Mario (SSBM)

Mario in Super Smash Bros. Melee
Mario
Universe	Mario
Other playable appearances	in SSB in Brawl
Availability	Starter
Tier	D (13)

Mario (マリオ, Mario) is a starter character who has appeared in all three in the Super Smash Bros. franchise. His appearance in Melee was announced at E3 2001. Mario debuted in the arcade game Donkey Kong in 1981, and has been the main mascot for Nintendo since.

Mario appears on rank 13 in the D tier on the current tier list, placing him in the center, along with his brother Luigi and two places below his clone of Dr. Mario. Mario acts as a well-rounded character, with average weight, falling speed and other such attributes. Mario has above-average comboing ability, and a very versatile grab game; his powerful back throw can gimp and his down throw can chaingrab. Mario also is a decent edgeguarder, with Fireball (a solid projectile), and his cape which can easily and efficiently gimp almost every other character's recovery.

Mario lacks a reliable finisher, and his recovery is predictable and short, though he can extend it with his cape and wall jumps as long as he isn't sent too far away.

Attributes

In many of the multiplayer games Mario has been in, he has been a "balanced" character, and Super Smash Bros. Melee is no exception. Mario is well-rounded in terms of weight, falling speed, air speed, size, and dash speed. Mario's smash attacks do decent damage, and he can rack up damage by easily comboing his opponents. On the downside, most of Mario's KOs require a setup, and he does not have a reliable finisher. Mario has a decent edgeguarding projectile (Fireball) that can also set up approaches, but this is his only ranged move. Mario's up and down throws can be used to chaingrab fastfallers (and a few other characters), and his back throw can hit groups of opponents. His forward aerial is a powerful meteor smash, but it is slow. Mario can also wall jump, and he has good juggling abilities. Mario's recovery is very poor in comparison to other fighters', but his Cape (in addition to being able to turn opponents around and reflect projectiles) remedies this problem. Alongside Luigi and Dr. Mario, he has one of the strongest back throws, which grants him edge-hogging capabilities for a quick gimp kill.

Moveset

Ground attacks

Normal

• Neutral attack- Mario does a weak punch forward, followed by a second weak punch before a stronger kick forward. This entire combo was in Super Mario 64. 2-3%, 1-2%, 4-5% damage respectively
• Dash attack- Mario slides on the ground feet first. Knocks foes diagonally behind him. 9% when it first comes out, 6% after.
• Forward tilt- A fast kick forward. Often throw into Mario's combos. 9%
• Up tilt- Mario punches upwards. Good juggling move. Looks similar to the second hit of Mario's Mega Glove combo in Super Mario RPG. 8% damage.
• Down tilt- Mario kneels down and sweeps his leg low to the ground. Low knockback. At damages below 100%, this move is very weak and barely stuns the foe. Above 100%, however, this move can be easily followed with a forward for a quick kill. 8% damage

Smash attacks

• Forward smash- Mario launches a blast of fire from his palm. The move is relatively quick and has good knockback. Note that if the opponent is very close to Mario, the attack will land on a sourspot on his arm. Sweetspot does 18% damage uncharged, 23% fully. Sourspot does 11% damage uncharged, 15% fully.
• Up smash- Mario headbutts upward. A fast move with more range at the back of his head than in the front. 15% uncharged, 18% full.
• Down smash- Mario does a breakdancing kick. Extremely fast, one of Mario's stronger moves. From Super Mario 64. 16% front, 10% back uncharged, 21% front 12% back full.

Other attacks

• Ledge attack - Does a somersault and then kicks upward. 8% damage
• 100% Ledge Attack - Gets up then does an attack similar to his down-angled forward tilt. 10% damage
• Floor attack -Gets up then punches behind him, then in front of him. 6% damage

Aerial attacks

• Neutral aerial- A sex kick. Mario sticks his foot out in front of him. Like a few of his other moves, this was in Super Mario 64. Peak damage is 12%, gets weaker thereafter.
• Forward aerial- Mario punches in front of him with an enlarged fist. Slow and very predictable, but powerful meteor smash. 15% damage
• Back aerial- Mario kicks backward. Fast, good for edgeguarding. 10% damage
• Up aerial-Mario flip kicks upward. Good move for juggling and comboing. 11% damage
• Down aerial- Drill Kick: Mario spins. Resembles the Spin Jump from Super Mario World. Does multiple hits instead of one powerful one. Total 10%

Throws

• Pummel- A Clutch Headbutt: Mario headbutts his grabbed opponent. 2-3%
• Forward throw- Mario spins around once, and throws his opponent forward.9% damage
• Back throw- Mario spins around three times and throws his opponent backward. Good knockback, can hit enemies mid swing. 12% damage
• Up throw- Mario Launch- Mario throws his opponent upward. Good for an up-tilt following. 8% damage.
• Down throw- Mario throws his opponent on the ground. Can be a good chainthrow on certain characters. 6% damage

Special moves

Mario's special moves

Neutral special	Fire Ball	Fireball
Side special	—	Cape
Up special	Super Jump Punch
Down special	Mario Tornado		F.L.U.D.D.

Changes from SSB to Melee

• Mario Tornado doesn't last as long, but strikes faster.
• New side smash.
• New forward aerial which can meteor smash.
• Up smash is a little weaker, but has less ending lag.
• New side special- Cape
• Super Jump Punch doesn't travel as far, but it combos a lot faster.

Matchups

Super Smash Bros. Melee Character Matchups

Avg.

Techniques

• Rising Tornado
• Full Jump to down aerial to up aerial - This move is a very good combo approach/start. Perform the drill early enough so the up aerial can be performed.
• Up special wall jump - On a stage with walls on the sides, (eg. Yoshi's Story), if Mario is sent off, use the up special as a normal jump towards the wall and wall jump, this move takes a bit of practice and is usable in both the NTSC and PAL versions of Melee.
• Cape edgeguard - When recovery of opponent is easy to predict use the cape to turn him around so that he doesn't return and so that he does the opposite. This technique is not appropriate for some characters such as, Sheik, Marth, Yoshi, and Ness.

In single-player modes

Adventure Mode

In the game's Adventure Mode, Mario teams up with Peach against the player in the second part of the first stage, taking place on Princess Peach's Castle - but if the player finished the previous segment, Mushroom Kingdom Adventure, with the remaining time registering 2 in the seconds digit,[Luigi will take his place in a cutscene that will trigger right before this battle. Later on in the second-to-last stage of Adventure, Metal Mario will fight the player's character on the Battlefield stage, where he functions as simply a Mario permanently under the influence of the Metal Box item. If the player unlocked Luigi, Metal Mario will be joined by Metal Luigi, and they both team up on the player, making for a harder fight.

Event Matches

Mario is featured in the following event matches:

• Event 1: Trouble King: The player plays as Mario against Bowser on the Battlefield stage, with a 2-minute time limit and both players having 2 stock each.
• Event 10: All-Star Match 1: Mario is the first opponent the player must fight in this series of staged battles. Their character battles him on the Yoshi's Island stage, and the player's character has 2 stock while Mario has 1. With a timer of four minutes, the player must defeat him and the other four characters with the overall time and life the player has: Donkey Kong, Yoshi, Peach, and Bowser.
• Event 19: Peach's Peril: As Mario teamed up with Peach with 1 stock each, the player must ensure both of the characters survive the vicious assaults of the enemy Bowser on the Final Destination stage for one minute. Score is determined by how many times the player can KO Bowser in this time frame, as he has infinite stock.
• Event 22: Super Mario 128: This match pits the player's 1-stock character in a wild endurance match on the Mushroom: Kingdom II stage, where they must battle 128 tiny Marios that rain down from the sky and come at the player five at a time. Each Mario is light in the extreme, so just about any attack from any character will KO a Mario.
• Event 31: Mario Bros. Madness: The player's character battles a team of Mario and Luigi in a 2-minute unlimited-stock match in the Mushroom: Kingdom stage. Whoever gets the most KOs wins, much like in a standard time-match.
• Event 38: Super Mario Bros. 2: In this match, the player's character must battle against Mario, Luigi, and Peach in an unlimited-time 2-stock match on Mushroom: Kingdom II. The odds may seem especially stacked against the player, but the opponent team is subject to friendly fire. The character selection and stage are a direct throwback to the original Super Mario Bros. 2, an NES sequel to Super Mario Bros.

Instruction booklet description

A well-rounded hero who boasts a balance between offence and defence.

Trophy descriptions

In addition to the normal trophy about Mario as a character, there are two trophies about him as a fighter, unlocked by completing the Adventure and All-Star Modes respectively with Mario on any difficulty:

Mario (Classic)

"Known worldwide as Mr. Nintendo, Mario uses his incredible jumping ability to thwart the evil Bowser time after time. While he's best known as a hero, Mario has played many roles, including racer, doctor, golfer, and villain. His tastes have changed over 20 years of gaming; he long ago swapped the colors of his shirt and overalls.

Mario (Adventure)

Mario is a character without any glaring weaknesses and plenty of strong attacks: he's even equipped with a Meteor Smash. He's a straightforward character who'll reflect the actual skills of the player. Mario's Cape will turn other characters in the opposite direction and can also reflect missile weapons.

• B: Fireball
• Smash B: Cape

Mario (All-Star)

Mass determines how easily a character can be sent flying, as well as a character's physical strength: Mario's mass is the standard upon which other Smash fighters are measured. His Super Jump Punch sends foes skyward in a shower of coins, while the Mario Tornado pulls in nearby foes, spins them silly, and scatters them every which way.

• Up & B: Super Jump Punch
• Down & B: Mario Tornado

• 

  Classic

• 

  Adventure

• 

  All-Star

Costume gallery

File:Alt-mario2.jpg

Mario's palette swaps in SSBM

Trivia

• A taunting Mario with a Super Mushroom in Giant Melee Mode is the largest possible character size that can be achieved without hacking.
• Mario's taunt is the second longest taunt out of all the characters, the longest one being Young Link's.
• Currently, Mario is the only character in Melee whose clone is ranked higher than he is.
• If the Master Hand glitch is used in an event and sets a record, the score is shown on Mario.
• Many of Mario's Voice Clips in this game are taken from Super Mario 64

External links

• Nintendorks' page on Mario