Mr. Game & Watch (SSBB)

Mr. Game & Watch in Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Universe	Game & Watch
Other playable appearance	in Melee
Availability	Unlockable
Final Smash	Octopus
Tier	D (15)

Mr. Game & Watch (Mr.ゲーム＆ウォッチ, Misutā Gēmu ando Wotchi) is a character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Mr. Game & Watch was indirectly revealed from a leaked copy of the game. One of the leaked screenshots shows his Final Smash, in which Mr. Game & Watch transforms into an Octopus.

He was officially confirmed on the Smash Bros. DOJO!! website on March 10, 2008 one day after the game came out in the USA.

He is currently ranked as 15th on Brawl’s tier list, which is a huge leap from Melee (where he is currently 22nd, resulting in a rise from Melee's F tier to Brawl's D tier). This is mainly due to how much he benefits from Brawl’s new physics, such as how he cannot be comboed easily anymore. His fast and disjointed tilts and aerials, powerful and quick smash attacks, an occasional OHKO, and Bucket Braking combine to give Mr. Game & Watch many improved gameplay elements. However, Mr. Game & Watch still suffers from slow overall speed and relatively poor approach due to high ending lag from his aerials and an unreliable projectile. Most notably, Mr. Game & Watch has problems dealing with disjointed hitboxes; as most top tiered characters have powerful disjointed hitboxes, such as Snake, Marth and especially Meta Knight, this leads to rather poor matchups against the highest tiered characters, though Mr. Game & Watch does have some average to above-average matchups against other higher tiered characters, and in general, he has impressive matchups against most lower tiered characters in the game, especially a close to unloseable matchup against Jigglypuff.

How to Unlock

In order to unlock Mr. Game & Watch, the player must complete one of the following:

• Fight in 250 Brawls. Defeat him to unlock him.
• Clear Target Smash!! with 30 different characters on any single difficulty level. Mr. Game & Watch must then be fought; defeat him to unlock him.
• Have Mr. Game & Watch join the party in The Subspace Emissary.

Attributes

Mr. Game & Watch packs a punch. In general, his attacks possess favorable hitboxes, low lag, and high knockback; however, his roll and dash attack are rather poor. Many of his attacks can hit multiple times. His erratic, instant movement makes him nearly impossible to predict in nearly anything that isn't his approach. Most of Mr. Game & Watch's tilts follow the pattern of his other attacks, being quick and powerful, while also possessing disjointed hitboxes. He has very powerful smashes, two of them hard to punish if they miss due their hitboxes having long duration, and the down smash is very fast. Additionally, Mr. Game & Watch is able to break projectile camps easily using Oil Panic (although this only works on energy projectiles) or simply ducking underneath most projectiles. Mr. Game & Watch does have a projectile, Chef, but it is somewhat weak and has a random trajectory, which makes it somewhat unreliable. The move Judge is an attack that relies on chance. It can do anything from hurting himself if used more than twice in a match (1) to being a One-Hit KO (9). With his Bucket Braking and directional influence, he can be hard to KO despite being the 2nd lightest character in the game (tied with Squirtle). Being both quick and a small target, Mr. Game & Watch can be difficult to hit.

Mr. Game & Watch in teams

Although Mr. Game & Watch isn't near the top characters in singles, he is usually considered as one of the best characters in teams. Thanks to his planking, excellent recovery, small size and Bucket Braking he can hold stocks very well, and with his low lag, spammable and extremely powerful smashes (even KOing the heaviest characters below 100% uncharged), and if he gets a 9 from Judge, he can KO under 5%. He can also get Oil Panic from certain partners, some allowing to get a near One-hit KO regardless of weight or Directional influence.

Changes from Melee to Brawl

Mr. Game & Watch received a major buff, especially from Brawl’s new physics. Actually, his attacks weren't buffed that much. His down tilt is much weaker but is now a semi-spike. In Melee, it was a powerful vertical launch. His down smash is much easier to sweetspot, and both the sweetspot and sourspot are more powerful. His down aerial is now a Stall-then-Fall, adding to a great aerial game. His down throw now sends opponents to the ground, rather than the air, and can now meteor smash. His neutral aerial has been changed to the Tropical Fish, but its knockback is weaker. Most of his specials have incurred a minor change. On the downside, Mr. Game & Watch's neutral attack is now a trapping move instead of a KO move and his up aerial has a push effect making it more difficult to land a second hit. For Chef, he tosses other foods besides sausage. Oil Panic can now be used to stop all knockback in air, known as Bucket Braking. Oil Panic's maximum damage has been reduced from 200% to 60%. Fire was changed greatly, giving Mr. Game & Watch a parachute to slow his descent, as well as not putting him into helpless mode. His Judge "7" will always generate an apple if it hits while on the ground, regardless of item configuration. In addition, Judge "9" does more damage. He is also slightly larger, and his shield fully covers him.

Other changes are mostly cosmetic. His outline is brighter and thicker, and he has two new costumes (Cyan and Dark Yellow). His edge recovery attack and Judge "9" both make a similar ringing noise to his taunt. He no longer makes a noise when KO'd, except for a Star KO. He has a new victory theme as well. The most significant cosmetic change is that he no longer has to be the very last character unlocked, like he was in Melee.

Moveset

All of Mr. Game & Watch's moves use objects from games in the Game & Watch series, making him the only character to have every single move in his arsenal based on a game he appeared previously before.

Ground Attacks

Normal

• Neutral attack - Greenhouse: Mr. Game & Watch rapidly presses an insecticide pump. 3% for the first hit, 1% for each subsequent hit. Good spamming move and hard to get out of. Low ending lag, this can lead into a grab or tilt attack. First hitbox out on frame 4.
• Dash attack - Helmet: Mr. Game & Watch "slides" his head along the ground while wearing a helmet. Laggy and easy to predict, a long time to finish, though its hitbox has a long duration. Can combo into moves vs fast fallers. 11% damage. Can stage spike if used in the edge, being a effective KO move. Hits on frame 6-29.
• Forward tilt - Lion: Mr. Game & Watch thrusts a chair in front of him, has light potential to KO at very high damages. Some noticeable ending lag. Like his other tilts, it has a hitbox with a long duration. 10% damage. Hits on frame 10-15.
• Down tilt - Manhole: Mr. Game & Watch flips a manhole cover in front of him. A very good move to space, especially against characters with low reach. The manhole lid is actually a 3-D object, unlike any of his other moves, which are all 2D objects. It is no longer a good KO move as it was in Melee, but it does annoy foes and is effective at edgeguarding due to being a semi-spike, having good base knockback, a hitbox with long duration, and very low cooldown. Good for anti-air attack; deals more damage if the opponent is in the air. Does 6% damage to grounded opponents; 9% if the opponent airborne. Has a start-up of 6 frames and it ends on frame 15.
• Up tilt - Flagman: Mr. Game & Watch waves a flag above him. Combos into itself with fast fallers and heavy weights at lower percentages. Usually used into a neutral air or up air otherwise, can even KO at higher %´s. At low percentages, can be used for juggling. 8% damage. Hits on frame 13-21.

Smash

• Forward smash - Fire Attack: Mr. Game & Watch attacks with a lit match. Great base knockback and even greater kockback scaling as well as lasting longer than expected, making it hard to punish. Has a disjointed hitbox at the end of the move causing very low damage but with good knockback. Usually used after down air, down throw, or up air. Its great knockback scaling and diagonal trajectory makes momentum canceling very ineffective against it. It is arguably the best forward smash in the game despite its slow start-up (frame 17), but it has good reach and great knockback, being capable of KOing any character under 100%. Does 18% damage uncharged, 25% fully charged. Though rare, this attack has a sourspot when only the pole hits. This only happens if a character is small enough to stay between the flame and Mr.Game & Watch himself touching only the pole. Deals 14% damage uncharged and 19% damage charged and has slightly less knockback.
• Up smash - Octopus: Mr. Game & Watch's head becomes a diving helmet and bashes the enemy with his head, with the hitbox extending a short ways above the helmet. Has noticeable start-up lag (hits on frame 24-28), but is the third strongest up smash in the game KO percentage wise (only Ivysaur's and Lucas's KO faster) and it has the highest knockback scaling of any up smash in the game. This is usually Mr. Game & Watch's fastest KOing smash attack, depending on the character and stage. Usually used after up aerial or neutral aerial. Very useful for tech chases due to its wide hitbox and good duration. 18% uncharged, 25% fully charged.
• Down smash - Vermin: Mr. Game & Watch takes out two hammers and slams them down on both sides. The handle is the sourspot with less damage and much less power with horizontal knockback. The tip is the sweetspot with very powerful vertical knockback. If sourspotted, this attack is a rather powerful semi-spike and can KO early when on the edge. When sweetspotted, this is one of the most powerful down smashes in the game, being one of the few that can reliably KO under 100%. Very fast IASA, which can surprise people by using it again after a missed one. It is effective at edgeguarding as the semi-spike is powerful and even though the sweetspot has vertical knockback, its great knockback can still KO a recovering opponent. Can combo out of the last hits of neutral aerial and also with down throw vs. anyone who doesn't have a long enough roll and who doesn't tech it. Deals 13% uncharged, 18% fully charged when the handles (sourspot) hit. When the tip (sweetspot) hits, it deals 15% uncharged and 21% fully charged. Has a start-up of 15 frames.

Other

• Floor attack - Vermin 2: Mr. Game & Watch gets out a hammer and slams it in front of him, then behind him. It is very fast. 6% damage
• Ledge attack - Alarm: Mr. Game & Watch climbs up the ledge, then hits the opponent with his alarm bell. 8% damage.
• 100% ledge attack - Alarm 2: Mr. Game & Watch climbs up the ledge, charges, then hits the opponent with his alarm bell; it takes a little longer to execute than Alarm. 10% damage
• Trip attack - Vermin 3: Mr. Game & Watch gets out a hammer and slams it in front of him, then behind him; just like his Floor Attack. 5% damage.

Aerial attacks

• Neutral aerial - Tropical Fish: Two fish will come out of both sides of a bowl, hitting multiple times. The last hit has moderate knockback. If the last hit does not hit, it can combo into other aerials and smashes. Its large hitbox and light vertical knockback allows it to juggle very well. Great shield stabber. Does 17% damage if all hits connect. Has a start-up of 7 frames.
• Up aerial - Spitball Sparky: Mr. Game & Watch raises a pump above him, blowing puffs of air above him twice. It pushes characters above Mr. Game & Watch upwards if they are out of range of being damaged. This can actually push a player out of Ike's Great Aether, and, when high enough, can push opponents above the upper blast line for a Star KO. The wind hitbox can be used to help teammates with their vertical recovery. 7% for first hit, 9% for the second hit, 16% total. Second hit has very high knockback but is very difficult to land due to the wind effect of the first hitbox. First hit on frame 6, second hit on frame 20.
• Forward aerial - Mario Bros.: Mr. Game & Watch takes out a box and attacks with it. The sweetspot is the initial hitbox with very powerful horizontal knockback while the subsequent hitbox is the sourspot with very low knockback. It can do damage regardless of exactly which side of his body the enemy is hit by. Has the greatest KO potential of all his aerials (other than a meteor smashed down aerial) if sweetspotted. Great for edgeguarding and it can WoP opponents at low to mid percentages. It has long landing lag but its aerial ending lag is not as bad. 16% damage, 6% if not sweetspotted. Hits on frame 10-32.
• Back aerial - Turtle Bridge: Mr. Game & Watch takes out a turtle and attacks behind him. Hits multiple times and has great horizontal reach with a large hitbox. 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. Can be DI'd out of though. Its possible to powershield the last hit, but is very difficult to perform. Does 15% worth damage if all hits connect. Has a start-up of 10 frames.
• Down aerial - Donkey Kong Jr.: A Stall-Then-Fall. Mr. Game & Watch takes out a key and slams it downward. This Stall-Then-Fall attack propels Mr. Game & Watch downwards and is a meteor smash if the initial hitbox is landed and sweetspotted. Can be moved left or right a bit. If used while halfway through a thin platform (after hitting down so he falls through it), he will move upwards and land on top of the platform, without the animation changing. 20% damage if opponent is meteor smashed to the ground and is hit by the landing hitbox. 14% for first hit, 6% for the second. 13% if it hits late. Can perform the Stall-Then-Fall Glitch. Can KO at high percentages, being one of the strongest Stall-Then-Fall moves in the game. First hit on frame 12.

Grabs and Throws

Interestingly, the speed at which Mr. Game and Watch juggles his opponent in his throws depends on his foe's weight.

• Pummel - Alarm: Mr. Game & Watch bashes the enemy with his alarm bell, somewhat slowly. 3%
• Forward throw - Ball: Mr. Game & Watch juggles the enemy as a ball and then the enemy is launched forward. 8%
• Up throw - Ball: Mr. Game & Watch juggles the enemy as a ball and then the enemy is launched upward. Only up throw in the game to release opponent at an angle. 8%
• Back throw - Ball: Mr. Game & Watch juggles the enemy as a ball and then the enemy is launched backward. 8%
• Down throw - Ball: Mr. Game & Watch juggles the enemy as a ball and then the enemy is thrown onto the ground. It is a good throw to lead into Mr. G & W's down-smash or up smash if predicting the opponent's roll. Also, if a player uses Mr. G & W's neutral attack right after this grab and immediately grabs the foe again, it can chaingrab, though can be DI'd out of. If done close to the edge, the opponent is meteor smashed. 6%.

Special Moves

Mr. Game & Watch's special moves

Neutral special	Chef
Side special	Judgment	Judge
Up special	Fire
Down special	Oil Panic
Final Smash	—	Octopus

Taunts

• Up: Rings his bell high.
• Down: Jumps once, opening his hands, in a cheery way.
• Side: Rings his bell low. (same as Melee)

Matchups

Super Smash Bros. Brawl Character Matchups

Avg.

Role in Adventure Mode: The Subspace Emissary

The Shadow Bugs trophy description explains that Mr. Game & Watch embodies a limitless supply of Shadow Bugs inside of him, which can be extracted incessantly. Shadow Bugs are a substance which can replicate characters or even create new dark creatures. Tabuu discovered this and captured Mr. Game & Watch in the prologue, using the Shadow Bugs to build the Subspace Army.

Solid Snake, Meta Knight and Lucario enter the Halberd's control room to discover a gang of Mr. Game & Watches are piloting the ship. Snake quickly charges at them and knocks them all out the window. They fall onto the main deck, interrupting Sheik's, Fox's and Princess Peach's unfitting tea party. The clones then revert to Shadow Bugs and form into a giant metal monster called Duon. Snake and Lucario jump down to help, along with Falco who ejects from an Arwing. Once the robot is defeated, the Shadow Bugs float away, leaving behind Mr. Game & Watch's trophy. Fox prepares to shoot it with his blaster, but Peach revives it. Upon being revived, Mr. Game & Watch wonders where he is until Peach scolds him for the trouble he created, causing him to look down in shame. Then Peach gives him her parasol to cheer him up.

At the entrance to Subspace, Mr. Game & Watch, along with the rest of his team, prepares to attack Tabuu, but is effortlessly turned into a trophy by the Off Waves. He is later revived thanks to Luigi, Ness, and King Dedede. After that, he accompanies the heroes through the Great Maze and the showdown with Tabuu.

Mr. Game & Watch in the SSE

It was confirmed on the "DOJO!!" that the reason Mr. Game & Watch was manipulated so easily by Tabuu is that he has no understanding of good or evil, despite the fact that Mr. Game & Watch has shown moral behaviour in many of his games.

Exclusive Stickers

These stickers can only be used by Mr. Game & Watch or a select few including him:

• Chef (Game & Watch): [Specials: Indirect] Attack +25
• Donbe: [Slash] Resistance +26
• Duck: Launch Resistance +20
• Forward Type: [Throwing] Attack +22
• Flag Man: [Specials: Indirect] Attack +4
• Lion: [Specials: Direct] Attack +13
• Vermin: [Weapon] Attack +15
• Wild Gunman: [Specials: Indirect] Attack +5
• Yakuman Player: [Electric] Resistance +28

Costumes

File:Alt-mrgw2.jpg

Mr. Game & Watch's alternate palette swaps

Trivia

• Mr. Game & Watch is the only character who is always 2D in appearance, even in his trophy form. Although Mr. Game & Watch usually appears in 2D, the effect is achieved by flattening a 3D character model. He is also the only character with no textures or shading; he is simply one solid color and outline.
• With Mr. Game & Watch's design originating from characters that first appeared in 1980, he can be considered the "oldest" character in Brawl's roster - which is why he is the first character to be fought in All-Star mode. Interestingly enough, he is the last character to be fought in Melee’s All Star Mode.
• When grabbed and thrown (especially grabs by Snake), Mr. Game & Watch moves smoothly as opposed to his normal frame-by-frame motion. This animation also occurs while Mr. Game & Watch is aiming a Cracker Launcher.
  • The same effect occurs when he is defeated in stamina mode.
• Mr. Game & Watch, R.O.B., Olimar, and Samus are the only characters that never talk or make vocal sounds. He instead makes beeping sounds.
  • As a result, Mr. Game and Watch is the only character who can make noise while affected by the Metal Box.
• When Mr. Game & Watch is grabbed, he's grabbed by his nose.
• Mr. Game & Watch is the only character who doesn't move when charging his smash attacks.
• In The Subspace Emissary, Mr. Game and Watch is the only playable character who didn't have an immediate presentation screen.
• When wearing a badge, it hovers in front of Mr. Game & Watch proving his flattened 3D character model.
• When the black palette of Mr. Game & Watch is used on the underground version of Mushroomy Kingdom, he appears to be dark yellow. Oddly, when in photo mode, the palette changes back to black.
• If Mr. Game & Watch falls asleep, instead of bubbles coming from his mouth, Z's come out.

External links

• Mr. Game & Watch's Smash Bros Dojo!!
• Mr. Game & Watch Character Guide on SWF
• Mr. Game & Watch's hitbox sizes
• Mr. Game & Watch's Moves - History Behind Super Smash Bros. Brawl, by CrappyCaptureDevice