Metal Mario (SSB)

Metal Mario in Super Smash Bros.
Universe	Mario
A boss in	SSB
Availability	Hacking
Tier	Banned

Metal Mario (メタルマリオ, Metal Mario) is an unplayable character in Super Smash Bros. and is only playable via hacking. He is a clone of Mario, keeping all of his moves and animations, though differing significantly in physics and having a unique appearance. Unlike Mario and Luigi, he is unvoiced.

When playable, Metal Mario's 1P Game handicap is removed, making his knockback the same as Mario's and reducing his knockback-based armor. While he retains some knockback-based armor, his weight is the same, making him effectively a much slower version of the original. While he doesn't flinch against Fox's Blaster and doesn't flinch against weaker attacks at low percentages, his unusual physics make him worse in almost all areas. His 8-frame jumpsquat makes any aerial usage a much higher commitment compared to any character in the game, making him easily anti-aired and worse at doing so himself. Due to extremely high fall speed on top of this, Metal Mario's recovery is abysmal, made even worse by his Mario Tornado gaining him no height. As a result of these attributes, Metal Mario is considered to be a much more nerfed version of Mario, and is arguably one of the worst characters in the game.

He can be played as with the Gameshark code 800A4B3B 000D or via accessing debug mode. If Metal Mario wins a game in VS Mode, without additional modifications, the game will crash, due to him lacking a victory animation.

Attributes

Metal Mario is one of the only full clones in Smash 64, the only other being Luigi. Much like Luigi, many of his pros and cons are similar to Mario's, but the changes made to him compared to Luigi are overall worse. Metal Mario is distinguished by his knockback-based armor making him resist weak attacks at lower percentages, making it possible for him to immediately counterattack and start a combo. His survivability on-stage is overall improved. His grounded movement features a slower initial dash speed and max running speed, but better braking force; this gives him some of the highest traction in the game, making his dash dances cover less range and overall making for a clunkier experience. His aerial movement is hampered by an 8-frame jumpsquat - the worst in the game - on top of an unusually low jump height, which makes tacking jump-ins difficult while making it harder to amount an aerial offensive himself. Additionally, he has double the fall speed acceleration compared to Mario which, while helpful for vertical survivability, makes recovery extremely difficult. Compared to Mario and Luigi, Metal Mario's recovery, while conceptually good, fails in practice. His Super Jump Punch travels far, but his fall speed means that he falls like a brick almost immediately, making it less effective than one would expect. His Mario Tornado equivalent also suffers in similar fashion, gaining almost no height when mashing, often leading to an SD rather than helping.

Metal Mario, despite his air mobility, is still capable of performing similar combos to Mario, still possessing his powerful up and down aerials. Thus, Metal Mario can still rack up damage quickly, land deadly platform combo extensions, efficiently break shields, and meteor smash (albeit with more risk). However, with a low short hop, his down aerial will generally deal a bit less damage than Mario's, on account of having less airtime to get all the hits in. His forward and back throws are powerful KO options as well, which coupled with his shield break potential, makes doing so against him risky. Off-stage, Metal Mario is conceptually good on account of having Mario's attacks, but his fall speed makes doing so extremely risky. His forward aerial sends at almost horizontal angles, his down aerial can meteor smash with incredible consistency, and his Fireball can allow him to interrupt recoveries without committing off-stage.

It's notable that having Mario's attributes also means Metal Mario comes with his innate weaknesses. His frame data is only average and his attacks don't have strong range, all compounded by his sluggish movement, which makes it difficult for Metal Mario to approach, with his knockback-based armor only being easily applicable in the Fox matchup. It's very possible to camp Metal Mario and force him to approach as a result of these issues, poking him with disjointed attacks until it's easy to launch him. In general, Metal Mario arguably makes Mario's downsides worse, possibly making his even matchups negative.

Differences from Mario

Metal Mario has slower mobility, less combo ability, a worse approach game, and a far worse recovery compared to Mario.

Aesthetics

• Metal Mario's Body Size Multiplier is the same as Japanese Mario's, making him smaller and harder to hit, but does reduce his range (1.12 → 1)
• When moving on the ground or landing, Metal Mario lets out a unique stomping noise.
• Metal Mario is unvoiced.

Attributes

• Metal Mario's brake force is much higher (1.5 → 4), which makes his dash dancing more clunky.
• Metal Mario's initial dashing speed is lower (54 → 50).
• Metal Mario's max running speed is lower (44 → 40).
• Metal Mario's jumpsquat frame data is much higher (3 → 8), making using and intercepting aerial attacks more difficult, and thus worsening his combo game.
• Metal Mario's X-Air Velocity Multiplier for his first and second jump are higher (0.35× → 0.5×).
• Metal Mario's second jump multiplier is different (0.9× → 1.1×), but the height gained is overall negated by his fall speed acceleration.
• Metal Mario's base jumping height is higher (26 → 38).
• Metal Mario's X-Air Acceleration Multiplier is higher (0.025× → 0.035×).
• Metal Mario's Gravity, or Fall Speed Acceleration, is doubled (2.4 → 4.8), making recovery more difficult and severely affecting Mario Tornado, but somewhat assisting with vertical survivability.
• Metal Mario's Maximum Fall Speed is much higher (44 → 100).
• Metal Mario's Y-Velocity after a broken shield is higher (70 → 120).

Moveset

For all intents and purposes, Metal Mario's attacks are the same as Mario's, with all differences being due to his differing physics. For visualization's on Mario's hitboxes, which are the same as Metal Mario's, click here.

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack		Left Punch, Right Punch, kick	2%	Metal Mario performs two quick jabs followed by a kick. Due to the speed of his first jab, Metal Mario can perform a jab grab. This combo is taken directly from Super Mario 64.
			2%
			4%
Forward tilt	↗	Middle Kick	14%	Kicks straight forward. Can be angled up or down and it can used for spacing but rarely used due to Metal Mario having better options. Comes out fast with decent range and power, although it has high ending lag.
	→		13%
	↘		12%
Up tilt		Uppercut	10%	Performs a spinning uppercut. Metal Mario twirls and punches upwards. Above average knockback scaling for a tilt attack, allowing it to KO at extremely high percentages. It does have low base knockback, meaning it can easily chain into itself or combo into other aerials at around moderate percentages. The move has high ending lag however, which makes the move punishable on hit at lower percents when combined with its low base knockback.
Down tilt		Spinning Kick	12%	Does a sweep kick forward. Has decent power and surprisingly great range, although it has fairly high ending lag, limiting its effectiveness outside of gimping recoveries in very specific situations.
Dash attack		Slide	12% (clean), 10% (late)	Does a sliding tackle, taken from Super Mario 64. Above average ending lag and not many followup options.
Forward smash	↗	Smash Punch	18%	Punches in front of him, his fist enlarging as he does so. Medium speed and average power for a forward smash, though it is slower than his up and down smashes and back throw.
	→		17%
	↘		16%
Up smash		Lead Headbutt	19%	Headbutts upwards. His whole head becomes intangible for a period of time and it has a very large disjointed hitbox, with extremely high vertical knockback, being one of the strongest up smashes in the game (tied with Luigi's Donkey Kong's and Jigglypuff's). Its high ending lag and somewhat short range horizontally limits its effectiveness, though.
Down smash		Double Kick	17%	Twirls around while breakdancing on both sides. A good KO/edgeguard move, also a decent way to space. Usually used to punish techs/rolls.
Neutral aerial		Mario Kick	14% (clean), 11% (late)	Performs a sex kick. It gets weaker the longer it's out, though when it first comes out, it is a good finisher (though weaker than his forward and back aerials). One of the better neutral aerials overall in the game due to its frame 3 startup and long lasting hitbox.
Forward aerial		Forward Dropkick	16% (clean), 10% (late)	Performs a forwards spin kick. Has slow startup lag but it has a decently powerful hitbox when it first comes out. Highly useful against the majority of recoveries in the game. Can combo easily at moderate percentages.
Back aerial		Backward Dropkick	16% (clean), 10% (late)	Performs a backwards kick. Similar to forward aerial except it has slightly lower startup and a shorter lasting hitbox. Good for edgeguarding, and has good power.
Up aerial		Air Slash	12% (clean), 9% (late)	Performs a flip kick. It comes out on frame 2, making it the fastest aerial in the game in terms of startup lag (along with Luigi's up aerial). Knockback direction depends on which angle the foe was hit on. Lower power than most of his moves, but an effective juggling and combo move.
Down aerial		Drill Kick	3% (hits 1-8), 24% (total)	Performs a downward drill kick, 3%/hit, up to 8 hits for a total of 24%. A useful meteor smash; Similar to Jigglypuff's down aerial, it can be used multiple times to ensure that the foe is unable to recover. It has slow startup lag but minimal ending lag compared to other drill kills. Can combo into itself and up aerial easily. It also has solid shield pressuring potential due to its low ending lag. Like other drills, it is heavily SDIable, however.
Grab			—
Forward throw		Forward Spin Throw	12%	Performs a Spin throw forward. He quickly swings the foe once and tosses them in front of him. A standard forward throw with decent knockback, though back throw is usually better for KOs. Can easily get opponents offstage. Also usable to chaingrab in the "tent" portion of Hyrule Castle.
Back throw		Airplane Swing	16% (throw), 10% (collateral)	Grabs opponent by the legs and swings them until release (similar to his Super Mario 64 Bowser throw). It has standard knockback for a back throw, being a very reliable finisher. The throw is slow, although Mario's opponent has a hitbox while he spins them around.
Forward roll Back roll		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)			6%	Gets up and spins.
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)			6%	Gets up and spins.
Edge attack (fast) Edge getups (fast)			6%	Gets up and flips.
Edge attack (slow) Edge getups (slow)			6%	Slowly gets up and punches.
Neutral special		Fire Ball	7%, 6% (NTSC-J)	Throws a fireball, which travels forward and loses momentum with each bounce. Because of this, they are best used in the air, and at higher locations. They can be spammed, though with some difficulty (and at a slower rate of fire than Luigi's), and are a decent approaching tactic. The move can be more efficient when used in the air, falling to meet the enemy at ground level, while still moving, and negating lag.
Up special		Super Jump Punch	5% (hit 1), 1% (hits 2-8), 3% (hit 9), 15% (total)	Does a jumping uppercut, which causes damage and makes coins fly out of the opponent. Can rack up damage. Mainly used for recovery, with great vertical range and decent horizontal range if aimed forward. Can also be used OoS and as a combo breaker due to its frame 2 startup lag (where Metal Mario is also intangible). Due to Metal Mario's physics, however, it won't reach the stage as often as Mario's, due to him falling much faster after the attack concludes.
Down special		Mario Tornado	1% (hits 1-14), 14% (total)	Does a spinning tornado attack, resembling the Spin Jump from Super Mario World. Has set knockback. If the lower segment of the final hitbox lands successfully, the move is a meteor smash. Has no startup lag, but the opponent can easily escape the move. If the B button is pressed repeatedly in midair, Metal Mario will rise upwards, but it's significantly worse in the air due to his fall speed acceleration being so high, making it useless for recovery.

Announcer call

Metal Mario's announcer call can be heard in 1P Game.

• English/Japanese/Chinese

On-screen appearance

• Jumps out of a Warp Pipe, just like Mario.

Taunt

• Puts his arms by his sides and grows, as if receiving a Super Mushroom. He shrinks shortly after. It is a rather long taunt, so it is often used sparingly. Metal Mario's taunt can be immediately canceled when he starts to shrink by using the Z button.

Crowd cheer

Metal Mario will use the same crowd cheers as Mario.

	English	Japanese
Cheer
Description	Mario! *claps three times*	Ma - *clap* ri - o! *clap*
Pitch	Group chant	Group chant

In competitive play

Despite his reputation for being a poor character and being drastically nerfed from his boss appearance in 1P Game, due to only being playable via hacking, Metal Mario has been banned in tournaments since its inception. Hacking the game presents logistical issues to tournaments, requiring every setup to be running the correct modded version of the game, which alone can have effects on integrity. Even this has limits: Simple Gameshark cheats require the game to be reset after every win due to the results screen crashing the game without further modifications, delaying tournaments by affecting mid-set processes like counterpicking, online or offline. Thus, it is considered more practical to keep Metal Mario banned.

However, with the inception of Smash Remix and 19XXTE making him much easier to access - no longer requiring resets and reloading cheats due to game crashes from the results screen - arguments have been made to legalise him in tournaments. These mainly consist of claims that keeping him banned because of accessibility is irrational if the metagame impact is minimal, citing his inept recovery and poor combo game as significant factors. Some tournaments have been played in Smash Remix with boss characters allowed, where Metal Mario, while playable, fares poorly. Despite this, in Smash 64 and Remix, Metal Mario remains banned in standard play, the latter case being due to his status as a boss character, rather than metagame implications.

In 1P Game

Metal Mario in 1P Game.

In the game's single-player mode, Metal Mario is fought as a boss on Meta Crystal, where he has a handicap that allows him to sustain up to around 200% before being possible to launch, while having buffed knockback himself. His AI is very simple, largely just walking left and right and occasionally attacking.

Gallery

• 

  Metal Mario on Meta Crystal.

• 

  Versus Mario.

Trivia

• Metal Mario is the only character in Smash 64 to have higher fast falling speed than regular falling speed (72 vs 100).
• When playing 1P Game as Metal Mario, due to lacking a portrait for the player's side, nothing will be visible.