Final Smash
A Final Smash (最後の切りふだ Saigo no Kiri Fuda, Final Trump Card) is a special attack in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and in Super Smash Bros. 4. Final Smashes are incredibly powerful in comparison to most other attacks, generally leaving the user invincible for the move's duration, are generally unblockable, and, if properly executed, usually have the capacity to KO at least one opponent. Final Smashes performed correctly will give the player a great advantage, and may help to catch up to others or cement a commanding lead. Many Final Smashes also temporarily slow down stage elements, such as platform movements and motions in the background.
To perform a Final Smash, a player must first either destroy a Smash Ball or fall sufficiently far behind that they are given a "Pity Final Smash". Once either of these happen, the player's character will be engulfed in a multi-colored aura; pressing the special move button in this state will trigger the Final Smash. However, as with any other item, a character with the Smash Ball collected may randomly drop it whenever damaged, which will then cause the Smash Ball to fly out of the character and return to play.
Only one Smash Ball or Final Smash can be present on-screen at any given time.
Prior to Brawl
It was revealed in an interview with Nintendo's president, Satoru Iwata, that Masahiro Sakurai had intended for Final Smashes to be included in the original Super Smash Bros., even going as far as to record voice clips for each of the Final Smashes. The idea, however, was held off until Brawl. While the voice clips cannot be listened to in ordinary gameplay, the debug menu allows the player to listen to various clips that do suggest the idea, such as Ness yelling "PK Starstorm!".
Pity Final Smash
A Pity Final Smash occurs when a player is KO'd and is 5 points behind the current leader (thereby allowing the player in 2nd place or below to earn one, provided the gap is large enough.) This player respawns with the ability to perform a Final Smash. This Final Smash cannot be dropped by the player. Pity Final Smashes can be disabled only by turning the Smash Ball off; simply setting overall item frequency to "None" does not prevent players from getting them if Smash Balls are still turned on.
Types
While Final Smashes tend to be unique among characters, there are certain categories they can be sorted into.
- Directional - These Final Smashes launch an attack in a single direction. Depending on the Final Smash, the direction can be controlled, while others are fixed. This kind of Final Smash has a blind spot, usually behind the attacker, where targets can hide.
- Focused - These Final Smashes affect nearby opponents in any direction. Targets can avoid the move by getting out of range, so they're most effective on smaller stages.
- Trapping - These Final Smashes attack a certain area, grab anyone inside said area (or just a single character), and lay down an inescapable beating. They generally have a small initial range and will fail if there are no targets caught.
- Stage-Wide - These Final Smashes affect the whole stage, leaving little or no hiding spots. However, they may be less effective on larger stages due to the manner in which they stretch out.
- Transformation - These Final Smashes only affect the user, who can then rampage around and cause damage. Some transformations buff up the character's existing moveset, while others use a different set of controls. Most transformations leave the user immune to damage and most status effects.
Amongst all the different types, a common trait is that all characters are invincible during some period of their Final Smash (most notably during the very startup of the attacks all the way to the end), and that the camera (save for two of them) zooms in on the character performing one at the beginning juncture.
List
Notes
- ^ a b These characters are vulnerable during their Final Smash.
- ^ a b These characters are vulnerable for part of their Final Smash.
- ^ Presumed due to several pieces of evidence, but not outright confirmed.
- ^ "Housewarming Party" in PAL regions
- ^ As this Final Smash has the primary function of turning Zero Suit Samus into Samus, it is unclear (yet unlikely) whether it will remain the same move in SSB4, where the character switch is known to not occur.
In competitive play
In tournaments, all items are turned to off and none, including Smash Balls. This means that Final Smashes do not appear in tournaments. While there has been some dispute in the past whether Smash Balls should be the only item turned on, due to resembling the "super move" concept of more traditional fighting games, the general consensus is that Final Smashes are heavily detrimental to competitive play. Just like with other items, the appearance and spawn spot of a Smash Ball is still random, which can lead to a player gaining a large advantage from just being in the right place at the right time. Most Final Smashes are also considered very broken, with many guaranteeing the loss of a stock in competent hands, if not just heavy damage. The immense power of Final Smashes is also exacerbated by the frequent appearance of Smash Balls (which will spawn about every 30 to 45 seconds even with the spawn rate set to low), which heavily centralizes the match on "getting the Smash Ball" rather than outplaying the opponent. Finally, the loading time required before a Final Smash actually becomes available to a character is somewhat random and invisible to players, so one may end up using a neutral special for no apparent reason and possibly providing the opponent a free opportunity to counter.
Because items are turned to off and none, and tournament rules specify only 3 stock (or sometimes even less), Pity Final Smashes also do not appear in tournaments. One might argue that allowing Pity Final Smashes would allow a badly beaten player to stage a comeback, as they do not appear at random like Smash Balls do. However, this can only happen in a match of at least 6 stocks, which is considered to be way too high for tournaments (taking a very long amount of time to complete matches), and competitive players generally consider an element designed solely to aid a worse-performing player to be anti-competitive and thus detrimental to competitive play.
For Super Smash Bros. 4, to appeal to hardcore players and accommodate competitive play, Sakurai has stated that Smash Balls (and thus Final Smashes) will remain togglable[1]. As a result, barring extreme mechanic changes, Final Smashes will continue to not be a factor in competitive play.
References
External links
| Attacks in the Super Smash Bros. series | |
|---|---|
| Standard ground attacks | Neutral attack · Dash attack |
| Tilt attacks | Forward tilt · Up tilt · Down tilt · Crouching attack |
| Smash attacks | Forward smash · Up smash · Down smash |
| Aerial attacks | Neutral aerial · Forward aerial · Back aerial · Up aerial · Down aerial · Grab aerial · Glide attack |
| Throws | Grab · Pummel · Forward throw · Back throw · Up throw · Down throw |
| Get-up attacks | Floor attack · Edge attack |
| Special moves | Neutral special move · Side special move · Up special move · Down special move · Command-input move · Final Smash |
