Falco (SSBM)

This article is about Falco's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Melee. For other uses, see Falco Lombardi. Also, for information about the fighter of whom Falco is a clone, see Fox (SSBM).

Falco
Falco Lombardi
Universe	Star Fox
Appears in	SSBM SSBB
Availability	Unlockable
Tier	Top (4)

Falco is a character in Super Smash Bros. Melee who is unlocked by beating the 100-Man Melee mode with any character. He can also be unlocked by playing 300 vs. matches. He is considered a clone of Fox. Top Falco players are notorious for their high levels of technical ability.

He ranks 4th on the current SSBM Tier List due to the fact that he is a clone of Fox, who is first on the current tier list, meaning that they can combo and function in a similar way. There are a lot of developed strategies and combos for Falco, particularly with "Shine" techniques, however he usually shares most of them with Fox, and Fox is superior to him due to Falco being his clone.

Attributes

Falco's play style is said to be very similar to Fox's in Super Smash Bros. He is also known to have the second fastest normal falling speed and the fastest fast falling speed. This means he has resistance to juggling, is hard to hit in the air, and can perform SHFFLs well. On the downside, his recovery is shortened, and he is vulnerable to combos and chaingrabs that work on fast-fallers. Falco's excellent short hop makes him very good at combos and short hop lasers. His short hop lasers prevent most characters from approaching and can increase pressure on the opponent. His reflector not only reflects projectiles, but can also be used for combo opportunities (See shine). Falco also has the highest initial jump, the ability to wall jump, and a very effective spike.

Like Fox, Falco is light weight and has a very poor recovery. Not only does he have the aforementioned fast-falling problem, but also the slowest air speed (along with Fox). Falco's up special (Fire Bird) is very easy to edge-guard, has a lot of start-up lag, and does not go as far as Fox's up special. His side special move (Falco Phantasm) has a long recovery time and is difficult to shorten consistently.

Moveset

Ground moves

Normal

• Neutral attack- Two quick jabs, which can easily L-cancel into eachother, both doing ~4% damage each, and then a series of fast kicks. Each kick does 1% damage.
• Dash attack- Leaps and sticks out his foot. Damage depends on how late the foe is hit, but the highest is around 7% damage.
• Forward tilt- Quickly kicks his foot out. Pretty fast, impressive range for it's speed. 7% damage.
• Down tilt- Swipes his tail in front of him with somewhat short range. However, it is unusually powerful in both damage and knockback. 12% damage.
• Up tilt- Flips his leg behind him. Short range, but incredible combo-ability, very fast, and a great killer at higher damage.8% damage,

Smash attacks

• Forward smash- Flips his body in front and kicks in front of him. Somewhat low knockback for a forward smash, but usually kills around 130%, and damage racking should not be hard for good Falco players. 17% uncharged, 23% fully charged.
• Up smash- Flips his whole body in a 360° spin from his standing point, feet extended, and lands. Falco's version is notably weaker than Fox's. 14% uncharged, 18% fully.
• Down smash- Does a quick split. An excellent killer, if not good for setting up edgeguards, or simply spacing. 16% uncharged,19% fully charged.

Other attacks

• Ledge attack- Throws himself onto the stage with both feet sticking out. 8% damage.
• 100% ledge attack- Slowly gets up and kicks in front. 8% damage.
• Floor attack- Gets up and kicks on his left, then right. 6% damage.

Aerial attacks

• Neutral aerial- Does a simple Sex Kick. Great knockback when it first comes out, and the move comes out quickly, usually out of a short hop. 12% max.
• Back aerial- Kicks behind him. Good for KO-ing, and a great edgeguarder. 15% damage.
• Down aerial- Unlike Fox's D-Air, Falco, who spins around in places at a downwards angle, strongly spikes the foe. Fox's variation is a multi-hitting Drill Kick. This makes Falco's version much better at edgeguarding and KO-ing in general. However, it also causes Falco to fall faster than usual. 13% damage.
• Up aerial- Kicks up and extends his tail afterwards. A two-hit move, first hit does 6%, then 9%.
• Forward aerial- Four kicks in front. Due to the number of kicks, this move has a high duration, and it's very unlikely that all hits will connect; Falco players usually have a short time to react with another jump or recovery. A surprising 27% damage if all hits connect.

Grabs & Throws

• Pummel- Knees foe. 2-3% per pummel.
• Forward throw- Punches foe forward. Not many comboing follow-ups outside of aerial attacks near the edge. 7% damage
• Up aerial- Tosses the foe upwards, which causes 3% damage, and fires 4 very quick shots doing 1% each.
• Back throw- Tosses foe behind, for 3% damage, and fires four quick laser, 1% each.
• Down throw- Picks foe up and slams them to the floor, then zaps them 4 times. Only does 4% damage, though an up-tilt of predicted foe reaction an counter-attack is possible.

Special Moves

Falco's special moves

Neutral special	Blaster
Side special	Falco Phantasm
Up special	Fire Bird
Down special	Reflector
Final Smash	—	Landmaster		Team Star Fox

Taunt

Falco scoffs while spinning into a pose. In the Japanese version, he speaks one of two phrases - one of which translates into "hands off my prey!" (which is heard in English for the first time in Brawl).

Smash Taunt: Falco can do a Star Fox conversation that can only be used on Corneria or Venom by quickly tapping Down on the Control pad. This taunt can only be used once per match.

Matchups

Super Smash Bros. Melee Character Matchups

Avg.

Differences with Fox

• Falco walks and runs slower than Fox but jumps higher and faster (Falco has the highest initial jump in the game).
• Falco is heavier than Fox and will survive longer both horizontally and vertically.
• Falco has a much stronger forward smash but a much weaker up smash than Fox.
• Falco has a stronger forward tilt than Fox but a weaker up tilt than Fox.
• Falco's down tilt is much stronger than Fox's down tilt, being capable of KOing.
• Falco's blaster stuns people and is stronger than Fox's blaster but Falco's blaster is slower (Falco's blaster is the same as Fox's blaster was in the original SSB game.)
• Falco's dair does a single hit and spikes powerfully, Fox's dair does about 10 hits and spikes extremely weakly.
• Falco's back throw doesn't send people that far as well as Fox's back throw but Falco can chain throw easier.
• Falco's forward B is quicker and can meteor smash while Fox's forward B is slower, travels farther, is weaker, and doesn't meteor smash.
• Falco's up B is shorter but stronger than Fox's up B.
• Falco's shine sends people up and can be easier to infinite shine while Fox's shine sends people left-down or right-down, can semi-spike, and you can use it to wall shine opponents.
• Falco's uair has an easier hitbox and is better to do as a combo than Fox's uair but when you get the hit box right with Fox than it can be stronger than Falco's uair

Techniques

SHL/B

SHL/B stands for "Short-Hop Laser/Blaster" and is very disruptive to opponents. In order to do a SHL/B, one must short-hop, fast-fall, and shoot a laser. When fast-falling correctly, there is no lag and the player is free to move about while shooting. A player can send flurries of SHL/Bs while approaching an opponent. This can somewhat substitute Falco's average speed dash, as it is a very fast and effective way to move around due to his fast jump and fall. SHL/B is considered to be the best approach tactic in the game and one of the most annoying moves in the game. It is imperative that Falco players learn to SHL/B since it is Falco's main method of opening up opponents' defenses.

Pillaring

See pillaring

Waveshining

See Waveshine

Offense

Falco's ADA (also known as the Quailbird) is one of the best Spikes in the game, and can usually kill at around 50%. His Up Tilt can be used to start combos. His Down Tilt can usually kill at high percentages. His Fsmash is fast, comboable into from a laser and kills at pretty low percentages. His ABA is also considered a Sex Kick.

A basic combo of Falco's is grabbing the opponent, throwing them down, IMMEDIATELY shining them and chasing them upward for a spike. You can do this several times to build up damage, forcing them near the edge, and spiking them a final time. This combo is a guaranteed kill around 100% or 110%. It works on nearly every character except other space animals (although with C. Falcon it is imperative to SHL or SHFFL the down aerial), but does not work as well on floaters or lightweights.

Like Fox, Falco can down throw an opponent at the very edge of a stage which can't normally be passed through, and the lasers from the throw send the opponent down extremely quickly. It is almost impossible to meteor cancel it or recover from it at any percent, due to the speed. This tactic will only work if Falco is facing inward when he is on the edge.

Costume Gallery

File:Alt-falco.jpg

Falco's changeable clothing in SSBM

Trivia

• One may say Falco's blue costume, looks abit like white.