Mr. Game & Watch

For fighter info, see Mr. Game & Watch (SSBM), Mr. Game & Watch (SSBB), Mr. Game & Watch (SSB4), and Mr. Game & Watch (SSBU).

"Mr. G" redirects here. For the alter ego, see Smasher:Goblin.

Mr. Game & Watch
In-game sprite of Mr. Game & Watch from Game & Watch Gallery 4.
Universe	Game & Watch
Debut	Ball (1980) (as a juggler) Super Smash Bros. Melee (2001) (as Mr. Game & Watch)
Smash Bros. appearances	Melee Brawl SSB4 Ultimate
Most recent non-Smash appearance	WarioWare Gold (2018, cameo)
Console/platform of origin	Game & Watch (as a juggler) Nintendo GameCube (as Mr. Game & Watch)
Species	Monochrome
Gender	Male
Place of origin	Superflat World
Created by	Gunpei Yokoi
Designed by	Makoto Kano
Article on Super Mario Wiki	Mr. Game & Watch

Mr. Game & Watch (Mr.ゲーム＆ウォッチ, Mr. Game & Watch) is a composite representation of various generic characters featured in Nintendo's Game & Watch products and video game series created in 1980 by Gunpei Yokoi.

Origin

Mr. Game & Watch's first appearance, in Ball.

The composite Mr. Game & Watch character debuted in Super Smash Bros. Melee. While some Game & Watch games starred specific characters, such as Mario in Mario's Cement Factory, a majority simply starred nameless, simply-drawn characters. These characters, due to the LCD display of the Game & Watch, could only move in alternating, preset frames, similar to the numbers on a calculator. Also, the animation frames were monochrome, simply being black LCD frames against a preset background.

In translating this era of gaming to Smash, many of these generic characters' animations and abilities were combined into one new entity, Mr. Game & Watch. Visually, Mr. Game & Watch's standard design most heavily resembles the people in need of rescue from Fire and the pedestrians from Manhole. In keeping with the limitations of the Game & Watch's animations, Mr. Game & Watch is rendered as a flat, two-dimensional character with a choppy, frame-by-frame animation style.

Since debuting in Melee, Mr. Game & Watch has made a few appearances in other games. He has a minor speaking role as the host of one of the menus in Game & Watch Gallery 4. He has also made a number of cameos in other Nintendo games, including multiple entries in the WarioWare series, Donkey Kong Country Returns, Rhythm Heaven Fever, and Super Mario Odyssey.

In Super Smash Bros. Melee

As a playable character

Mr. Game & Watch's artwork from Melee.

Mr. Game & Watch makes his Super Smash Bros. series debut as the final unlockable character in Melee. Mr. Game and Watch can be unlocked one of four ways: completing either Classic Mode or Adventure Mode with all characters on any difficulty and stock or the Target Test with all characters, or playing 1000 vs. mode matches.

Mr. Game & Watch fights with a variety of items derived from the Game & Watch series Chef, his neutral special move, launches sausages at random distances from a pan. At closer distances said pan can be used as a semi-spike. Judgment, his side special move, is a hammer with randomly chosen strength and effects, ranging from weak (1) to strong (9). Fire, his up special move, launches Mr. Game & Watch at a lengthy vertical distance, with the help of a firefighter team; note that this is the only up special attack which gets more distance when a character is big by getting a mushroom. Lastly, Oil Panic, his down special move, allows him to catch energy based projectiles. Once three projectiles are caught, the contents can be dumped as a flow of oil, causing damage depending on the projectiles caught. This move can be used to cause the Kamikaze Glitch.

Mr. Game & Watch translated well into Super Smash Bros. Melee. However, this proves to become a severe disadvantage. His movement is choppy and sluggish, thus meaning he becomes dependent on wavedashing and dash-dancing as his primary method of movement. His moves, primarily his special moves, have very limited uses in competitive play and only two of his aerial attacks can be L-canceled. However, the few usable moves he has come equipped with high range and very large hitboxes, many of which are powerful finishers. Aside from his moves, Mr. Game and Watch's throws are very useful due to the fact they can all be used to chain grab. Mr. Game & Watch's defensive game is arguably his worst property; with an extremely small shield (which leaves his hands and feet unprotected, even at maximum size) and a very poor sidestep and roll, he has a very weak defensive game. This, combined with the fact that he is very light, causes him to die at very low percentages. Mr. Game and Watch players must therefore be able to read their opponents ridiculously well in order to simply survive and to have a chance in competitive play.

Trophies

As with the other playable characters, Mr. Game & Watch has three trophies. His main trophy reads:

Mr. Game & Watch
First appearing in 1980, the Game & Watch series is the father of all portable liquid crystal games. The main character is simple and monochrome but has a timeless individuality. There are 39 different games in the series and they've sold over 43 million units worldwide. Pictured at left is the particularly popular Fire model.

• Game & Watch, 1980

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  Mr. Game and Watch's Classic Mode trophy

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  Mr. Game and Watch's Adventure Mode trophy

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  Mr. Game and Watch All-Star Mode trophy

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl

As a playable character

Mr. Game & Watch's artwork from Brawl.

Mr. Game & Watch returns as an unlockable playable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. He has been heavily buffed, moving up from the bottom tier of Melee to the mid-high tier in Brawl. Mr. Game & Watch's attacks have been powered up and sped up, and he arguably has the best set of smash attacks in the game. He has been given a new technique, called Bucket Braking, which lets him negate all knockback while in midair.

File:Mr. Game and Watch SSE.jpg

Mr. Game & Watch clones in the Subspace Emissary

Interestingly, in a DOJO!! update where Sakurai explained some mysteries about the Subspace Emissary, he says that Tabuu used Mr. Game & Watch's flat qualities to create Shadow Bugs, making Mr. Game & Watch the origin of Shadow Bugs, though Mr. Game & Watch is not aware of it himself.

Mr. Game & Watch has been significantly buffed from Melee, as he benefits from Brawl's new physics, along with other various buffs. The introduction of hitstun canceling and momentum canceling helps Mr. Game & Watch more than most characters, as it not only makes him harder to combo but it also significantly improves his endurance mainly due to Bucket Braking. Other new Brawl mechanics such as B-reversing also help him out, and the removal of certain Melee mechanics such as L-canceling affects him less than other characters. His shield game has been improved significantly. His shield is much larger, and his sidestep is no longer one of the worst in the game. Overall, Mr. Game & Watch is a much more effective character than in Melee, although he still struggles against the stronger characters in the game, resulting in him being above average.

Trophy

The Mr. Game & Watch trophy in Brawl.

Mr. Game & Watch

The monochrome hero of the Game & Watch series, a fellow who oozes personality. First appearing in 1980, the series were the original portable game systems. The first games in the series were quite simple, but as time passed, technology evolved. The multiscreen series featured game play on dual screens. As the name states, the games also kept time.

: Game & Watch Gallery

In Super Smash Bros. 4

As a playable character

Mr. Game & Watch as he appears in Super Smash Bros. 4

Mr. Game & Watch is once again an unlockable playable character. He was teased before release in a small appearance at the end of Pac-Man's reveal trailer to illustrate how the two are the oldest characters in Smash Bros. history (even older than Mario and Donkey Kong); in that cameo, he notably performs his down taunt from Brawl, which was replaced by the release of Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.

Overall, Mr. Game & Watch was nerfed in the transition to Smash 4. The removal of Bucket Braking is his most notable negative change, as it greatly hinders his ability to survive, considering his status as a lightweight character. Several of his moves also have added ending lag, such as his up tilt, down tilt, and neutral aerial, and some of his moves are weaker finishers, such as his forward aerial. However, his attacks possess high damage output, with some becoming more efficient, including his back aerial's multiple hits linking better, and up smash, which now includes invincibility on startup. His throws have also improved, as they are all now performed much faster, with down throw being especially great at starting combos. However, his nerfs are considerably enough to cause a drop in his tier placement, now ranking 39th out of 55 on the Smash 4 tier list, and he has seen lackluster tournament representation and results.

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.

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.

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!

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  Classic (3DS)

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  Classic (Wii U)

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  Alt. (3DS)

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  Alt. (Wii U)

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

As a playable character

Mr. Game & Watch in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Mr. Game & Watch is once again an unlockable playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, alongside the entire playable roster of the series. He now changes appearance depending on the game in which the move he is using comes from. His moveset has been significantly altered; for instance, he has a new forward aerial in the form of a bomb projectile, and his up air now functions similarly to Mega Man's. In addition, his Final Smash, Octopus, now carries and drags opponents offscreen.

Shortly after Ultimate's release, the perception of Mr. Game & Watch was very negative; several players believed the nerfs he received - mainly the lack of priority in his new forward aerial, the reduction of invincibility frames on his up smash, and the loss of his "Toot-Toot KO confirm - were far too detrimental for him to have any chance of competitive success even in spite of his buffs. Combined with the prevalence of swordfighters in the game who were known for giving Mr. Game & Watch trouble in previous games, he was widely considered to be an unviable character that was even worse than his Smash 4 iteration with ZeRo going as far to rank him as the 2nd worst character in the game.

However, the Smash community eventually discovered that the buffs he was given far outweighed his nerfs and that the character had in fact become significantly stronger. Not only have his moves undergone aesthetic appearences as they now appear exactly as they do in the original Game & Watch games, but they have received major changes to their damage, knockback, range, lag, or have been completely reworked. Altogether, while his most potent tools were toned down from Smash 4, the majority of the least useful moves in his toolkit have been significantly improved.

Similar to the vast majority of the cast, Mr. Game & Watch's mobility has been made faster as he has slightly increased run speed and air speed along with a much faster inital dash. Like the rest of the cast, he now has a 3 frame jumpsquat which improves his air game.

Mr. Game & Watch has much better KO potential as his forward tilt and down tilt have much higher knockback, allowing them to KO earlier (although down tilt's ending lag has been slightly increased) and the former has consistent 2-frame potential due to its faster startup and long hitbox duration. Additionally, the ability to dash cancel into these moves increases their utility. His smash attacks have all received major buffs. His forward smash has more knockback which makes it able to KO earlier and the increased size of the sweetspot makes it easier to land. His up smash has been given more active frames now being active from frames 21-25 instead of 24-25 and has slightly increased knockback scaling which allows it to KO earlier. While it has less invincibility frames throughout the total animation, it has invincibility frames during the hitbox frames (21-25) that cover Mr. Game & Watch's entire body which makes the move more dangerous to intercept unlike Smash 4 where the invincibility frames only covered parts of his body and left others completely vulnerable. His down smash has less startup along with a shorter total duration, making it faster without increasing its ending lag. Additionally, its sweetspots now bury the opponent which allows Mr. Game & Watch to follow up with one of his powerful finishers including a forward smash, forward tilt, or Judge to name a few and its semi spike sourspot has more knockback scaling. Lastly, its hitboxes extend further out making it easier to land. Mr. Game & Watch has arguably the best set of smash attacks out of the whole cast due to their increased utility while retaining their infamously low ending lag.

Mr. Game & Watch's aerial game and edgeguarding have also been improved. He has a new forward aerial where he drops a bomb in front of him. Compared to to previous forward aerial, this move has higher damage output and knockback which makes it better as a KO move while also having incredible utility for shield pressuring, ledgetrapping, combo starting, and landing. His back and down aerials are more powerful which makes them great offstage punish options and his neutral aerial has excellent combo potential, increased range, and improved juggling ability as the new autolink angles prevent the opponent from falling out at high percents. His up aerial has lost its KO potential and has increased startup but has gained outstanding juggling and damage racking ability as a tradeoff as it can keep the opponent in the air for a long time with little chance to escape. Finally, neutral, back, and down aerials all have less landing lag.

His special moveset have also received major buffs. Chef deals increased damage and the trajectory that the food travels can be controlled; tilting the control stick forward makes the food fly faster and travel a further distance while holding the special button instead of repeatedly pressing it makes the food fly slower. Judge has received improvements to many of its numbers; Judge 5 has less knockback which makes it easier to hit opponents multiple times at high percents, Judge 7 now spawns three apples instead of 1 is safe to hit at low percents due to its increased knockback, Judge 8 does more damage and the freezing effect lasts longer, and Judge 9 has a larger hitbox. Oil Panic has gained additional utility as a defensive tool against projectiles; not only does it absorb projectiles one frame faster and has less ending lag but it also acts a reflector that reflects any projectile it can't absorb. Lastly, the biggest buff to his special moves and arguably his most valuable buff overall was to Fire. The move's frame 3 windbox has been replaced with a hitbox on both sides of Mr. Game & Watch that has strong knockback and a hitstun modifier of 10. Combined with the move's intangibility frames, it has outstanding utility as an out of shield option, disadvantage breaking option, and combo starter while also being a potential KO move offstage due to the late hit's high knockback and retaining its incredible recovery potential. Not only is this move arguably the single best out of shield option in the entire game, but it is also one of the best moves in the game overall.

In the end, Mr. Game & Watch is now considered to be a high tier or top tier by most players thanks to his newly gained strengths which is a sharp contrast to his perception in the early meta. Despite his nerfs as well as continuous issues with his extremely light weight, he possesses high power, great out of shield options, an oppressive offstage presence, a devastating combo game, and an incredible recovery while also having fairly good frame data and has achieved fantastic tournament results thanks to Regi, Frido, Take, and especially Maister. His iteration in Ultimate is almost unarguably his best in the series.

Spirits

Fighter spirit

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  689. Mr. Game & Watch

Primary spirits

No.	Image	Name	Type	Class	Slots	Base	Max	Base	Max	Base	Max	Ability	Series
696		Lion		★★	1	1750	7041	1015	4084	735	2957	No Effect	Game & Watch Series
698		Octopus		★★★★	3	4031	10079	1749	4374	2054	5135	Strong Throw	Game & Watch Series
701		Fire Attack		★	1	1047	5238	400	2000	552	2762	Fire Attack ↑	Game & Watch Series

Support spirits

No.	Image	Name	Class	Cost	Ability	Series
690		Ball	★★	1	Thrown Items ↑	Game & Watch Series
691		Flagman	★★	1	Critical-Health Stats ↑	Game & Watch Series
692		Fire	★★★	2	Lava-Floor Immunity	Game & Watch Series
693		Judge	★★★	1	Critical Hit ↑	Game & Watch Series
694		Manhole	★★	1	Bury Immunity	Game & Watch Series
697		Parachute	★★	1	Air Defense ↑	Game & Watch Series
699		Chef (Game & Watch)	★★★	2	Stats ↑ ↑ after Eating	Game & Watch Series
700		Turtle Bridge	★	1	Green Shell Equipped	Game & Watch Series
702		Oil Panic	★★	2	Sticky-Floor Immunity	Game & Watch Series

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	Mr.ゲーム＆ウォッチ, Mr. Game & Watch	—
English	Mr. Game & Watch	—
French	Mr. Game & Watch	—
German	Mr. Game & Watch	—
Spanish	Mr. Game & Watch	—
Italian	Mr. Game & Watch	—
Chinese	Mr. Game & Watch	—
Korean	Mr. 게임&워치, Mr. Game & Watch	—
Dutch	Mr. Game & Watch	—
Russian	Г-н Game & Watch Мистер Game & Watch	"Г-н" is an abbreviation for "Господин", meaning "Mr."
Portuguese	Mr. Game & Watch	—

Trivia

Mr. Game & Watch and Pac-Man.

• Conceptually, Mr. Game & Watch is the only 2D playable character in the Smash Bros. series. However, in the technical sense, he is composed of a 3D model just like all other characters; this model is flattened along one axis to provide the illusion he is 2D. This flattening effect is applied to other characters in 2D stages such as Flat Zone and Pac-Land. The 2D illusion is broken somewhat when Mr. Game & Watch becomes metal, is a false character, or is covered in ink, as his body is no longer featureless and appears to be rounded. This can also occur during certain cinematic Final Smashes, such as Dede-Rush, Triple Wolf, or Supernova.
• Mr. Game & Watch is technically the oldest playable character in the Super Smash Bros. series, having debuted in April 1980 (Pac-Man would debut in Japan a month later).
  • Although the Game & Watch was first released in 1980, Mr. Game & Watch didn't conceptually exist until Super Smash Bros. Melee. This has led to some debate over whether or not Mr. Game & Watch should be considered the same entity as the playable characters from the original Game & Watch handhelds.
    • That said, Mr. Game & Watch, as a character in Smash Bros., is an amalgamation of different Game & Watch titles, so it's likely that he represents the entire Game & Watch brand rather than a specific game. This is further supported in Ultimate, where Mr. Game & Watch, for several of his moves, changes his appearance to resemble the character in the game from which the move originated.
• Mr. Game & Watch and Falco are the only characters who appeared as unlockable in multiple Super Smash Bros. titles to remain as unlockable in both versions of Super Smash Bros. 4.
  • Counting the two versions separately, they, along with Jigglypuff, are also tied for the most unlockable appearances in the series, with five.
• Although Mr. Game & Watch has always been a unique character as opposed to a clone, he incidentally shared all of his attributes - except for his weight, air speed, and air acceleration - with Mario in Melee. The two characters shared their dashing speed, walking speed, falling speed, fast falling speed, traction, and gravity.