Mr. Game & Watch (SSB4)

Mr. Game & Watch in Super Smash Bros. 4
Universe	Game & Watch
Other playable appearances	in Melee in Brawl in Ultimate
Availability	Unlockable
Final Smash	Octopus
Tier	E (39)

Mr. Game & Watch (Mr.ゲーム＆ウォッチ, Mr. Game & Watch) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. 4. After making a cameo in Pac-Man's trailer, Mr. Game & Watch was announced during the Super Smash Bros. for Wii U 50-Fact Extravaganza on October 23rd, 2014. Like in Melee and Brawl, he uses Game & Watch-esque sound effects to represent his "voice".

Mr. Game & Watch is ranked 39th out of 55 on the tier list, placing him at the top of the E tier. This is a significant drop from his ranking in Brawl, where he was ranked 16th out of 38. Mr. Game & Watch's strengths include great combo and air games, as well as a high overall damage output in spite of his size and weight. His overall mobility is also decent, with his recovery in particular being impressive due to Fire's long-ranged distance, large edge sweetspot, and general safety.

Mr. Game & Watch is also good at edgeguarding, due to his recovery and moderately fast aerials. His landing lag, while not supplemented by autocancels, is actually quite low and is among the best in the game in terms of the total amount of frames in aerial move lag upon landing.

However, Mr. Game & Watch possesses notable weaknesses as well. One of his biggest flaws includes a surprising inability to KO at higher percentages despite dealing a lot of damage quickly. This is due to his finishers being plagued with either inconsistent KO set-ups (such as down throw into up aerial), KOing options that are too sluggish, or have large sourspots (such as forward and down smashes, respectively).

Additionally, while he has surprisingly good range for his size due to his disjointed hitboxes, he still has shorter range than a handful of the cast, such as Shulk, Ike, Marth, and Cloud. He is also the third lightest character in the game, making him prone to getting KO'd quite easily, which is further exacerbated by the loss of Bucket Braking and the introduction of rage.

Mr. Game & Watch's grab game is also lackluster outside of down throw, as his pummel is one of the slowest in the game, and none of his other throws possess the same utility that his down throw does, nor are they strong enough to KO at realistic percentages. His neutral game is also lacking, due to having no aerials that autocancel from a short hop and his limited amount of safe options on shield. Lastly, some of his moves are considered to be situational, due to either needing luck (Judge) or the opponent to have an energy-based projectile (Oil Panic) in order to have the moves function.

Overall, Mr. Game & Watch's strengths are generally on par with his weaknesses. While his tournament representation is poor overall due to his noticeable character flaws and unpopularity in competitive play, he has still achieved above average tournament results, such as Regi placing 17th at EVO 2016 and Maister placing 13th and 17th at GENESIS 5 and 2GG: Hyrule Saga, respectively.

How to unlock

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS

• Play 90 VS Matches.
• Complete Classic Mode with 10 different characters.

Mr. Game & Watch must then be defeated on Flat Zone 2.

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U

• Play 80 VS Matches.
• Clear Classic Mode on Intensity 2.0 or higher with 5 characters.

Mr. Game & Watch must then be defeated on Flat Zone X.

Attributes

Mr. Game & Watch's archetype as a lightweight slightly differs from the majority of his fellow lightweights. While he is small, has the third lightest weight, the fifth slowest falling speed, below average gravity, low jumps and is tied for the seventh fastest air acceleration, he has average walking and dashing speeds, a low short hop and above average air speed. Overall, Mr. Game & Watch's speed when moving is quite exceptional for a lightweight, but his low falling speed can be somewhat detrimental. His short size also makes him difficult to hit, especially when crouching.

Unlike most lightweights, Mr. Game & Watch has moves with disjointed hitboxes, with some of them reaching relatively far from him. His damage output is above average, and he has a good combo game, allowing him to easily rack up a decent amount of damage with few moves. His down throw is a reliable combo starter, being able to be followed by his up tilt (on floaty characters) or neutral attack (on fast-fallers) at low percents, Judge, up smash or Oil Panic from low to high percents, all aerials except down aerial from mid to high percents, and Fire at high percents. His combo game is further compounded by his great air game, with his neutral, forward, back and up aerials having good combo utility and being fairly damaging.

His neutral aerial has pretty high range above him and does very high damage if all hits connect and the last hit has moderate knockback, making it difficult to punish, as well as being rarely escaped by SDI and able to be followed up by other moves. His forward aerial has decent range and knockback (when clean), making it useful for edgeguarding, and the late hit can be followed up by another attack when late despite the moves' ending lag. His back aerial, while less damaging than in Brawl, is still pretty useful due to its disjointed range and low knockback that allows it to be followed by another one, giving it effective wall of pain ability.

Mr. Game & Watch's up and down aerials are mainly used for KOing. His up aerial is his strongest one, but its windbox can make it difficult to connect into the second hit, which carries all the knockback. Nevertheless, its windbox can also safely space the move and juggle opponents. Meanwhile, his down aerial is an effective meteor smash as well as being a stall-then-fall, giving Mr. Game & Watch an effective move for edgeguarding, ending a stock early, and getting out of juggles.

While he has fairly damaging moves, Mr. Game & Watch also has plenty of reliable and powerful finishers for his weight class, which can put him on par with some heavyweights. The most notable examples include his forward and down tilts at high percents, all of his smash attacks, his aerials, Judge 9 and Oil Panic. Finally, his special moveset is pretty decent, albeit polarized. His neutral special, Chef, is weak but can effectively stun players, as well as work as an efficient anti-pressure option from afar. His up special, Fire, grants exceptional vertical distance and deals average knockback, as well as slows his descent down after usage, giving Mr. Game & Watch an amazing recovery that is also difficult to edgeguard.

Mr. Game & Watch's side special, Judge, is infamously polarized due to being luck-based; its effects range from causing no knockback while damaging Mr. Game & Watch himself (1) to inflicting extremely high knockback that can KO even at very low percents (9). Finally, Oil Panic can absorb three energy-based projectiles (or one extremely powerful energy-based projectile) before unleashing a powerful attack that can score a one-hit KO depending on how much damage it has absorbed. However, it only works on characters with absorbable projectiles such as Zelda and Samus, making it very situational and generally not that useful.

While Mr. Game & Watch does have many positive traits, he also possesses many notable weaknesses. Due to his two-dimensional nature, he is one of the lightest characters in the game, which makes him susceptible to early KOs, especially vertically. He has a very short roll that is quite slow, often punishable even when used sparingly. His grab game is also very poor outside of grab combos: his grab still has very short reach, his pummel is slow and he has no useful throws other than his down throw.

Despite possessing large, disjointed hitboxes, Mr. Game & Watch's overall range is mostly mediocre. Their range was also nerfed from Brawl, with his attacks being much less wide and far. While the majority of his moveset has quick startup, it suffers from particularly high ending and landing lag in most of his attacks, allowing him to be easily punished when his moves are whiffed. Finally, some of his special moves are considered to be situational depending on the matchup, with Judge being an unsafe move in general due to its randomness, and Oil Panic being only useful when facing a character with an absorbable projectile.

Mr. Game & Watch has a few noteworthy custom moves. Short-Order Chef is weaker, but much faster, allowing him to space more easily. Chain Judge has no special effects but deals more damage the higher the number is, significantly improving the move's consistency and damage racking capabilities. Heavy Trampoline grants less distance at the cost of being stronger, while Trampoline Launch has no parachute at the cost of granting more distance and being stronger as well.

All in all, Mr. Game & Watch's pros and cons are generally even. Like his fellow lightweight Mewtwo, Mr. Game & Watch can be considered a glass cannon due to his overall damage output and his ability to finish opponents, yet being very susceptible to being finished earlier than most characters. Due to his scarce tournament representation as of late, he ranks below average in most tournaments and has very few players. However, Mr. Game & Watch's playerbase includes notable players such as KOSSismoss, Regi and Songn, who have managed to achieve decent tournament results with him.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Mr. Game & Watch was overall nerfed in his transition to SSB4, with the buffs he received failing to compensate for the more drastic nerfs to his important abilities. Many of his moves have increased lag, such as his neutral aerial having a shorter duration, more ending lag, more landing lag and no longer auto-canceling with short hops, which weakens his options to approach or punish opponents. His other aerials (except forward aerial) having increased landing lag especially his down aerial. Mr. Game & Watch's overall range, damage output and KO potential have been reduced making it harder for him to rack up damage and land KOs. The changes to hitstun canceling can be considered a double-edged sword for Mr. Game & Watch: they indirectly removed Bucket Braking and momentum canceling, which greatly hinders his endurance especially horizontally and it makes him more susceptible to combos, yet it improves his combo game due to his altered down throw which is now a very strong combo starter. He also suffers from the removal of edge momentum shifting as he could previously making solid use of it using Judge. The inclusion of rage also does not benefit Mr. Game & Watch as much as some other characters as while it improves his KO potential, his very poor endurance prevents him from making great use of it.

Mr. Game & Watch has seen some buffs though. As previously mentioned, his down throw is now a potent combo throw which can potentially lead into an up aerial for a KO. While Oil Panic has had its valuable Bucket Braking ability removed, it also fills faster, letting Mr. Game & Watch use one of his most situational moves more frequently. His recovery has also been improved due to his faster air speed, Fire's increased vertical distance which also no longer suffers from the grab release glitch, and Oil Panic's newly acquired jump boost mechanic.

As a result, Mr. Game & Watch is a significantly less effective character overall as while most of his strengths are still there, they were nevertheless toned down and his weaknesses were not properly addressed. He also did not benefit from the changes to the game's mechanics as much as some other returning veterans. Despite this, he still had some dedicated players, such as GimR, Regi and Maister, who have occasionally received some solid results with the character.

Aesthetics

• Mr. Game & Watch's design has changed. He now has a rounder head; a slightly smaller and rounder nose; a slightly wider torso; circular hands, shorter arms, and slightly smaller feet; and a thinner outline that is layered gray and white. Altogether, these changes make Mr. Game & Watch appear much more in line with his appearance in Game & Watch Gallery 4. His animations are also choppier, which better simulate the frame-by-frame movement within the Game & Watch series.
• Walk's animation has changed. Mr. Game & Watch now walks more flippantly while he repeatedly looks back and forth. This originates from Helmet.
• Mr. Game & Watch has a new down taunt. He now sits down and sighs, instead of jumping once with his hands open. This originates from the Game & Watch version of Mario Bros.

Attributes

• Mr. Game & Watch is smaller. This makes his hurtbox slightly smaller, but slightly hinders his range.
  • Due to the general change in size between small and large characters combined with many hitboxes having reduced vertical range, Mr. Game & Watch's smaller size significantly improves his crouch's defensive potential.
• Mr. Game & Watch walks faster (1.1 → 1.1242).
• Unlike almost every other returning veteran, Mr. Game & Watch dashes marginally slower (1.553 → 1.5264), going from the 15th fastest out of 39 characters to only the 34th fastest out of 58 characters.
• Mr. Game & Watch's air speed is faster (1.081 → 1.12).
• Mr. Game & Watch's gravity is higher (0.07505 → 0.08).
• Rolls have less ending lag (FAF 36 → 30).
• Rolls have a shorter duration (frames 4-19 → 4-16).
• Air dodge has less startup (frame 4 → 2) and ending lag (FAF 50 → 32).
• Air dodge has a slightly shorter duration (frames 4-29 → 2-26).
• Spot dodge has a shorter duration (frames 2-20 → 2-16).

Ground attacks

• Neutral attack:
  • Neutral attack has received a finisher, a large blast of gas from the insecticide pump.
  • The weakening of SDI makes neutral infinite significantly more difficult to escape from.
  • Neutral infinite now deals consistent damage (1/2/3% → 1%).
• Forward tilt:
  • Forward tilt's four hitboxes have been replaced with two extended hitboxes, which cover more range than the previous iteration.
  • Forward tilt base knockback has been increased (20 → 35).
  • Forward tilt has received a late hitbox that deals 4%. This lengthens its duration (frames 10-15 → 10-17), but makes it more susceptible to punishment at low to medium percentages.
  • Clean forward tilt's inner hitbox deals less damage (10% → 10% (chair)/9% (body)).
  • Forward tilt's angle has been altered (45°/37° → 361°). This worsens it on-hit at low percentages, and makes it send at more survivable angles in the later percentages, no longer semi-spiking.
• Up tilt:
  • Up tilt can now hit twice. Its damage has been reduced (8% → 7%), but its total still does more than it's previous iteration (14%).
  • Up tilt has decreased start-up lag (frame 13 → 10).
  • Up tilt's animation has been altered so Mr. Game & Watch's arch is much more shallow, and it's innermost (body) hitbox has been removed. This hinders it's ability to hit in front of Mr. Game & Watch.
  • Up tilt has increased ending lag (FAF 30 → 36).
  • Up tilt has a shorter duration (frames 13-21 → 10-12 (hit 1), 20-22 (hit 2)), worsening its use as an anti-air.
  • Up tilt's first hits deals less base knockback (30 → 20).
• Down tilt:
  • Down tilt's grounded hit has significantly increased knockback (50 (base), 50 (scaling) → 40/125).
  • Down tilt has significantly increased ending lag (FAF 26 → 40).
  • Down tilt's hit on grounded opponents has a higher angle (20° → 30°).
  • Down tilt's grounded hit is active for a slightly shorter duration (frames 6-15 → 6-13).
  • Down tilt has received a windbox above its hitbox and has lost its aerial hitbox. While this increases it's utility in other areas, its use as a disjointed edge-guarding tool has been completely removed, dealing far less damage (9% → 1%), no knockback and sending upward.
• Dash attack:
  • Dash attack angle now sends in front of Mr. Game & Watch instead of behind (120° → 50°).
  • Dash attack has an updated animation that gives the move significantly more range, making it a key zone-breaking tool for Mr. Game & Watch.
  • Dash attack's knockback scaling has been increased (50 → 70), making it stronger than before despite dealing less damage.
  • Dash attack deals less damage (11% → 10% (clean)/6.5% (late)).
  • Dash attack's overall duration has been reduced (frames 6-29 → 6-9 (early)/10-19 (late)).
  • Dash attack's size has been reduced (6.24u → 6u (early)/5.5u (late)).
• Forward smash:
  • Forward smash's sweetspot has decreased knockback scaling (98 → 91), hindering its KO potential.
  • Forward smash's sourspot now takes priority over its sweetspot. The sourspot also launches opponents at a higher angle (361° → 53°) hindering its KO potential despite having higher knockback scaling (98 → 100). The body hitbox has also been removed.
  • Forward smash's late hit (frames 21-34) has been removed entirely, and its early hit's duration has also been reduced (frames 17-20 → 17-18).
  • Forward smash's animation has slightly changed. Mr. Game & Watch now swings the torch with both hands, instead of just one.
• Up smash:
  • Up smash's hitboxes have been changed to one main, extended hitbox. This makes it's collective covered area more than Brawl's, and for a more consistent amount of time.
  • Up smash has significantly increased partial invincibility (frames 24-28 → 4-25), making it among the best anti-air tools in the game.
  • Up smash deals 2% less damage (18% → 16%) and has decreased knockback scaling (97 → 93), hindering its KO potential.
  • Up smash's is active for a shorter period (frames 24-28 → 24-25).
  • Up smash's animation is now mirrored, with the visor now facing the screen regardless which direction Mr. Game & Watch is currently facing.
• Down smash:
  • Down smash's hammer size has been increased. Despite this, the size and locations of each hitbox remains identical.
  • Down smash's sourspot is larger, now extending to each of Mr. Game & Watch's hands, covering his body entirely.
  • Down smash has significantly decreased knockback on both its sourspot (60 (base), 68 (scaling) → 30/65) and sweetspot (98 (scaling) → 85).
  • Down smash has increased ending lag (FAF 33 → 42).

Aerial attacks

• The weakening of SDI makes neutral and back aerials significantly more difficult to escape from.
• Neutral aerial:
  • Neutral aerial has a much shorter duration (frames 7-10, 12-15, 17-20, 22-25 → 7/12/17/22).
  • Neutral aerial has increased ending lag (FAF 35 → 43) preventing it from auto-canceling in a short hop as it still lacks a late auto-cancel window.
  • Neutral aerial has increased landing lag (9 frames → 12 frames).
• Forward aerial:
  • Forward aerial has decreased landing lag (22 frames → 15 frames) and auto-cancels earlier (frame 46 → 42).
  • Forward aerial's clean hit deals less damage (16% → 11.5%) and its knockback scaling wasn't fully compensated (80 → 86), significantly hindering its KO potential.
  • Forward aerial has a shorter duration (frames 10-12 → 10-11 (clean), frames 13-32 → 12-25 (late)).
• Back aerial:
  • Back aerial's hits connect together better due to the weakening of SDI combined with its angle changes (68°/68° → 366°/25°).
  • Back aerial auto-cancels earlier (frame 41 → 38).
  • Back aerial only consists of four hits instead of five, and the first three hits deal less damage (3% → 2%) greatly reducing its maximum damage output (15% → 9%).
  • Back aerial has increased landing lag (12 frames → 19).
• Up aerial:
  • Up aerial has increased landing lag (9 frames → 12 frames).
• Down aerial:
  • Clean down aerial has a longer duration (frame 12 → 12-13) and now only consists of a meteor smash. The removal of meteor-canceling also significantly improves the sweetspot's reliability
  • Down aerial deals less damage (14% (clean)/13% (late)/6% (landing) → 11% (attack)/3.5% (landing)) and its knockback was not fully compensated (100 (scaling) → 107 (clean/late), 50 (base) → 60 (landing).
  • Down aerial has less range (4.32u/6.24u → 4.0u (clean), 4.32u → 4u (late)).
  • Down aerial has significantly increased landing lag (15 frames → 28).

Throws/other attacks

• All grabs have increased ranges.
• Dash grab has decreased start-up lag (frame 10 → 8) and ending lag (FAF 40 → 37). Pivot grab also has decreased start-up lag (frame 10 → 9).
• All throws transition much faster (frame 56 → 26) with decreased ending lag (FAF 70 → 41 (forward/back/up)/43 (down)), allowing less time for the opponent to DI effectively.
  • However, their reduced durations do not fully compensate for the throws releasing the opponents sooner increasing their cooldown (14 frames → 15 frames (forward/back/up)/17 frames (down)).
• Pummel:
  • Pummel deals 0.2% more damage (3% → 3.2%).
• Down throw:
  • Down throw deals 2% less damage (6% → 4%).
  • Due to its angle being altered (270° → 80°), down throw is no longer a meteor smash. It also has altered knockback (80 (base), 30 (scaling) → 35/120). When coupled with the changes to hitstun canceling, the weakening of DI and the removal of chain grabbing, these changes significantly improve its combo potential, but remove its tech-chasing potential.
• Floor attack:
  • Front and back floor attacks deal 1% more damage (6% → 7%).

Special moves

• The removal of edge momentum shifting has hindered Mr. Game & Watch's advanced technical options with his specials reducing their utility.
• Judge:
  • Judge can now have the same number appear consecutively, instead of having to cycle through three subsequent swings.
  • The weakening of SDI makes Judge 5 significantly more difficult to escape from.
• Fire:
  • Fire's animation changed. Mr. Game & Watch now descends in a choppy, frame-by-frame motion instead of a smooth, swaying motion.
  • Mr. Game & Watch is no longer affected by the grab release glitch allowing him to re-use Fire if he has been grabbed in midair.
• Oil Panic:
  • Oil Panic can now fill up multiple units at once upon absorbing a sufficiently strong projectile (>10% fills 2 units, >20% fills 3), significantly improving its reliability.
  • Aerial Oil Panic no longer has airspeed defiance, and only stalls once in the air. While this hinders it's use of absorbing projectiles offstage significantly, it allows Mr. Game & Watch to combine it with his mid-air jump to increase both it's height and floatiness substantially.
  • The removal of momentum canceling removes Bucket Braking, drastically hindering Mr. Game & Watch's endurance.
• Octopus:
  • Octopus deals 1% less damage (16% → 15%) and has a shorter duration (17 seconds → 15).
  • Octopus' visual effects have changed. It now emits the Final Smash aura throughout its duration.

Update history

Mr. Game & Watch has received a mix of buffs and nerfs via game updates. Update 1.0.6 hindered his up tilt's combo potential, but increased the frying pan hitbox for all variations of Chef. Update 1.0.8 noticeably improved down tilt by increasing its knockback to the point of granting it KO potential, and improved back aerial's spacing potential by decreasing its landing lag. The changes to shield mechanics brought about by updates 1.1.0 and 1.1.1 also indirectly buffed Mr. Game & Watch, as they make his moves that hit multiple times or have high damage outputs much more reliable at pressuring shields. Lastly, update 1.1.3 noticeably worsened Mr. Game & Watch's potential in doubles play by halving Oil Panic's damage output when it has absorbed a teammate's projectiles.

1.0.6

• Up tilt's second hit's angle altered: 100° → 115°, hindering its combo potential.
• All variations of Chef have had their pan's hitbox size increased: 5.76u → 6.76u.

1.0.8

• Down tilt's knockback increased: 10 (base)/120 (scaling) → 40/125.
• Down tilt's windbox size increased: 9u → 10.5u.
• Back aerial's landing lag decreased: 24 frames → 19.

1.1.3

• Oil Panic deals halved damage from absorbed teammates' projectiles.

Moveset

For a gallery of Mr. Game & Watch's hitboxes, see here.

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			3%	Rapidly presses an insecticide pump, pumping gas onto the opponent. Excellent for escaping pressure and hard to escape from. The last hit can KO at very high percents near the edge. Originates from Green House.
			1% (loop), 2% (last)
Forward tilt			10% (clean chair), 9% (clean body), 4% (late)	Thrusts a chair forward to hit with its legs. It is powerful and the chair is a fully disjointed hitbox. Has decent KO potential at high percents when clean, especially near the edge. Originates from Lion.
Up tilt			7% (hit 1), 7% (hit 2)	Swings a flag overhead. Good as a follow-up from down throw, but its very small hitboxes make it inconsistent at connecting both hits. The second hit launches opponents upward and backward, which can combo into his back aerial at medium percents. Combos into itself with fast-fallers and heavyweights at lower percents. KOs at very high percentages. Originates from Flagman.
Down tilt			6% (clean), 1% (late)	Flips a manhole. Has a windbox capable of juggling opponents from above, as well as destroy or derail projectiles with proper timing. It is a semi-spike and deals strong horizontal knockback, making it capable of KOing under 150% near the edge. Very useful for pushing recovering opponents high up, especially against those who cannot immediately grab the edge with their special moves, such as Little Mac and Cloud. Originates from Manhole.
Dash attack			10% (clean), 6.5% (late)	Performs a sliding headbutt while wearing a helmet. It has good range and is very fast, sliding Mr. Game & Watch forward in a choppy frame-by-frame manner, making it difficult to react to. This move is a tool for both risky approaching and safe punishing. Low ending lag, good knockback, and high amount of active frames make it a decent KOing option near the edge and useful for edgeguarding before an opponent can grab the edge. Originates from Helmet.
Forward smash			18% (flame), 14% (handle)	Swings a lit torch downward. The sweetspot is at the flame, while the sourspot is at the torch. Has a disjointed hitbox with great base knockback and even greater knockback scaling, as well as coming out relatively quickly and having good interruptibility. Its sweetspot KOs at 106%, while its sourspot KOs at 130%. Originates from Fire Attack.
Up smash			16%	Performs an upward headbutt while wearing a diving helmet. The hitbox extends a short way above the helmet. Has noticeable start-up lag, but an invincibility frame window upon start-up. This lets Mr. Game & Watch perform a pseudo-counterattack against almost all attacks that hit him during start-up, which makes it good for interrupting aerial approaches or attacks. It also has low ending lag, making it a viable strategy to spam at KO percents. One of the strongest up smashes in the game, KOing at 102% uncharged and 60% fully charged. Originates from Octopus.
Down smash			15% (hammers), 13% (body)	Swings two hammers downward and on both of his sides. Solid range. Hammer heads deal vertical knockback while the handles semi-spike. When sweetspotted, this is one of the most powerful down smashes in the game, KOing at 105%. However, the sourspot cannot KO reliably below 150%. Its fast interrupting ability can surprise people by using it again after a missed one. It is effective at edgeguarding as the sourspot semi-spikes, and even though the sweetspot has vertical knockback, its great knockback can still KO a recovering opponent. Originates from Vermin.
Neutral aerial			5% (hit 1), 4% (hits 2-4)	Tosses out a pair of fish from a bowl. Multiple hitboxes enable it to covers every area except below him. This move deals 17% if all four hits are used, making it a potent down throw combo. It also combos into itself at mid-range percents. However, the hits fail to connect together at high percents, and the opponent will fall out. The last hit has moderate knockback, allowing it to KO at high percents, but only lasts for 1 frame. Originates from Tropical Fish.
Forward aerial			11.5% (clean), 6% (late)	Swings a boxed package. A fully disjointed hitbox. Clean hit lasts for only a frame, and the weak hit can be used for a lock after a footstool. Can be used for edgeguarding at higher percents. According to the official melee website, this move originates from Mario's Cement Factory, however the object looks closer to the boxes from Game & Watch version of Mario Bros.
Back aerial			2% (hits 1-3), 3% (hit 4), 3% (landing)	Swings a snapping turtle. A fully disjointed hitbox. If shielded, opponents often drop their shields too soon due to the turtle's hitlag causing it to have unexpected duration when it is landed. With proper spacing, it is quite safe on shield as well despite a lack of shieldstun. Can combo into itself up to 3 or even 4 times depending on opponent DI. The landing hitbox launches opponents vertically, while landing the final aerial hitbox launches opponents horizontally. Because of the last aerial hitbox's properties, it can be used for a wall of pain in conjunction with reverse aerial rush effectively. Originates from Turtle Bridge.
Up aerial		Spitball Sparky	7% (hit 1), 9% (hit 2)	Blows air upward twice. Notorious for its huge wind area outside the main hitbox, with the wind being more powerful the closer the opponent is to Mr. Game & Watch, while its second hit has high knockback. Connecting both hits can KO from 70%-120%, although getting the second hit is difficult without proper alignment. Down throw into up air is a true kill confirm at specific percentage windows. Spamming this move can make it difficult for opponents to land. The wind hitbox can be used to help teammates with their vertical recovery, and can also be used to possibly gimp certain character's recoveries like Ness or Lucas' should they not be ready to change the direction of PK Thunder's arc. Originates from Spitball Sparky.
Down aerial			11% (attack), 3.5% (landing)	Drops downward while holding a key beneath himself. A stall-then-fall, it meteor smashes powerfully on the first frames. Can be moved left or right a bit. While it can cause Mr. Game & Watch to self-destruct while using it off-stage, his effective recovery and the move being being slower than other stall-then-falls makes this unlikely. It is a safe option when edgeguarding and has KO potential at high percents. Originates from the Game & Watch version of Donkey Kong Jr.
Grab			—	Reaches out. Originates from Mario's Cement Factory.
Pummel			3.2%	Hits the opponent with a bell. It is tied with Luigi's as the fourth most damaging pummel in the game, but is also the fourth slowest pummel in the game. Originates from the Game & Watch's alarm feature.
Forward throw			8%	Juggles the opponent and tosses them forward. Originates from Ball.
Back throw			8%	Juggles the opponent and tosses them backward. Originates from Ball.
Up throw			8%	Juggles the opponent and tosses them upward. Combos into Fire, as well as up aerial and rarely neutral aerial at low percents. This makes it good for short, high damage burst combos early on. Originates from Ball.
Down throw			4%	Juggles the opponent and drops them downward. Deals half as much damage as the other throws, but makes up for this with its impressive combo potential. Combos include neutral attack (on fast-fallers), forward tilt, up tilt (on floaty characters) and down tilt from 0% to low percents, up smash, Judge, and Oil Panic from low to medium percents, neutral and up aerials from medium to high percents, and Fire at all percents. Guaranteed follow-ups stop around 130%, though up aerial can KO at high percents if the opponent's reaction is read. Despite its lower damage output, it KOs most of the cast earlier than his up throw does on Final Destination. Originates from Ball.
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)			7%	Swings a hammer downward in front of himself and then behind himself. It is very fast. Originates from Vermin.
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)			7%	Swings a hammer downward in behind himself and then in front of himself. Originates from Vermin.
Floor attack (trip) Floor getups (trip)			5%	Swings a hammer downward in front of himself and then behind himself. Originates from Vermin.
Edge attack Edge getups			7%	Swings a bell forward while climbing up. Originates from the Game & Watch's alarm feature.
Neutral special	Default	Chef	9% (pan, closest) 5% (pan, can combine with projectile damage as two separate hits), 4% (bacon/steak/shrimp/fish)	Flips food out of a frying pan. Tapping the special button flips food faster. Moves slowly through the air in varying arcs. The food can be used defensively to cancel attack animations of opponents as a zoning tool as well as to prevent aerial approaches and can be used for edgeguarding against opponents with linear recoveries. Hitting with the pan itself is much more rewarding when edgeguarding, as the pan is a semi-spike and can gimp opponents with short-ranged recoveries, such as Ganondorf.
	Custom 1	XXL Chef	11%/10%/9%/9% (pan closest, bacon/steak/shrimp/fish), 2% (pan, can combine with projectile damage as two separate hits), 9% (bacon), 8% (steak), 7% (shrimp/fish)	Flips a single, large piece of food that deals more damage, but each flip takes significantly longer, while the food projectiles travel much slower. Special button must be tapped and doesn’t fling food faster. Bacon has some vertical KO potential at very high percents. Each flip visibly shakes the screen.
	Custom 2	Short-Order Chef	2.5%/2%/1.5%/1.5% (pan closest, bacon/steak/fish/shrimp), 0.5% (pan, can combine with projectile damage as two separate hits), 2% (bacon), 1.5% (steak), 1% (shrimp/fish)	Flips three weaker food items out of a frying pan horizontally. Like Chef, tapping the button flings food quicker (in this case, much quicker), but like XXL Chef, the button can’t be held indefinitely. Opens a zoning and approach option. Causes minimal hitstun, and fish cause none.
Side special	Default	Judge	2%-32% (Varies, see table below)	Swings a hammer in front of him, and raises a flag with a random number from 1-9 with his other hand. It can have any one of 9 effects, which vary based on number; 1 only damages himself, while 9 is a is strong enough to be a virtual one-hit KO. An infamous follow-up from his down throw, but timing for a true combo is very strict. Judge 1: An extremely weak swing that does not make the opponent flinch. It is the least damaging Judge attack and deals 12% recoil damage regardless of whether or not it hits. Judge 2: A weak swing that deals minimal knockback. It has a 20% chance of tripping the opponent. Judge 3: A weak swing, although it launches the opponent backward. It deals significant shield damage. Judge 4: A swing that has a slash effect and launches opponents diagonally forward. Judge 5: A swing that has an electric effect and hits multiple times. Judge 6: A swing that has a flame effect and is a semi-spike. Has the second strongest knockback of all Judge attacks. Judge 7: A swing that deals moderate knockback and produces an apple if it hits the opponent. The apple heals 4%. Judge 8: A swing that has a freeze effect and deals very low knockback. Emits the "ping" sound effect heard from a Freezie making contact, which is easily mistaken for the one-hit KO’s ping. The only swing with a lower total damage output than previous numbers. Judge 9: An extremely powerful swing that deals very high knockback. It is the most damaging Judge attack and emits the "ping" sound effect like Judge 8. Similar in nature to a charged swing from the Home-Run Bat, but the hit's base knockback is much lower, which makes it generally unable to KO at extremely low percents.
	Custom 1	Extreme Judge	5% (1), 23% (9)	Only chooses numbers 1 and 9, though 1s are more common, and 9s have reduced damage and knockback. However, 1s are strengthened and inflict less self-damage (5% rather than 12%).
	Custom 2	Chain Judge	1%-28.4% (Varies, see table below)	Instead of additional effects, the number displayed equals the number of hits the attack will deal. The initial hits trap opponents while the final hit knocks opponents away, making the move more consistent at the cost of limiting its range of effects. 1s will also not deal self-damage.
Up special	Default	Fire	6%	Jumps off a trampoline and then descends while wearing a parachute. Significant vertical and horizontal recovery. Capable of canceling into any move when falling. Has KO potential at high percents near the left and right blast lines. Very good at stage spiking, due to out-prioritizing most aerials and dealing strong knockback, making Mr. Game & Watch very difficult to edgeguard. The move can also be used as a possible follow-up option after up throw at low percentages against fast-fallers and heavyweights.
	Custom 1	Heavy Trampoline	16% (clean), 10% (late)	The jump deals more damage, but grants less height.
	Custom 2	Trampoline Launch	12% (near), 8% (far)	Functions like a traditional recovery move, as Mr. Game & Watch simply jumps and deals damage. The jump grants more height, deals more damage and has KO potential at high percents near the upper blast line, but has no parachute or lasting hitbox.
Down special	Default	Oil Panic	Based on absorbed attacks (see table below)	Holds an oil drum, which absorbs energy-based projectiles. Once three units are absorbed, it turns into a powerful attack consisting of Mr. Game & Watch sending out a large splash of oil from his oil drum. It has very minimal start-up lag that inflicts 2.8× the accumulated damage of the absorbed attacks, capping to 60%. OHKOs when it inflicts 60%. Despite its appearance, the oil spill is not a projectile and thus cannot be reflected. Stored energy isn’t lost upon being KOed.
	Custom 1	Efficient Panic	Based on absorbed attacks (see table below)	The oil drum only requires one projectile to be completely filled and has less ending lag when a projectile is absorbed, but the oil spill is weaker and has less range.
	Custom 2	Panic Overload	Based on absorbed attacks (see table below)	The oil spill is bigger and slower, but the oil drum's absorption radius is smaller.
Final Smash		Octopus	15%	Transforms into the large octopus that appears in its eponymous game, Octopus. It lasts for 15 seconds and damage is dealt on contact, while its range can be increased by pressing the attack button. Its front tentacles have the highest maximum range, and vice versa. The Octopus is also able to float on top of water during its use, and can fast-fall.

Judge Damage Data

Numbers	Judge	Extreme Judge	Chain Judge
1	2%	5%	1%
2	4%	-	2% (hit 1), 3% (hit 2)
3	6%	-	3% (hits 1-3)
4	8%	-	3% (hits 1-3), 2% (hit 4)
5	3% (hits 1-4)	-	3% (hits 1-5)
6	12%	-	3% (hits 1-5), 2% (hit 6)
7	14%	-	2.5% (hits 1-6), 4% (hit 7)
8	9%	-	2.4% (hits 1-7), 4.2% (hit 8)
9	32%	23%	2.3% (hits 1-8), 10% (hit 9)

Oil Panic Data

	Damage Needed to Fill Up the Bucket			Oil Damage
Move	Level 1	Level 2	Level 3	Minimum	Maximum
Oil Panic	< 10%	10%-20%	> 20%	18%	60%
Efficient Panic	-	-	> 1%	10%	24%
Panic Overload	< 10%	10%-20%	> 20%	15%	45%

On-screen appearance

• Moves along a row of Game & Watch LCD frames until reaching the foreground.

Taunts

• Up taunt: Rings his bell at a high angle. Similar to his side taunts, it originates from the Game & Watch's alarm feature.
• Side taunt: Rings his bell at a low angle. Similar to his up taunt, it originates from the Game & Watch's alarm feature.
• Down taunt: Sits down and sighs. Originates from the Game & Watch version of Mario Bros. when Mario and Luigi finished a level.

Up taunt	Side taunt	Down taunt

Idle poses

• Hops in place.
• Briefly looks behind himself.

Crowd cheer

	English	Japanese
Cheer
Description	Game and Watch!	Game and Watch!
Pitch	Group chant	Group chant

Victory poses

An original flourished medley based on the typical beeping noises emitted by Game & Watch characters and/or objects.

• Hops about in choppy poses, tripping halfway, before teetering on one foot.
• Rings his bell left and right.
• Jumps with legs high in the air.

In competitive play

Official Custom Moveset Project

Character	Custom sets available
Mr. Game & Watch	3331	3321	3311	1331	1321
	1311	3323	3131	2331	2311

Notable players

Active

Any number following the Smasher name indicates placement on the PGR 100, which recognizes the official top 100 players in Super Smash Bros. 4 of all time.

•  Captain Q - The best Mr. Game & Watch player in New England. Ranked 10th on the New England Smash 4 Power Rankings and 5th on the Massachusetts Smash 4 Power Rankings. Has wins over Koolaid, Kuma, Scot! and DM888.
•  Extra - Won Expand Gong 3 while defeating FOW. Ranked 1st on both the Victoria Smash 4 and the Australia Smash 4 Power Rankings.
•  GimR - One of the first and most known Mr. Game & Watch players in North America. Placed 17th at Paragon Orlando 2015 and 13th at PAX Prime 2015.
•  KOSSismoss - The best Mr. Game & Watch Player in the United States. Ranked 2nd on the Washington Smash 4 Power Rankings. Placed 7th at 2GGT: The False Awakens, 9th at 2GGT: Mexico Saga, and 33rd at GENESIS 5.
•  Maister (#81) - The best Mr. Game & Watch player in the world. Ranked 7th on the Mexico City Power Rankings and 44th on the Panda Global Rankings v5. Placed 13th at GENESIS 5 with wins on Pink Fresh, Mistake, and Fatality. and 17th at 2GG: Hyrule Saga with a win on Marss, but most notably won Combo Breaker 2018 using only Game & Watch, defeating ESAM, Chag, and tyroy.
•  Regi - Formerly the best Mr. Game & Watch player in the world. Ranked 13th on the Mexican Smash 4 Power Rankings in 2015 and 4th in 2018. Placed 13th at EVO 2015, 17th at EVO 2016 and 7th at Smash Factor 5.
•  Songn - The best Mr. Game & Watch player in Japan. Placed 4th at Super Sumabato and 9th at Sumabato for THE BIG HOUSE. Has a win over MkLeo.
•  Strobics - Ranked 9th on the Central Florida Smash 4 Power Rankings. Has a win over Mr E.

Inactive

•  Elegant - The best Luigi player with a strong Mr. Game & Watch secondary. Considered the best Mr. Game & Watch player in SoCal, having taken sets off VoiD, Zenyou, and K9sbruce.
•  Kakpu - Arguably the best Mr. Game & Watch player in Europe. Has won tournaments in Luxembourg and has had close sets with LoNg0uw and vyQ.

Tier placement and history

Since the early metagame, Mr. Game & Watch has maintained a mixed perception in regard to his tier placement and viability, due to the fact that he had been nerfed overall in his transition from Brawl. Players acknowledged his heavily damaging combos, raw power and having one of the best recoveries in the game, but also his very light weight, lackluster range and sub-par grab game. Mr. Game & Watch's results had always been rather obscure until EVO 2015, where Regi placed 13th (out of 1,926 entrants), and opinions of his potential became more positive over time due to some decent results brought by GimR as well. This led him to being ranked 35th on the first 4BR tier list.

However, Mr. Game & Watch's overall tournament results and representation still remain rather low in competitive play, even with the recent high placings of KOSSismoss and Regi's relatively higher placing of 17th (out of 2,662 entrants) at EVO 2016. Regardless, these results allowed Mr. Game & Watch to only negligibly drop to 37th on the second tier list, a drop attributable to the inclusion of Corrin and Bayonetta, due to their absence from the first tier list. Despite these traits, and due to the fact his tournament success have dropped compared to summer 2016, he dropped to 40th on the third tier list, before rising to 39th on the fourth and current tier list; while his results remain scarce, his rather high placings have allowed him not to drop significantly on the tier list, and he has officially become a mid-tier character due to the expansion of the tiers in the fourth tier list.

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.

Game & Watch (04/1980)

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!

Game & Watch (04/1980)

Octopus

The Game & Watch title Octopus featured a hero collecting treasure while avoiding a bothersome giant octopus's tentacles. Activate Mr. Game & Watch's Final Smash to transform into that octopus! Ram into opponents, and use the attack button to extend the tentacles. The only thing you can't do is change the direction you're facing.

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  Classic (3DS)

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  Alt. (3DS)

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  Classic (Wii U)

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  Alt. (Wii U)

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  Octopus

In Event Matches

Solo Events

• All-Star Battle: Melee: Mr. Game & Watch is one of the opponents fought in this event. All of the opponents debuted in Melee.
• Great Fox Defense: As Falco, the player must defeat three Mr. Game & Watches without allowing a single one to land on the stage. The first Mr. Game & Watch has 3 stocks on Easy, 5 on Normal and 7 on Hard. The second Mr. Game & Watch has 2 stocks on Easy, 3 on Normal and 5 on Hard. The third Mr. Game & Watch has 1 stock on Easy, 2 on Normal and 4 on Hard.
• That Elusive 9: Mr. Game & Watch must defeat a metal Mr. Game & Watch by using Judge 9.

Co-op Events

• Flat Fracas: Wario and Mr. Game & Watch must defeat "Game & Watch" versions of Mario and Giant Donkey Kong in a 1 stock battle.
• Keep 'Em off the Ship!: Fox and Falco must defeat four Mr. Game & Watches without allowing a single one to land on the stage. The first Mr. Game & Watch has 4 stocks on Easy, 8 on Normal and 11 on Hard. The second Mr. Game & Watch has 5 stocks on Easy, 9 on Normal and 12 on Hard. The third Mr. Game & Watch has 4 stocks on Easy, 7 on Normal and 9 on Hard. The fourth Mr. Game & Watch has 3 stocks on Easy, 6 on Normal and 8 on Hard.
• Secret Smash: Mr. Game & Watch and Duck Hunt must defeat another Duck Hunt and Mr. Game & Watch.
• The Ultimate Battle: Two players select a character and must defeat the entire roster.
• Unlikely Allies: Ganondorf and Palutena must defeat sixteen Mr. Game & Watches.

Alternate costumes

Gallery

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  Mr. Game & Watch's amiibo.

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  Alternate amiibo stances.

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  Mr. Game & Watch's first four alternate costumes.

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  Using Judge 9 on King Dedede.

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  Using his up tilt on Toon Link, Ness, and Villager.

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  Using Oil Panic on Fox.

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  Using his neutral attack's finisher on Mega Man.

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  Using up smash on Final Destination.

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  Using Chef alongside Kirby, who copied him.

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  Using Octopus in water.

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  Using Fire while surrounded by fire.

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  Using his forward tilt against the Mii Fighters wearing Lion Hats on Flat Zone 2, in reference to the Game & Watch game Lion.

Trivia

• Mr. Game & Watch's official artwork in Super Smash Bros. 4 is the first in the series to feature him without his bell.
  • It is also the only one to not feature an item in his hands, as his Ultimate iteration has the flag from his up tilt.
• Mr. Game & Watch was the only veteran to be officially shown but not confirmed before Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS's release, due to him having been revealed in Pac-Man's trailer.
  • Mr. Game & Watch is one of three characters to have been teased before their official reveal, with the other two being Dark Pit and Duck Hunt.
• Mr. Game & Watch was the last veteran to be shown as a playable character by an official source, as Jigglypuff was shown off multiple times in the 50-Fact Extravaganza, while Mr. Game & Watch was not revealed until after the Direct was over.
• As he has an outline of his own, Mr. Game & Watch does not use a black outline like the rest of the characters in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS. As a result, it is his gray and white outline that changes colors to denote his team affiliation and other such effects.
• Unlike his other attacks, Mr. Game & Watch's down tilt is rendered in 3D. This was also the case in Brawl.
  • However, it will be rendered in 2D if it is used at the edge of a stage/platform, or if used on 2D stages like Flat Zone X, Flat Zone 2, Super Mario Maker, etc.
• Mr. Game & Watch has many various animations in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS that are different in comparison to how they appear in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.
  • The parachute used in Fire and its custom variations spreads further out in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS than in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.
  • When using up aerial, his head visibly inflates then deflates in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and remains stagnant in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.
  • His hands in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS are spread out when running, but in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, his hands are clenched fists.
    • Oddly, when Mr. Game & Watch uses his taunts, his hands change back to how they appeared in Brawl. This only occurs in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.
• In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, Mr. Game & Watch does his hopping idle pose, rather than a taunt, after choosing a path in Classic Mode.
• Mr. Game & Watch, Wii Fit Trainer, and Bayonetta are the only three characters to have special charging sounds for their smash attacks, with his being a low-pitched beeping noise.
  • He is also the only veteran with this trait.
• Mr. Game & Watch and R.O.B. are the only unlockable veterans in both versions to appear in a newcomer's poster art.
  • Mr. Game & Watch and Lucina are the only unlockable characters to appear in more than one newcomer's poster art.
• Although he lacks visible eyes, Mr. Game & Watch's character select screen portrait in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U still emits the small sparkle effect when he is selected, with the sparkle appearing where his eyes would be positioned.
• If Mr. Game & Watch wears a Franklin Badge, Screw Attack or Rocket Belt, it is revealed that he does not have a mirrored stance, and instead still uses his left arm in most of his attacks, like Melee and Brawl.