Yoshi (Super Smash Bros. Brawl)


 * This article is about Yoshi's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. For other uses, see Yoshi.

Yoshi (, Yosshī) is a character appearing in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. He is relatively unchanged from the previous games except for one thing - he can now use his Egg Toss as a recovery move (though it only gives him a small upwards boost). His smashes appear less powerful, but his aerials and tilts are slightly more powerful. He has also taken on his upright posture and his appearance is like the younger Yoshi in Yoshi's Story. He appears to be slightly larger now in relation to the human-sized characters as well.

Yoshi ranks 29th on the tier list due to his extremely high learning curve due to extremely difficult advanced techniques, over-reliance on his double jump to recover, making Footstool Jumps, Meteor Smashes, or certain special grabs very dangerous to him (although he can air dodge during his second jump to gain invincibility), abysmal out of shield options with a poor roll dodge (although immunity to shield stabbing helps somewhat) and poor kill power without quick attack speed (except for down smash, which isn't a reliable killing move, and uair, which is a bit situational) resulting in lackluster matchups and tournament results.

Attributes
Few characters are as unusual in Brawl as Yoshi. Yoshi is a rather heavy character, tied with Wario in weight, but rather small and weak for his weight. He also is very maneuverable in the air with a slow falling speed and the fastest air speed in the game, which are not usually attributes found in heavyweights. His midair jump is the largest in the game, giving limited knockback resistance during the ascent. One significant flaw is that, because of his minuscule third jump, Footstool Jumps, grabs (such as special grabs that can catch in the air), and attacks with enough knockback to cancel his midair jump's resistance can be devastating to Yoshi, should they be performed while he is in his second jump. He's quite speedy on the ground, but he has few effective ways to advance on the opponent. Yoshi's standing grab range has lots of start up lag, and his dash grab is very punishable, with both being relatively short for tether grabs. To help this problem, Yoshi arguably has the best Pivot Grab in the game. Yoshi can perform a pseudo-wavedash, known as the Dragonic Reverse. Yoshi's moves generally have decent speed (although not as quick as several characters), and his range and priority are both good for jointed moves. To counter-balance this, his killing power and amount of KO moves are rather low, and he has only average attack speed. His Flutter Kick (downwards aerial) can hit for 33% if used correctly, making it among the most damaging attacks in the game (although this can be escaped with Smash DI). His specials are largely situational due to a mix of poor range, speed, and/or priority. Egg Throw, for example, is an effective projectile attack that can help change directions in midair and can help recovery, but it can be hard to use because it travels in an arc, which can make it hard to hit with. Although his shield gives him immunity to shield stabbing and lasts slightly longer then others, it has a long exiting animation (taking 17 frames to shield drop instead of 7 frames for anyone else) and it cannot be jumped out of, making him have arguably the worst out of shield options in the game when considering his very slow standing grab, making him have a near impossible time punishing the opponent for hitting Yoshi's shield. His roll is also poor, though he has one of the best Spot Dodges in the game. As long as Yoshi has his double jump, he can be an effective edge guarder, either finishing enemies off with his Meteor Smashes, or using his Neutral aerial at the right time to knock them back even further.

Yoshi's major advantage is in his grab-release on a large number of cast members. He currently has a grab-release on at least nineteen cast members, and he can grab-release-spike seven of those.

Yoshi is a character with very clear advantages and disadvantages. Many of his advantageous match-ups stem from his grab-release or other tricks he can pull off, but his relatively short and laggy grab can be an impediment (though he can Pivot Grab to remedy this). Yoshi's extremely high learning curve and difficulty in using his chain grabs on some characters means that only dedicated Yoshi players can do very well with him. It may take a while for those new to Yoshi to fare as well.

Changes from Melee to Brawl
Yoshi received both major buffs to some of his moves and major nerfs to other moves. His aerials and tilts are slightly stronger (although his dair does less damage and his Forward aerial now has a sweetspot and its meteor smash is much weaker), but his smashes are slightly weaker (excluding his down smash, which is weakened significantly). Egg Toss can now be used as a recovery move due to the very slight boost it now provides, but Egg Roll now gives very little horizontal distance when used in the air and sends him into a helpless state if the move has been cancelled, making it ineffective as a recovery move (however, it completely Momentum Cancels). Yoshi Bomb now shoots downward at a faster speed, but it is weaker in terms of knockback. It also (when used from the ground) takes an enemy standing directly in front of Yoshi up with him, comparable to Final Cutter. His eggs do less damage and knockback, and they can no longer be tossed backwards. They also have a finite number of throwing angles/strengths. Yoshi's air speed has increased to the fastest in the game (up from a tie for second-fastest with Mewtwo). On the downside, if Yoshi attacks during his double jump he does not stop momentum, unless he uses his special moves, like Egg Lay. This means that Yoshi can no longer double jump cancel with his aerials. Yoshi is largely a weaker-hitting character than he was in Melee, but he also is tougher to knock out.

Yoshi also had changes that are either not related to buffing/nerfing or hard to tell which. He has a new forward tilt; a tail swat instead of a strong kick. His stance is different; Yoshi stands upright. While Yoshi's tail is smaller in Brawl, his tail grows bigger for its attacks than it did in Melee. The spikes on his back are curved rather than spiky, like they are in his recent appearances. His tongue makes a different sound. His down tilt no longer has set knockback.

Moveset
The following characters can be chain grabbed by Yoshi, though some are harder to chain grab than others: Bowser, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Wario, Link, Ganondorf, Zero Suit Samus, Pit, Meta Knight, King Dedede, Falco, Captain Falcon, Pikachu, Squirtle, Charizard, Ike, Lucas, Snake, and Sonic.

Taunts
Up: Dances around in a circle and says "Yoshi!".

Side: Spins around, chasing his tail, then looks at it.

Down: Waves to the screen, saying "Yoshi! Yoshi!" This is an update of the taunt he had in SSB and Melee.

On-Screen Appearance
Hops out of a Yoshi Egg.

Role In The Subspace Emissary
After removing the Master Sword from a pedestal in a forest, Link encounters Yoshi, who is sleeping on a tree stump. However, the passing Halberd drops Shadow Bugs, which in turn form Primids. Peaceful sleep is now impossible, so Yoshi teams up with Link to fight them off. Yoshi's next role in the story depends on which princess Kirby saved at the stadium. If you chose Peach, Yoshi and Link battle against a Shadowbug clone of Peach (who was recently trophied by Bowser), who was trying to trophy an unsuspecting Mario and Pit until Link sliced the cannon in half. After the battle, the trophy disintegrates. Thinking that they killed the real princess, Mario and Pit attack Link and Yoshi. If you saved Zelda, then Mario and Pit would fight a Shadowbug clone of her instead, and Link and Yoshi would attack Mario and Pit. Either way, both teams fight each other. After Link and Yoshi/Mario and Pit defeat the opposing characters, King Dedede passes by in the cargo and snags the trophies with a metal arm, while Link/Mario notices the real trophy of Zelda/Peach in the back. After King Dedede raises his fist in triumph, Kirby jumps onto the cargo and performs a Final Cutter, severing the arm and reviving the trophies. Pit/Link quickly hits the cargo with an arrow as it passes by, damaging it. Kirby, Link, Yoshi, Mario, and Pit then team up to find Dedede's castle.

Later on, they find the Ancient Minister setting off a Subspace bomb, and see the real regret that he feels in this deed. As the bomb goes off, Yoshi carries Mario to safety by running really fast, while Pit, Kirby and Link fly overhead on a warp star. Yoshi carrying Mario in this SSE cutscene reflects on how Yoshi was used for transportation for Mario (most notably in Yoshi's Island and Super Mario World).

Yoshi joins his companions when they reinforce Marth's team in the Canyon. Later, he joins the heroes in the battle against the Subspace Gunship and again against Tabuu. After being trophied by Tabuu's Off Waves, Yoshi is revived by Dedede and Kirby, and afterward, joins Sonic and the others against Tabuu.

Event Matches

 * Event 10: All-Star Battle Regulars- The player must choose a character and take on the "original eight" fighters, two at a time.
 * Event 11: Yoshi's Rainbow- As the Ice Climbers on Rainbow Cruise, the player must KO the Yoshis in the following order: Red, pink, yellow, green, light blue, and blue. Not killing them in order is instant failure.
 * Event 12: Sleeping in the Eggs- Using Yoshi’s Egg Lay standard special move, the player must put Kirby and Pikachu in eggs simultaneously.
 * Event 37: The Pirate Airship- The Pirate Ship will continuously be caught in a hurricane and be sent to the sky. KO both Yoshis as Toon Link when the ship is in the air.

Co-Op Event Matches

 * Co-Op Event 3: Fastest, Shortest, Sudden Death- All Players start with 300%. Survive as Yoshi and King Dedede against Lucas and Pit for 10 seconds on WarioWare.
 * Co-Op Event 5: The Yoshi Team of 50- As Meta Knight and Pit, KO all 50 Yoshis on Rainbow Cruise before completing one lap of the stage.
 * Co-Op Event 9: Those Who Stayed in Onett- KO Luigi and Yoshi, playing as Lucas and Ness on Onett.
 * Co-Op Event 21: The True All-Star Battle- Select any character and take on the entire roster on Battlefield.

Trivia

 * Yoshi is the only character with a ranged grab not to have a Tether Recovery.
 * Yoshi is the only character who can eat opponents but not items.
 * The Bunny Hood and Metal Box do not affect the height of Yoshi's second jump.
 * Yoshi holds the world record for Co-op Target Smash!! Level 4 with Pikachu (completed in 4.81 seconds).
 * With a Bunny Hood, Yoshi can use Egg Throw to stall in certain places, such as the under the lip of the original Pokémon Stadium.
 * Unlike Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, and Bowser, Yoshi retains his cartoonish voice from the Mario games.
 * Yoshi, Bowser, Link, Luigi, and Toon Link are the only characters to wear their default costumes in team battles, when they are on the green team.