Floating
Floating refers to a technique that only Peach can perform in both Melee and Brawl if the player holds the jump button or taps the control stick up and holds it. While Peach is in the air, she will float for several seconds (in Brawl, 2.5 seconds). Peach can move horizontally while floating but will not move vertically. The player can also press the attack button while floating to perform a u-air, which will still keep Peach floating after the duration of the attack is finished. The float is a major part of Peach's recovery and frequently is used in competitive play, especially due to auto-floating and float canceling.
Auto-floating
In order to float on command — and at any height — the player must jump and press down when at the desired height while holding the jump button. Once the player has hit down while holding the jump button, they can hold up and let go of the jump button and keep on floating. This technique has been dubbed the "auto-float" by SuperDoodleMan. Floating at different heights has varying uses depending upon which height the player chooses, but they will generally find themselves floating either at short hop height or just above the ground. If they are falling down, and they have yet to use their float, they can press down and the jump button simultaneously, but make absolutely sure to do so at the same time; otherwise, they will waste their double jump and just float, which could prove disastrous while being edgeguarded. A double blue circle from a double jump or the very distinct sound effect of her double jump will give the player a notice that the technique has been performed successfully so the player know to either Wall Bomb or use Peach Parasol.
Float canceling
Float canceling can only be performed in Melee. It is arguably the most important aspect of Peach's one-on-one combat as it allows her to combo from almost any aerial at low percents; likewise, FCing makes it almost impossible to shield grab Peach out of her aerials. This technique makes all of her aerials useful at all times.
Execution is simple, but tournament-level mastery is not so easily learned. The player simply floats, attacks while floating, and lands on a surface on which they can stand at any time while the aerial is still in progress. When they land on the ground, instead of going into their aerial landing animation, they land with their normal landing animation. This reduces the lag of her aerials from eight to thirteen frames down to a brisk four frames.
Some uses of float canceling include, but are not explicitly limited to:
- Avoiding shield grabs
- Creating better set-ups and follow-ups for her aerial down attack, as well as utilizing its priority.
- Jumping out of shield into an aerial attack, or to attack again if a previous attack missed.
Ground floating
Some uses of ground floating include, but are not explicitly limited to:
- Leading into combos more easily than at other heights.
- Edgeguarding whilst onstage.
- Effectively utilizing her aerial neutral attack against a grounded opponent.
- Mindgaming with a quickly FC'ed aerial neutral attack.
At her full jump height, the player can abuse the benefits of Peach's aerial arsenal, especially the spacing on her aerial forward attack and the priority of her aerial down attack. Peach's full jump height can also be used to punish overaggressive combatants or overzealous players who like to jump the gun and attack too early. For example, a person who is playing as Falco who is constantly firing off Short-Hopped Lasers (SHL) or a character busy SHFFL'ing can be punished with a float canceled aerial. Ground floating should be used against opponents who remain airborne; it may also be used for following an opponent's DI from one of her launcher attacks.
Origin
Peach's float ability originates from Super Mario Bros. 2 in which she was the only playable character to be able to float. Super Mario Bros. 2 was itself based on a game called Doki Doki Panic. In this game, the character Lina had the ability to float, and she was replaced by Peach in the Mario-themed port.
Trivia
- Peach still has the ability to float under the effects of the Metal Box.
