans back and thrusts his elbow forward. Extremely high knockback, especially when the opponent is close to Ganondorf. | 24% |
Greninja | Slashes inwards with a water katana. Very fast, with decent knockback, but poor damage. | 14% |
Ike | Lifts his sword over his head and slams it down in a powerful, two-handed overhead swing. Both among the strongest and slowest smash attacks in the game. It's strongest when hit with Ragnell's blade. | 19% (early), 22% (clean blade), 17% (clean tip) |
Jigglypuff | Lunges forward and delivers a jump kick forward. Has high knockback, but poor range and start-up. | 15% (clean), 12% (late) |
King Dedede | Winds up his hammer and forcefully slams it down in an overhead swing. Among the strongest forward smashes in the game, with high range and deceptively low ending lag, but is very slow to start. | 15% (early), 24% (clean), 6% (late) |
Kirby | Lunges forward and delivers a jump kick that moves him forward. Fast start-up and high knockback makes it an effective punisher. | High: 16% (clean), 12% (late) Mid: 15% (clean), 11% (late) Low: 14% (clean), 10% (late) |
Link | Swings his sword downwards and inwards. A second slash can be inputted by tapping the attack button or C-Stick right after the first slash. The first slash's tip deals high knockback, while the rest of the blade is designed to true combo into the second slash. Not particularly fast, but KOs very early when both hits connect. | Hit 1: 7% (base), 14% (tip) Hit 2: 12% (body), 13% (sword) |
Little Mac | Leans forwards and throws a punch. The move changes when it is angled. Angled up: Becomes an uppercut with deceptively large reach. No angle: Punches forward with very good KO power. Angled down: A body hook that deals high damage and shield damage, but very low knockback. |
High: 20% (hand), 18% (arm) Mid: 20% (hand), 18% (arm) Low: 24% |
Lucario | Releases a blast of aura forward. Very weak without any aura, but becomes the strongest forward smash in the game by a significant margin with maximum aura. Has some startup lag, but is light on ending lag. | 16% (clean), 13% (late) |
Lucas | Quickly swings a stick forward. Can reflect projectiles. Faster start-up than Ness', making it more useful for punishing and reflecting. | 14% (base), 15% (tip) |
Lucina | Identical to Marth's, but with no tipper effect, instead being more generally powerful and damaging. | 15.275% |
Luigi | Performs a quick horizontal spearhand. Short-ranged, but quick and very powerful. | 15% |
Mario | Releases a fiery burst from his palm. Has solid range and power, hitting strongest at the center of the flame. | High: 14.7% (arm), 17.85% (fire) Mid: 14% (arm), 17% (fire) Low: 14.42% (arm), 17.51% (fire) |
Marth | Rotates his body counter-clockwise with a strong arc-like swing from his head to the ground. Deals extremely high knockback on the tip and is fast to start up, but the sweetspot is difficult to hit with. | 13% (base), 18% (tip) |
Mega Man | Charge Shot: Charges up energy in his Mega Buster before firing off a big, powerful burst. The shot grows much larger and moves much farther as it's charged; when fully charged it's the longest-ranged forward smash in the game, with high KO power to match. | 11.5%-19.5% |
Meta Knight | Pulls his sword back, then slashes horizontally in forward. Slow to start, but quick to end and has very little ending lag. | 16% |
Mewtwo | Blasts psychic energy from its palms. Decent knockback and speed. Hits strongest at the edge of the blast. | 19% (blast), 15% (arms) |
Mii Brawler | Delivers a straight punch forwards. Its hitbox has a very short duration, and its ending lag is very high, but it has high KO power to compensate. | 18%* |
Mii Gunner | Unleashes a stream of laser bullets. Has the second longest range of any non-projectile smash, and has a long duration, but suffers from lower-than-normal damage and knockback. | 0.8% (hits 1-6), 5% (hit 7)* |
Mii Swordfighter | Swings their sword with both hands while stepping forward. Deals slightly more damage and knockback if tipped. | 14% (hilt), 15% (center), 16% (tip)* |
Mr. Game & Watch | Takes out a flaming torch and swings it forward. Deals higher damage and knockback if sweetspotted, which has a flame effect. | 18% (head), 14% (handle) |
Ness | Swings his bat forwards. Extremely powerful, especially when hit with the tip of the bat, but is somewhat slow to start. The bat can reflect projectiles. | 18% (close), 18% (mid), 22% (tip) |
Olimar | Commands a Pikmin to attack as a projectile with a spinning body slam. Damage, knockback, and range vary based on the type of Pikmin used. | R: 7.2%-17.4% YB: 6%-14.5% W: 4.8%-11.6% P: 8.4%-20.3% |
Pac-Man | Shoots Blinky forward. Has good range, power, and an effective lingering hitbox, but is hindered by somewhat low startup. | 16% (clean ghost), 15% (clean arm), 9% (late) |
Palutena | Summons a pair of ethereal wings and slams them together in front of her. Powerful, but relatively slow. Has a small wind effect at the tip. | 16% (near), 13% (far) |
Peach | Swings a clubbing weapon, cycling between a golf club, a frying pan, or a tennis racket. Each weapon has its own properties: The golf club deals the most diagonal knockback (and has the longest range), the frying pan has the most vertical knockback, and the tennis racket is a semi-spike. | 15% (golf club), 18% (frying pan), 13% (tennis racket) |
Pikachu | Rears back and then leans forward, emitting a powerful electric shock. Very high knockback if it hits close. | 15% (early), 18% (clean), 12% (late) |
Pit | Slashes forward twice. Quick start-up and great range, but easy to punish if it misses. | 5% (hit 1), 10% (hit 2) |
R.O.B. | S3: Crouches and fires a short-ranged laser from his eyes. Has high range and decent speed, but is of below-average strength. | 15% (base), 11.5% (mid), 6% (tip) |
Robin | Slashes into an outwards thrust with the active sword. Starts fairly quickly, but is slow to end. Levin Sword deals high knockback, while the Bronze Sword is much weaker. The Levin Sword has a lingering hitbox with weaker knockback. | Bronze: 9.6% Levin: 16% (clean), 5% (late) |
Rosalina & Luma | Rosalina: Thrusts her hands forward, hitting the enemy with a galactic blast. Luma: Delivers a powerful straight punch. Decent range, high knockback, and can KO at 90% when the two overlap. |
Rosalina: 12% Luma: 7% (arm), 5% (body) |
Roy | Performs a two-handed downward diagonal slash. Very fast to start with high range and is incredibly strong, but the hitbox isn't active for long and the move is slow to end. | 20% (close), 17% (mid), 12% (far) |
Ryu | Joudan Sokutogeri: Delivers a powerful stepping-forward wind-back kick. Has very high range and delivers powerful knockback, especially at Ryu's heel. | 16% (close), 17% (far) |
Samus | Thrusts her arm cannon forwards while releasing a small blast of plasma. Knockback is mediocre unless hit with the sweetspot at the plasma. Starts up faster than any other forward smash in the game. | High: 15% (fire), 13% (cannon) Mid:14% (fire), 12% (cannon) Low: 13.5% (fire), 11% (cannon) |
Sheik | Delivers two spin kicks forward. The first has low knockback, while the second has significant knockback. Proper spacing is necessary to ensure that opponents are hit by both kicks. | 5% (hit 1), 8% (hit 2) |
Shulk | Stabs forward with the Monado, then extends the beam to hit farther. Third longest forward smash in the game, with good power to match. Has high ending lag, though it starts rather quickly. | 5.5% (hit 1), 13% (hit 2 blade), 11.5% (hit 2 beam) |
Sonic | Winds up his fist, then throws a punch forwards. Decent range and power, but slow start-up. | 14% |
Toon Link | Similar to Link's, but the first hit deals lower knockback. This would arguably make it better overall than Link's smash, as hitting with the first strike nearly guarantees a follow-up into the second, much more powerful hit, but naturally its range is less than Link's. | 10% (hit 1), 11% (hit 2) |
Villager | Leans forward while dropping a bowling ball. One of the strongest forward smashes, and is not easily punished. The bowling ball can go over the edge, making it a reliable edgeguarding move despite its limited horizontal range. However, because the bowling ball is a projectile, it can be pocketed or reflected. | 15% (early), 17% (clean) |
Wario | Leans back then delivers a fist-inflating backhanded punch. High knockback and range with a large hitbox, but slow on all accounts. | 19% |
Wii Fit Trainer | Performs the Warrior pose, stomping forward while extending both arms in opposite directions. Decently fast and powerful, and strong on both sides, especially with the sweetspot on both arms. However, it has high ending lag. | 15.5% (arms), 14% (body) |
Yoshi | Winds his head back then slams it forward, dealing a powerful headbutt. Starts up very quickly and has high range and power, making it a deadly option for punishing. | 13% (tip), 15.5% (nose), 14% (body) |
Zelda | Charges magic energy in her right hand and flashes it forward, dealing multiple hits. Fairly good knockback and range, and is not easily punished. | 1% (hits 1-4), 13% (hit 5) |
Zero Suit Samus | Performs one side kick which leads into a second, stronger one. The second hit has a sweetspot on the burst of fire on the tip of her foot. | 5% (hit 1), 11% (hit 2) |
* This assumes the Mii is default height and weight.
Notable Forward Smashes
In Smash 64
- This game is notable for all characters having very powerful forward smashes.
- Kirby's forward smash is both the fastest and strongest in the game, while having far range.
- Ness' forward smash is able to reflect projectiles.
In Melee
- Bowser's forward smash is the most powerful smash attack in Melee, capable of KOing around 15% to 38%, and dealing 32% fully charged. It sends the Sandbag farther than the Home-Run Bat at certain percentages.
- Falco's forward smash is widely considered the second best in the game because of its power, lasting hitbox, and lack of a sourspot.
- Link and Young Link's forward smashes have a second hit that can be performed by pressing the attack button again after completing the first slash.
- Marth is widely considered to have the best forward smash in the game due to its speed, power, and range. Its sourspot, though large, KOs at reasonable percents, while its sweetspot KOs at extremely low percents.
- Peach's forward smash involves one of three randomly chosen weapons, each with varying range, damage, knockback, and angle, and also has a slight range behind her.
- Sheik's forward smash is notable for being one of the overall weakest smash attacks in the entire series.
In Brawl
- Ike's forward smash is the second strongest in Brawl. Although it doesn't deal as much damage as a few of the strongest characters, it has the highest knockback scaling and extremely long range, though this is counterbalanced by considerable start-up (about 30 frames) and ending lag.
- King Dedede's forward smash KOs earlier than any other smash attack in the entire series.
- Lucario's forward smash, as with its other smash attacks, produces a small-ranged aura blast from its paws, allowing it to attack from a small distance. It is nearly unpunishable if spaced correctly, even when shielded. It is especially powerful at high aura.
- Meta Knight's forward smash is his slowest move in terms of startup, but has extremely low ending lag.
- Olimar's forward smash, as with his other smash attacks, is a projectile where Olimar throws a Pikmin.
- Wario's forward smash is among the strongest and fastest in the game, while also having transcendent priority and granting him armor.
- Wolf's forward smash sends him a considerable distance forward and has minimal start-up lag.
In Smash 4
- Corrin's forward smash outranges all other uncharged forward smashes in the game; proper spacing makes the move very difficult to punish. It's also the only forward smash in the series capable of dealing damage while being charged.
- The range of Duck Hunt's forward smash increases as it is charged, similarly to their other smash attacks and Snake's up smash.
- The properties of Little Mac's forward smash uniquely change when it is angled. It is a standard punch if not angled, and an uppercut with a larger hitbox if angled upwards. If angled downwards, it is a body hook that deals higher damage and shield damage, but lower knockback. Like all other of Little Mac's smash attacks, this move has super armor.
- Mega Man has one of the only projectile forward smashes in the game, and it increases in size, travel length, and power as it charges. When fully charged, it is the longest-ranged forward smash in the game.
- Mii Gunner's forward smash has the second longest range in the game and deals multiple hits, making it a potent tool for catching air dodges and rolls. However, it lacks KO power.
- Shulk's forward smash is the third longest-ranged in the game. It comes out fast and deals considerable knockback, but has notably high ending lag.
- Rosalina's forward smash is fast, powerful, and has transcendent priority, which makes it difficult to counter.
- Roy's forward smash is arguably one of the most feared due to its relatively quick start up and devastating KO power, able to KO at 30% on some characters with rage. However, it has noticeable cool-down, making it punishable if whiffed.
- Villager's forward smash is a projectile that can be dropped off of ledges, allowing him to edgeguard without leaving the stage. However, since it is a projectile, it can be reflected or pocketed by another Villager.
- Wii Fit Trainer's forward smash is one of the only forward smashes in the series that hits on both sides with good power.
In Ultimate
- Like in previous games, there are notably long-reaching forward smashes: the four highest-ranged ones are Simon/Richter's, Corrin's, Mii Gunner's, and Shulk's.
- The Mii Gunner's forward smash retains its high range from the previous game, but has been buffed substantially in damage and knockback. It is now an effective attack for catching dodges or challenging shields from afar, and can even KO at 122% from the middle of the stage.
- Mr. Game and Watch's forward smash has fast startup, a disjointed hitbox, and deals extremely high knockback for its speed. Kills most characters at 65% by the ledge.
See also
Attacks in the Super Smash Bros. series | |
---|---|
Standard ground attacks | Neutral attack · Dash attack |
Tilt attacks | Forward tilt · Up tilt · Down tilt · Crouching attack |
Smash attacks | Forward smash · Up smash · Down smash |
Aerial attacks | Neutral aerial · Forward aerial · Back aerial · Up aerial · Down aerial · Grab aerial · Glide attack |
Throws | Grab · Pummel · Forward throw · Back throw · Up throw · Down throw |
Get-up attacks | Floor attack · Edge attack |
Special moves | Neutral special move · Side special move · Up special move · Down special move · Command-input move · Final Smash |