List of flaws in artificial intelligence (SSBB)

The following is a list of flaws in the artificial intelligence of Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

General

Category	Description	Character
Attack choices	When dashing a long distance towards the player, CPUs often attack them with a basic dash attack, rarely using dash grabs or aerial attacks instead, making their approach easy to punish. Similarly, they tend to grab when starting to walk close to the player.	All
	When at a moderate distance from a foe, most CPUs often jump before shooting projectiles, even if these are fired in a straight horizontal trajectory, such as Blaster or Charge Shot, causing them to miss if the foe just stays on the ground.	All
	CPUs that launch an opponent upwards will just stay on the ground waiting for them to come down, spamming up tilts and up smashes as they get near, which can be easily dodged, even when going airborne and responding with aerials is a better option.	All
	When the player and a CPU with a chargeable projectile are on opposite sides of a stage, the CPU often charges and fires it constantly regardless of whether the player can absorb or reflect it.	All
	CPUs have generally poor edgeguarding abilities, simply standing on the edge of the stage and spamming weak projectiles such as Mario's Fireball instead of attacking offstage, while rarely taking advantage to do the same with characters that have stronger and more optimal projectiles for edgeguarding, such as Samus. Only a few AI-controlled characters, mostly those with multiple midair jumps such as Kirby, leave the stage to intercept a recovery with an attack, normally a meteor smash (down aerial in Kirby's case). Other characters with meteor smashes only use them if they were previously away from the stage, and simply stand on the edge waiting for the player if they don't have any projectiles.	All
Recovery	CPUs never avoid or fight off edgeguarders during their recovery, making them much easier to KO than human players.	All
	While CPUs in Melee could meteor cancel to a moderate degree, CPUs never meteor cancel in Brawl, sustaining a meteor smash's full knockback before attempting recovery. This results in meteor smashes KOing CPUs at much lower percentages than they can KO human players.	All
	CPU Luigi never uses Luigi Cyclone to recover, and never rises with the move in any other situation.
	A CPU Peach going over the stage with Peach Parasol will constantly cancel and reinitiate the move if a player is nearby, instead of simply falling all the way down or grabbing a ledge, leaving herself open to punishes.
	CPU Diddy Kong, Zelda and Lucario use their up specials after their midair jump to recover even when above ground level, without aiming for a ledge in the case of the latter two, leaving themselves open to powerful attacks as they land on the stage.
	CPU Yoshi never uses Egg Throw to recover.
	CPU Kirby at high levels recovering while above ground level always uses a forward aerial after each of his midair jumps until he gets back to the stage; while this makes him the only CPU to actually attack edgeguarders, the whole process still eventually becomes easy to predict and counter.
	CPU Meta Knight never uses Mach Tornado nor Drill Rush to recover, and often uses Dimensional Cape to recover instead of Meta Knight's other superior recovery options.
	When using their up specials during recovery while above ground level, CPU Fox and Falco will aim for nearby onstage foes instead of a safe ledge, leaving themselves easily punishable.
	CPU Ness and Lucas always hit themselves with PK Thunder in the same upward diagonal trajectory when recovering, even if using such a trajectory results in them failing to make it back to the stage while a more desirable trajectory would have allowed them to recover successfully. This is especially noticeable on Final Destination, as Ness will often not make it back to the stage when using PK Thunder to recover (when recovery is possible), while a Lucas will often launch himself underneath the stage's lips. CPU Lucas also never uses his grab aerial for recovery.
	CPU Ice Climbers never use Squall Hammer to recover even when their partner has been KO'd, guaranteeing a failed recovery if their midair jump doesn't make it back to the stage.
	CPU Ike doesn't use Aether unless he is directly underneath a ledge. This can cause him to get KO'd without trying to recover, or waiting too late to use Aether and failing a recovery that was possible. CPU Snake exhibits similar behavior using Cypher, often choosing to use it too late and getting KO'd.
	After CPU Mr. Game & Watch fails to recover with Fire, he repeatedly uses Judge until the bottom blast line is crossed. While not necessarily problematic, there are instances where if a CPU Mr. Game & Watch reaches the apex of Fire and ends up short of the stage but in distance of reaching the ledge, the CPU will decide to use Judge too soon, causing him to miss the ledge and get KO'd.
	CPU R.O.B. never attacks or air dodges after using Robo Burner until he reaches the ground, grabs a ledge, or is hit by an attack.
Shielding & Dodging	After a CPU KOs a player, while the player has invincibility frames after respawning, the CPU always runs away and jumps onto a platform if there is one nearby, fleeing to others if the player comes near, without trying to dodge any attacks. On stages without platforms like Final Destination, CPUs instead constantly roll towards the nearest edge, even when jumping or sidestepping are better options to dodge foes, making them predictable and punishable.	All
Shielding & Dodging	High-level CPUs almost always air dodge as soon as possible when launched in tumbling state, which can be easily exploited to get followups.	All
Other	When the player grabs a ledge, CPUs will stand still at a distance away from the ledge for some seconds before pursuing the ledge hanging player, doing so even after their invincibility wears off.	All
	When a CPU, regardless of level, is hit near the upper blast line while above an elevated platform, it will fall straight down until reaching the ground after knockback is finished, while making no attempt to dodge or counterattack a pursuing player.^[1]	All
	When hit by an electric hitbox, a CPU may randomly DI up or down, more often DIing down, which can result in instances of an attack with an electric hitbox KOing them when the computer player would have survived otherwise.	All
	When grabbing edges, CPUs frequently choose to jump from them, instead of using other options like getting up with a roll or edge hopping, causing them to be easily punishable.	All
	CPUs never attempt to edgehog if they're on the stage; they never leave the stage to grab a ledge to prevent another character from grabbing it. They do, however, remain on a ledge if a recovering character is also trying to grab it, but only if the CPU in question was attempting to recover as well.	All
	When afflicted by Snake's down throw near an edge, CPUs will always roll toward the nearest edge the instant they can make a move, regardless of their level. This allows Snake to infinitely grab and use the throw on them, and get an easy KO afterwards.^[2] If the throw is done in a soft platform without grabbable edges, CPUs will instead always use a floor recovery attack, also leaving them open for another grab.	All
	CPUs floored by Ganondorf's Flame Choke always linger on the ground for some time before getting up, instead of acting the soonest they can, allowing Ganondorf to get an easy hit on them.	All
	CPUs ignore when Team Attack is on, carelessly using powerful moves like smash attacks even if there are teammates with high damage near them, thus KOing them. When accidentally grabbing teammates, they will also still pummel and throw them.	All

Character Specific

Character	Description
	CPU Bowser and Charizard never hold Fire Breath and Flamethrower (respectively) beyond their initial length. Additionally, they tend to B-reverse these moves when used after a jump even if the foe is in front of them, rendering them ineffective and making it easy to punish them.
	CPU Diddy Kong never attempts to pick up his Banana Peels, even when he intentionally spawns them.
	CPU Ganondorf often attempts to edgeguard foes with his Warlock Punch, even when said move is extremely slow and thus impractical for edgeguarding, as the player can simply go above Ganondorf, or grab the ledge and hit him out of it.
	CPU Zero Suit Samus never picks up her Power Suit Pieces intentionally.
	CPU Pikachu tends to spam Thunder on the edge of the stage when the player is recovering, even when such a tactic is ineffective for edgeguarding, as the player can just grab the ledge from a safe position or hit Pikachu out of the move.
	When the player stays away from them for a long time, CPU Ness and Lucas will try to attack with PK Thunder 2, leaving them extremely vulnerable.
	CPU Ice Climbers and Ike often buffer their down aerials near a ledge, also fastfalling in the case of Ike, leading to them self-destructing.
	CPU Marth often uses Dancing Blade to attack the player at close distance, also using it most of the time after a short hop when approaching.
	CPU Marth tends to charge Shield Breaker on the edge of the stage to edgeguard players, even though the move can be easily avoided and interrupted.
	CPU Captain Falcon often uses Falcon Punch at inappropiate moments, such as when approaching or at a close distance from a hostile player, leaving himself open to powerful punishes. At first, this caused many players to believe he could be "taught" to spam the move. He also uses it in an attempt to edgeguard foes in the same way CPU Ganondorf does, which can be easily avoided.
	CPU R.O.B. tends to use Gyro while a disc is still out, even though it cannot use it until the disc fades away.
	When a CPU Snake sticks a C4 on an opponent, he always runs a small distance away and uses Cypher, then detonates the C4 after. This makes him extremely vulnerable, predictable, and punishable. If attacked out of the Cypher, he simply runs away a short distance and then detonates the C4.
	CPU Sonic spams Spin Dash to approach the player from far distances.
	Marth and Lucario tend to use their counterattack moves randomly rather than at strategic moments.

Item Related

Item	Description
	After a CPU Luigi uses Negative Zone, he will spam Fireball until the move ends, regardless of his level. CPU Pit exhibits the same behavior with Palutena's Arrow, spamming it during the effects of Palutena's Army.
	CPU Diddy Kong, Yoshi and Sonic using their Final Smashes have a tendency to behave rather eccentrically: They will mostly avoid pursuing players who are hanging onto ledges or in hard to reach areas. They may get stuck against a wall while chasing human players, and stay there until the effect ends (unless the player(s) they are pursuing jumps or moves to another area). Occasionally, they will manage to get off of the wall on their own and continue the chase. They may stand still if the player is not within easy reach. Whenever they do this, they will only move if the player does. They may even stand still when on top of slippery or fragile platforms.
	CPU Fox, Falco and Wolf at low levels mostly self-destruct when using Landmaster, especially if the target is hanging on a ledge. At high levels, they instead stay in place and repeatedly perform barrel rolls against opponents grabbing the ledge, which can be easily avoided by planking. Additionally, they will never attempt to Star KO enemies above them by rising, only doing so accidentally when rising on small stages like Flat Zone 2.
	CPUs with a Gooey Bomb or C4 stuck on them repeatedly shield and dodge until they fall off or explode.
	Despite their better recognition of items, CPUs still experience several flaws when using the Hammer as in Melee: They still tend to accidentally fall offstage when trying to attack a foe near a ledge and, when on an elevated platform, jump continuously in place even if the obstacle can be jumped over. They still chase foes when using a Headless Hammer or Golden Squeaky Hammer, and try to avoid players with such Hammers instead of attacking them.^[3]
	CPUs exhibit several problems when using a Cracker Launcher: They usually don't turn around while holding the item, and don't drop the item if it still has ammo. Additionally, if their targeted player is not directly in front of them, they will usually fire the weapon off at a slow, constant rate without changing their trajectory, and step back between each shot.
	CPUs holding a Team Healer always throw it towards their enemies, never towards their own teammates.
	CPUs never pick up Bob-ombs intentionally.
	CPUs throw Deku Nuts at opponents regardless of distance, even if the opponent is close enough to cause them to get stunned themselves. The same applies to Smart Bombs, which they often throw too close to opponents, getting caught in the explosion.
	When a player is crouching behind an Unira, a CPU will always try to walk into it before attacking, resulting in them taking damage repeatedly until the Unira disappears.
	CPUs will chase after Poison Mushrooms even though they give a fighter affected by one a disadvantage.
	CPUs that pick up a Capsule almost always throw it upwards into the air for no apparent reason (doing so even if no foes are above them), instead of simply throwing them forward or down to break it.
All	CPUs walk slowly against items that appear offstage in stages with walk-off blast lines, without just picking them up.

Stage Related

Stage	Description
Almost All	CPUs, even at level nine, tend to ignore stage hazards without dodging them, including powerful ones like the Ultimate Chimera in New Pork City or the enemies in Mario Bros., resulting in them getting fatally KO'd at a much faster rate than human players.
	CPUs have difficulty transversing large stages such as New Pork City, 75m and most custom stages, where they will often scatter around instead of just approaching the player, and may even self-destruct crossing certain parts of the stages.
	In the underground version of Mushroomy Kingdom, CPUs repeatedly attack the blocks, usually ignoring the player even if items aren't on.
	On Delfino Plaza, when the main platform reappears and starts to rise, CPUs usually stay on the old stage, which leads to them being lowered towards the bottom blast line to their deaths.
	CPUs have a difficult time getting out of the underground part of Temple when opposing players are on the upper part. This is especially noticeable with CPU Wolf^[4].
	CPUs never swim on Pirate Ship or Delfino Plaza, always jumping out of the water immediately to come back to the stage.
	On the first stop of Port Town Aero Dive after the start/finish line, when the main platform ascends, CPUs tend to run away to the sides of the stage and jump off them even if that causes them to be unable to reach the platform afterwards, self-destructing in the process.
	On Skyworld, CPUs tend to aim for the moving platform below the stage when recovering, even it it's moving away from them, often causing them to fail their recoveries when they could have aimed for the stage's ledges instead.
	On stages with walk-off blast lines, CPUs usually attack players near them without caution, likely causing them to self-destruct when overextending their approaches against them or trying to dodge their attacks.