This article is about Yoshi's appearance in Super Smash Bros. 4. For the character in other contexts, see Yoshi.
Yoshi
in Super Smash Bros. 4
Yoshi
YoshiSymbol.svg
Universe Yoshi
Other playable appearances in SSB
in Melee
in Brawl
Availability Starter
Final Smash Super Dragon
Tier D (23)
Yoshi (SSB4)
Yoshi Rolls into Battle!
—Introduction Tagline

Yoshi (ヨッシー, Yoshi) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. 4. His return to the series was confirmed during the April 8th, 2014 Super Smash Bros. Direct, making him the last of the "perfect-attendance crew" to be announced. Additionally, he was among the first wave of amiibo figures. Yoshi is once again voiced by Kazumi Totaka, whose voice clips were reused from earlier installments of Super Smash Bros., and every other game Yoshi spoke in since Yoshi's Story.

Yoshi is ranked 23rd out of 58 on the tier list, placing him in the top of the D tier. This is a vast improvement from his placement in Brawl, where he was ranked 27th out of 38. Yoshi sports a healthy mix of speed and power, as well as impressive aerial mobility for a heavyweight. He boasts the fastest air speed in the game and possesses a double jump which not only grants the most distance, but also has armor, making him difficult to contend with in the air. Another of Yoshi's greatest assets is his Egg Throw, an effective and versatile projectile that grants decent horizontal recovery distance, mindgame potential when b-reversed multiple times and, for the first time in the series, grants a slight amount of vertical recovery distance.

However, Yoshi's grab game is poor due to his grabs being laggy and his throws having little to no utility. His rolls and sidesteps are short-distanced and are among the slowest in the game, making him susceptible to pressure should the opponent close the gap between them. Lastly, Yoshi has very minimal vertical recovery outside of his double jump, making him vulnerable to gimping.

Attributes

As in previous installments, Yoshi is a heavyweight that slightly deviates from his weight class' archetype. He possesses average walking speed and air acceleration, a fast dashing speed, the fastest air speed, below average gravity and among the slowest falling speed and lowest traction ratings. These traits give him excellent aerial mobility and great ground mobility, without making him frail or susceptible to juggling. Additionally, he has the ability to crawl.

Yoshi's greatest strength is the utility of his moves. His neutral and tilt attacks are all very fast, leaving him exposed for very small amounts of time. They additionally send opponents either vertically or horizontally, allowing follow-ups or edgeguarding opportunities. His dash attack has decent knockback and a lot of momentum, allowing easy cross-ups and making it tricky to punish. His smash attacks possess decent speed and high power while not lacking in range either. His down smash is, like down tilt, a semi-spike, making it very good at both edgeguarding and KOing. His aerial game is also versatile and benefits a lot from Yoshi's stats. His neutral aerial has a lasting hitbox and comes out very quickly (on frame 3), making it great at breaking combos and juggles. His forward aerial can either meteor smash or send opponents diagonally with high knockback, and is capable of autocanceling in a short hop. His up aerial is his strongest aerial and can easily KO opponents vertically, complimented by its long range. His back aerial is excellent at edgeguarding, because the first two hits launch opponents at the auto-link angle and the third hit has high base knockback. Finally, his renowned down aerial is the most damaging aerial in the game, dealing up to 32%, making it excellent for both damage racking and pressuring shields.

His special moveset is also very useful. Egg Lay immobilizes opponents and allows for free hits. If opponents don't break out of the egg while near the edge, they will also be KO'd or unable to recover. Egg Roll can be used instead of dashing as a retreating option and deal some damage in the process. Egg Throw gives Yoshi a dependable projectile that can be used to stop approaches, let Yoshi close in on the opponent and, when in the air and continuously b-reversed, trick the other player as to where Yoshi is going to go next. Lastly, Yoshi Bomb can be used out of shield, as a surprise KO move, or as an alternative to fast falling.

However, Yoshi has noticeable weaknesses. His main weakness is his vertical recovery. While his stats alone allow for long horizontal recovery, his Egg Throw gives minimal vertical distance. Even though he has the highest midair jump with a certain amount of launch resistance, he is overly reliant on it to recover, and has no hope of doing so if he's hit out of it. This makes him heavily susceptible to meteor smashes and footstool jumps. Another weakness is his poor grab game. His grabs, despite having good ranges, have moderate start-up and high ending lag, making them very punishable if missed. His pummel is the only positive trait of his grab game, being quick and decently damaging. His forward and back throws are his fastest and strongest throws, but they cannot KO until 270% and have only three follow-ups (dash attack, up smash and forward aerial), with none of them being guaranteed. His down throw is too slow and its base knockback is too high to combo effectively. Lastly, his up throw is too weak to KO even well over 350%, too strong to combo, and too slow to pressure. Finally, his ability to escape pressure is limited, since his rolls do not grant much distance and, along with his sidestep, are among the slowest in the game.

Yoshi can gain noticeable benefits from his custom moves. Lick can act as a potential KO move, since it has unusually high knockback for a special move. Egg Launch deals more damage and can throw opponents offstage, minimizing their chances of recovering and giving Yoshi some space. Heavy Egg Roll is slower, but deals much more damage and has launch resistance throughout. Light Egg Roll has more power and moves higher and faster, but ends after the bounce. High Jump gives more distance, improving vertical and horizontal recovery, at the cost of not throwing eggs. Star Bomb has less power, but the stars are larger and more damaging. Crushing Bomb is slower and has no stars, making it easily punishable, but has much more power, KOing as low as 80%.

Overall, Yoshi is a balanced character. While his weaknesses are easily exploitable, he has no real problem dealing with any opponents.

Changes from Brawl

Yoshi has been significantly buffed in the transition from Brawl to SSB4. Many of his attacks have more speed and utility in addition to improving his combo game. He also has less trouble KOing with some of his attacks thanks to his new KO set-ups and his KOing options having been strengthened. Yoshi can now jump out of shield, removing his main weakness in Brawl. However, Yoshi received sizable nerfs to his damage racking ability. Many of his attacks also deal less damage, most of his aerials have higher landing lag and he can no longer perform his powerful air release chain grab. In addition, his fastest grab (pivot grab) has more ending lag. Despite these nerfs, Yoshi's buffs have had a significantly greater impact, leading to him being a better character than in Brawl.

Aesthetics

  •   Yoshi looks more cartoonish and his body has been somewhat re-proportioned, making him better resemble his appearances in the latest Mario and Yoshi games. To further keep in-line with the more vibrant aesthetics in SSB4, his overall color scheme is now noticeably brighter compared to the much darker and more reserved color scheme he had in Brawl.
  •   Like Bowser, Yoshi's posture is more erect and he has a more "battle ready" stance after having stood hunched over like a dinosaur in previous installments. This is translated into his moveset, be it through a tweaked animation or a completely new move.
  •   Yoshi's straighter pose also adjusts his hurtbox, resulting in its shape becoming less awkward. However, he will revert to his previous hunched standing animation from Brawl if he holds a small item, which curiously includes his previous idle poses as well.
  •   The eggs formed with Yoshi's on-screen appearance, shield, Egg Throw, Egg Lay and Egg Roll now match his selected color. However, a Yoshi swallowed by Kirby's copied Egg Lay will be trapped in an egg featuring his own selected color.

Attributes

  •   Yoshi is lighter (107 → 104), which hinders his endurance, but makes him less susceptible to combos.
  •   Yoshi dashes faster (1.68 → 1.86).
  •   Yoshi's air speed is slower (1.316 → 1.28). Despite this, his air speed is still the fastest in the game, barring a fully Limit Charged Cloud hindering his recovery.
  •   Yoshi is able to jump out of shield for the first time since Super Smash Bros. His shield drop is also significantly faster (17 frames → 7), now matching the rest of the cast's. This significantly improves its defensive potential and his ability to deal with pressure.
  •   Double jump now decelerates after starting at full speed.

Ground attacks

  •   Neutral attack deals 2% less damage (9% → 7%).
  •   Neutral attack's first hit has improved set-up potential.
  •   All tilt attacks deal less damage (8%/9%/10% → 8%/7% (forward), 11%/10% → 7% (up), 10%/5% → 5%/4% (down)).
  •   Forward and down tilts are faster.
  •   Yoshi has a new dash attack, a running side kick. It has more range, less lag, and a longer slide afterward compared to the previous dash attack.
  •   All smash attacks deal less damage (16% → 15%/14%/13% (forward), 16% → 14% (up), 14%/13% → 12%/10% (down)).
  •   Yoshi has a new up smash, a backflip kick. It has more knockback (23 (base)/83 (growth) → 37/95) and less ending lag compared to the previous up smash.
  •   Up smash covers significantly less range behind Yoshi compared to the previous up smash.
  •   Sweetspotted down smash has increased knockback (30 (base)/53 (growth) → 40/81), significantly improving its KO potential.

Aerial attacks

  •   All aerial attacks deal less damage (12%/9%/6% → 10%/7%/5% (neutral), 16%/15% → 15%/14% (forward), 14% → 10% (back), 13% → 12% (up) and 35% → 32% (down)). However, neutral, back and down aerials had their knockback compensated.
  •   Neutral, forward and back aerials have higher landing lag (9 frames → 11 (neutral), 16 frames → 17 (forward), 9 frames → 19 (back)).
  •   Forward aerial is faster and is active longer (frames 19-21 → 16-20).
  •   Back aerial deals 4% less damage (14% → 10%) due to consisting of three hits instead of four.
  •   Back aerial's hits connect together better.
  •   Back aerial's damage was adjusted, but its total damage remains the same (4% → 2.5% (hit 1), 3% → 2.5% (hit 2), 3% → 5% (hit 3)).
  •   Back aerial's animation has slightly changed. Its last hit is now more accentuated.
  •   Down aerial's animation is significantly faster and the increased shieldstun as of update 1.1.1 improves its shield pressuring potential. Its last hit now hits grounded opponents horizontally, improving its safety against on grounded, non-shielding opponents.
  •   Down aerial's last hit launches aerial opponents upward, removing its meteor smashing potential.

Throws/other attacks

  •   Fixed a glitch where opponents could escape from the tip of Yoshi's tongue during his grab and before they enter his mouth, resulting in a game crash.
  •   The removal of chain grabbing removes Yoshi's air release chain grab, hindering his grab game.
  •   Pivot grab has increased ending lag.
  •   Front and back floor attacks deal 1% more damage (6% → 7%).

Special moves

  •   Egg Roll no longer renders Yoshi helpless, improving its safety. Yoshi can now jump during Egg Roll, improving its approach.
  •   Egg Throw deals 3% less damage (9% → 6%) and travels less distance. Yoshi can also no longer edge cancel Egg Throw.
  •   Egg Throw is slightly faster. Yoshi also no longer loses horizontal momentum while performing Egg Throw, improving its horizontal recovery potential and granting it approach and combo potentials.
  •   Egg Throw's animation has been slightly changed. A small rainbow trailing is emitted behind the egg when Yoshi throws it.
  •   Aerial Yoshi Bomb has increased base knockback (55 → 70), restoring its KO potential.
  •   Yoshi no longer vocalizes when performing Yoshi Bomb.
  •   Super Dragon deals less damage overall. Its duration has also been noticeably decreased.
  •   Super Dragon's Fireball deals 1% more damage (17% → 18%) and passes through multiple opponents.

Update history

Game updates have brought Yoshi a few slight buffs and nerfs. These include an increased to the start-up lag of Egg Lay in update 1.0.4 and his forward smash's range being decreased in update 1.0.6. However, he has also obtained a few buffs that help compensate. Yoshi also benefits from the changes to shield mechanics brought about by updates 1.1.0 and 1.1.1, which allow his down aerial and Yoshi Bomb to wear down shields much better.

  1.0.4

  •   Fixed a glitch that allowed Yoshi to perform a much higher High Jump immediately after using Yoshi Bomb.
  •   Fixed a glitch that allowed Yoshi to teleport back to an edge after using his up special.
  •   Fixed a glitch that allowed Yoshi to make characters grow to gigantic sizes in Multi-Man mode after repeatedly using Egg Lay.
  •   Using Yoshi Bomb on slopes no longer allows Yoshi to slide on them.
  •   Egg Lay's start-up lag increased.
  •   Dash attack's ending lag increased.
  •   In certain situations, Yoshi has gained 5 frames of partial intangibility.

  1.0.6

  •   Part of forward smash has been made irreversible.
  •   Forward smash's body hitbox's size decreased: 3.1u → 2.9u. This hinders its range, particularly behind Yoshi.
  •   Upward angled forward tilt's start-up lag decreased: frame 6 → 5. This matches its other angles' start-up lag.
  •   Edge attack's ending lag decreased.

  1.1.0

  •   Back aerial's SDI multipliers decreased: 1x → 0.5x and its angle altered
  •   Back aerial stops autocanceling earlier: frame 11 → 6.
  •   Fixed a glitch that allowed Yoshi to grab an edge as long as he used Yoshi Bomb while being very close to it and the control stick was tilted upward or toward the stage.

  1.1.1

  •   High Jump's ending lag decreased.
  •   Edge attack's shield damage increased: 0 → 1.

  1.1.4

  •   Trip invincibility and all trip followups except floor attack have one less frame of invincibility.


Moveset

  Name Damage Description
Neutral attack   3% Two alternating kicks. The first hit can act as a set-up into a KOing option, such as a down smash, while the second hit can act as a set-up into a dash attack or a dash grab at low percentages.
4%
Forward tilt   8% Spins and swipes opponents with his tail. It is very quick and can be angled, but lacks range, making it an ideal out of shield option.
7%
8%
Up tilt   7% Crouches down and flicks his tail upward. A good combo starter, such as into a short hopped up aerial.
Down tilt   5% (base), 4.5% (mid), 4% (tip) Crouches and sweeps his tail forward. It is a semi-spike, but deals low knockback, making it useful for interrupting an opponent attempting to grab the edge.
Dash attack   9% (clean), 6% (late) A running side kick. It has a long-lasting hitbox, which makes it capable for punishing and hitting rolls or techs.
Forward smash   13% (tip), 15.5% (nose), 14% (body) A headbutt. It deals strong knockback and can be angled, but has quite a bit of ending lag.
Up smash   14% (clean), 12% (late) A backflip kick, similar to Fox's up smash. It deals strong knockback and can hit opponents behind him, such as immediately after using Egg Lay, but has quite a bit of ending lag.
Down smash   12% (tail), 10% (body) Quickly swipes his tail forward and then then backward. It is a semi-spike like his down tilt, but has much stronger knockback, which makes it capable of KOing and useful for setting up an edgeguard. It is also useful for countering rolls.
Neutral aerial   10% (clean), 7% (mid), 5% (late) A flying kick. It is a standard sex kick, the size of Yoshi's foot is larger during the attack to indicate an extended reach. Useful for spacing, particularly as an out of shield option, and is a decent off-stage edgeguarding option.
Forward aerial   15% (body), 14% (head) Rears his head back and performs a downward headbutt. It can meteor smash if spaced properly, but also deals respectable knockback otherwise. It has a slightly tweaked animation in that Yoshi now bends his head to the side while performing the attack. Capable of autocanceling from a short hop.
Back aerial   2.5% (hits 1-2), 5% (hit 3) Rapidly wags his tail to repeatedly swat the opponent. Its first two hits launch at the auto-link angle and its third hit deals high base knockback, making it a great edgeguarding option.
Up aerial   12% Somersaults and flicks his tail upward. One of Yoshi's most useful moves overall due to its speed and disjointed hitbox. It can combo or juggle at low to medium percentages and KO super heavyweights like Bowser around 130% when near the upper blast line.
Down aerial   3% (hits 1-6 center), 2% (hits 1-6 sides), 2.2% (hits 7-13 center), 1.5% (hits 7-13 sides), 1% (hit 14), 1% (landing) A Flutter Jump-style series of kicks. The last kick is able to hit opponents horizontally, improving its range against on grounded opponents. The most damaging aerial in the game and a very useful tool for pressuring shields.
Grab   Uses his tongue to grab an opponent and pull them into his mouth. His dash grab cause him to trip if he does not grab the opponent. Despite its appearance, Yoshi's tongue is not a tether, though its range and lag are between tethers and normal grabs.
Pummel   2% Chews on the opponent.
Forward throw   7% Spits the opponent forward. It has very minimal set-up potential, as its only follow-up is a forward aerial when throwing the opponent off-stage, although this is largely situational.
Back throw   7% Spits the opponent backward. It has no utility outside of dealing damage.
Up throw   5% Spits the opponent upward. Like back throw, it has no utility outside of dealing damage.
Down throw   4% Spits the opponent into the ground. It has very minimal set-up potential, as its only follow-up is an up aerial, although this requires a proper read.
Forward roll
Back roll
Spot dodge
Air dodge
Techs
Floor attack (front)
Floor getups (front)
  7% Spins around and swipes his tail around himself.
Floor attack (back)
Floor getups (back)
  7%
Floor attack (trip)
Floor getups (trip)
  5%
Edge attack
Edge getups
  7% Swipes his tail inward after climbing up.
Neutral special Default Egg Lay 7% Swallows the opponent and encases them into an egg. When encased in an egg, the opponent receives less damage and can button mash in order to break free, but they are completely immobile and vulnerable to Yoshi's attacks while trapped. They also stay trapped longer the more damaged they are.
Custom 1 Lick 10% Pokes the opponent with his tongue, making it comparable to how Egg Lay functioned in The Subspace Emissary. Deals more damage and decent knockback, enabling it to KO under 150%.
Custom 2 Egg Launch 10% Deals more damage and the egg laid is fired backward, which gives it spacing potential. However, the egg is much easier to break out of.
Side special Default Egg Roll 4%+speed Seals himself inside an egg and rolls around, barreling through opponents to attack. While he can jump, the move only does damage while on the ground.
Custom 1 Heavy Egg Roll 4%+speed The roll is significantly slower, but also significantly stronger and grants super armor.
Custom 2 Light Egg Roll 4%+speed The roll is considerably stronger and faster, but bounces once and breaks on the second bounce.
Up special Default Egg Throw 1% (contact), 5% (explosion) Throws an egg in a controllable, parabolic arc. When used in midair, it gives Yoshi a small boost upward, which gets weaker and weaker with each consecutive use. A very versatile projectile.
Custom 1 High Jump The jump is considerably higher, but no eggs are thrown.
Custom 2 Timed Egg Throw 9% Eggs are stronger when they explode, but travel harmlessly through enemies instead of exploding on contact. It also grants no vertical boost when performed in midair, making it comparable to how Egg Throw functioned in Super Smash Bros. and Melee.
Down special Default Yoshi Bomb 4% (hop), 15% (grounded drop), 12% (aerial drop), 4% (stars) A Ground Pound, which produces damaging stars in front and behind him when he lands. Deals bonus damage to shields and is almost able to destroy a full shield when all parts of the grounded version connect.
Custom 1 Star Bomb 3% (hop), 4% (drop), 8%/6%/4% (stars) The Ground Pound deals less damage and knockback, but the stars it produces are larger and deal more damage.
Custom 2 Crushing Bomb 5% (hop), 18% (drop) The Ground Pound deals more damage and knockback, but it is slower and produces no stars.
Final Smash Super Dragon 3% (contact), 6%/4%/3% (fire breath), 18%/14%/12% (fireball) Sprouts a pair of angelic wings and gains the ability to breathe fire. While transformed, Yoshi can shoot large fireballs with the attack button, and can breathe a continuous stream of flames by staying idle. Lastly, Yoshi can make use of his newfound power of flight and invincibility to charge into rivals, but taking damage reduces the amount of time he stays transformed, as with most other transformation-based Final Smashes.

On-screen appearance

 

Taunts

  • Up taunt: Dances around in a circle and says "Yoshi!" upon finishing.
  • Side taunt: Chases his tail, then briefly pauses to stare at it.
  • Down taunt: Looks towards the screen and jumps excitedly up and down with his arms flailing, saying "Yoshi! Yoshi!" This taunt originates from Super Smash Bros.
Up taunt Side taunt Down taunt
     

Idle poses

  • Does a short dance.
  • Looks around.
   

Crowd cheer

English Japanese
Cheer
Description Yo-shi! Yo-shi! *claps 3 times*
Pitch Group chant Female

Victory poses

A flourished remix directly from Brawl based on the beginning of the title theme in Yoshi's Story.
  • Punches the air, then strikes a pose with his arms outstretched. This is his "character chosen" animation from Super Smash Bros.
  • Looks up at the sky with his hands together, spins once, and strikes the V sign.
  • Angrily performs two alternating punches and then turns his back to the screen, facing right. This is likely a humorous reference to Akuma's Raging Demon (瞬獄殺, Blinking Prison Killer) from Street Fighter, which has an identical ending pose (or perhaps one of his normal victory poses).
     

Victory Fanfare

In competitive play

Official Custom Moveset Project

Character Custom sets available
  Yoshi 3111 2111 1311 1211 3211
3311 2211 2311 2113 3112

Notable players

Trophies

Yoshi
  As dependable a partner as one could hope for, Yoshi often aids Mario in his adventures. Yoshi can swallow just about anything and make an egg of it instantly. He's got some serious airborne power, making launching opponents skyward and then following up with more attacks a wise choice.
  They say man's best friends is a dog, but Mario's may well be Yoshi. He lives on Yoshi's Island, and can swallow up just about anything, then lay it as an egg. In this game, jumping is his forte - he can leap really high, then quickly land again, making chasing after launched opponents and getting in sneaky follow-up strikes easy.
 : Super Mario World (08/1991)
 : Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (10/1995)
Yoshi (Alt.)
  Yoshi's up special move Egg Throw is a projectile attack that travels farther the longer the button is held. Yoshi will also rise a bit if this move is used in midair. The side special Egg Roll turns Yoshi into a rolling, damaging egg. Yoshi won't roll off an edge if no directions are pressed.
  When you use the Egg Throw up special, how far Yoshi throws the egg depends on how long you hold the button. In mid-air, the move also makes him rise a bit. Egg Roll, a side special, sends him rolling inside an egg. If you don't control him while he's rolling, he'll stop just before he rolls off the edge of a platform.
 : Super Mario World (08/1991)
 : Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (10/1995)
Super Dragon
  Wings sprout from Yoshi's back and he transforms into a super-cool dragon! While transformed, Yoshi is invincible and will constantly breathe fire. He can also ram into foes and shoot fireballs at them. The fireballs are great for launching foes and most powerful when used at close range.
  A pair of wings appear on Yoshi's back, turning him into an angelic dragon. While the Final Smash is active, he can fly freely through the air, and is invincible to boot. He constantly breathes fire, can ram into opponents, and can also shoot fireballs that deal a lot of damage and have great launching power, especially at close range.

In Event Matches

Solo Events

Co-op Events

Alternate costumes

  • The eggs Yoshi creates now match the respective alternate costume.
 
               

Gallery

Trivia

  • Yoshi is the only member of "The Original 8" to not be revealed at E3 2013 and the last one to be revealed overall.
  • Yoshi is the only non-DLC veteran that is not an alternate form or part of a set to have splash art and an introduction tagline accompany his reveal.
  • Yoshi is the only member of "The Original 8" and one of the only three members of "The Original 12" to be absent from non-DLC posters containing newcomers, the other two being Ness and Jigglypuff, except they do not appear in any poster art.
    • The only poster he is shown in is the one for Bayonetta.
  • Even though Yoshi does not vocalize the Yoshi Bomb anymore, he still has the sound effect for it in the Sound Test.
  • This is the first game where Yoshi receives new alternate costumes under normal circumstances.
  • Yoshi, Captain Falcon, and Jigglypuff are the only characters to use voice clips from all four Super Smash Bros. installments.
  • Yoshi is the only returning character who can no longer enter helplessness through any of his special moves in the transition to SSB4.