Falcon Dive



Falcon Dive is Captain Falcon's Up Special Move. Contrary to the name, Falcon does a leap in the air, fist extended while glowing green. If Captain Falcon catches the foe while still ascending, he'll grab the foe and launch off with a cry of "Yes!". The attack cause an explosion and burns the opponent after Captain Falcon launches. If a hit is scored, the attack can be used again. When used on the ground or in the air, it can be reversed.

Falcon Dive works similar to a Meteor Smash if used on an opponent near the bottom of a solid ledge, this is called a stage spike.

Super Smash Bros.
In Super Smash Bros., this move was Falcon's main recovery move, other than the Falcon Punch angled upwards (The F.P. gave him a slight vertical and horizontal boost). However, it was extremely easy to edgehog due to the fact that it could not grab foes hanging onto a ledge, thus making recovering with Falcon in some cases near impossible.

When the move connected with foes, it will strongly launch them at a 45° angle horizontally and vertically, thus making it hard to DI the knockback. It does a solid 20% damage upon connection with high knockback (average kill is around 130%). As with all of Falcon's special moves, it had 2-D rendered sprites as special effects. When contact is successful, it will restore a foe's midair jump and Falcon will be not be helpless, free to use the move again.

A string of multiple up aerial attacks from Captain Falcon followed by a Falcon Dive, throughout all of the games in the Smash Bros. trilogy is commonly referred to as an "SSB 64 Combo", as this was a very common combo in said game.

Super Smash Bros. Melee
Not much has changed since it's SSB incarnation aside from a better voice quality and better special effects. Falcon Dive seems somewhat weaker, but landing the move appears to be easier, as various combos can lead into this move, usually a Raptor Boost. As with SSB, contact will allow the foe to reuse a midair jump and give Captain Falcon the ability to use the move once more. However, a Falcon Kick will restore Cap. Falcon's midair jump, so it is advised to use it and the Dive to safely return to the stage.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl
In Brawl, Falcon Dive was buffed. Timing and landing the move seems to be improved due to the floatiness and the slower falling speed of characters in Brawl. However, doing it in the opposite direction Falcon is looking drastically decreases the horizontal distance which decreases the recovery distance and didn't happen in Melee. Also, Captain Falcon is vulnerable to hits during the start-up and to moves that hit directly above him (where the move has no grab box).

A number of things were changed from it's SSBM function to SSBB's. Raptor Boost's base knockback no longer allows Falcon to combo into it as effectively as before, and a majority of Falcon's remaining combos into the Dive are much more predictable and DI-able. It no longer restores a foe's midair jump, though Falcon can still use the move afterwards. this move cannot break Smash Balls but it is capable of destroying targets in Target Smash!! when the body comes in contact with the target.

Perhaps the biggest change is the ability to finally grab and effectively Stage Spike foes that hang on the ledge much more efficiently; Falcon Dive will grab foes hanging onto the ledge and function as it normally would airborne, making Captain Falcon harder to edgehog than ever before, though it's still vulnerable to edge hogging if the edge hog is timed early enough, especially because his ledge sweetspot range is one of the largest in the game. It is excellent at punishing foes who camp on ledges. This is considered one of Capt. Falcon's few buffs form Melee to Brawl.



Differences with Dark Dive

 * Goes higher than Ganondorf's Dark Dive.
 * Falls faster and is harder to sweetspot with.
 * Deceptively large ledge sweetspot when facing backwards at the peak height.
 * Overall weaker than the Dark Dive in Melee, but much stronger than Dark Dive in Brawl and is impossible to punish for landing it.
 * Falcon Dive releases the opponent earlier than Dark Dive.
 * Falcon does an uppercut and somersaults airborne if it misses.
 * Flame effects instead of electrical when hit.
 * Two hits when connects, compared to Dark Dive's multi-hitting version.

Trivia

 * The way Captain Falcon yells "Yes!" during a successful connect has also become somewhat a internet meme, in similar way to his Falcon Punch. The amount of enthusiasm Falcon uses when he shouts it makes it sound like "YESH!", also memetic.
 * In the original, the Falcon Dive had odd Stale-Move Negation properties; at full power it was worth 20% damage, but every single repeated use after is 15%.