Mario (Super Smash Bros. Melee)


 * ''This article is about Mario's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Melee. For other uses, see Mario. For information about Mario's clone, see Dr. Mario (SSBM).

Mario (, Mario) is a character who has appeared in all three games in the Super Smash Bros. franchise. Announced at E3 2001, Mario debuted in Donkey Kong on the arcade, and has been the main video game mascot for Nintendo since. His design is based off of Super Mario 64.

Mario currently ranks 13th place in the tier list, because of being considered the "all-around" character. He is well-balanced, and possesses great close-range Smash Attacks and good long range. However, his predictable recovery and above average match-ups lock in the D Tier.

Mario is available as a starter.

Attributes
In almost all of the games Mario is in, he is very balanced, 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 in the Fireball, which is very useful for setting up approaches, but this is his only ranged move.

Mario's Up and Down Throws can be used to chaingrab fast fallers and a few other characters, and his Back Throw can hit groups of opponents. His Forward Aerial is a powerful, but slow Meteor Smash. 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, can help this problem. Alongside Luigi and Dr. Mario, he has one of the strongest Back Throws, and he can accompany it by edgehogging for a quick gimp kill.

Normal

 * Standard 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.
 * Strong Side - A fast kick forward. Often throw into Mario's combos. 9% damage.
 * Strong Up - Mario punches upwards. Good juggling move. Looks similar to the second hit of Mario's Mega Glove combo in Super Mario RPG. 8% damage.
 * Strong Down - 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 Aerial for a quick kill. 8% damage.

Smash attacks

 * Side Smash - Mario launches a blast of fire from his palm. Good knockback, fast. Can be angled. 16%/17%/18% while uncharged, 23%/24%/25% when fully charged.
 * Up Smash - Mario headbutts upward. A fast move with more range at the back of his head than in the front. 14% uncharged, 19% full.
 * Down Smash - Mario does a breakdancing kick. Extremely fast, one of Mario's stronger moves, though his weakest Smash Attack. From Super Mario 64. 16% front, 10% back when uncharged, 21% front, 14% back when fully charged.

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 1 - Gets up then punches behind him, then in front of him. 6% damage.
 * Floor Attack 2 - Gets up and sweeps his legs extremely fast, similar to his Down Smash. 5-6% 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 a 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 - A "Drill Kick". Resembles the Spin Jump from Super Mario World. Does multiple hits. 10% if all hits connect.

Throws

 * Pummel - Mario headbutts his grabbed opponent. 2-3% damage.
 * 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. This throw is slightly stronger than Luigi's, but slightly weaker than Dr. Mario, indicating that Mario has the average throw out of the three. 12% damage.
 * Up Throw - 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.

Changes from N64 to Melee
Mario has been buffed from N64. Here are some changes:
 * Mario Tornado doesn't last as long, but strikes faster, and knockback increases by damage percent.
 * New Side Smash is much stronger. His Down Smash is slightly weaker, but is much faster and has less ending lag.
 * New Forward Aerial which can Meteor Smash, but is slightly weaker and has slightly more starting and ending lag.
 * Up Smash is slightly weaker, but has much less ending lag, is much faster, and it is still strong enough to reliably KO under 125% on average and floaty characters and maybe certain fast-fallers.
 * New Side Special - Cape.
 * Super Jump Punch doesn't travel as far, but it combos a lot faster.
 * He is now faster, stronger, more range, easier to combo with and more balanced.
 * His Up Smash and Down Smash are slightly weaker overall, but his new Forward Smash is much stronger and can reliably KO under 101% when angled straight, 98% when angled up, and 104%-105% when angled down.

Techniques

 * Rising Tornado - If one mashes B rapidly while Mario is spinning, he'll get a slight lift. Hold the Control Stick towards the stage afterwards so the slight altitude gained is not wasted. This can also be used only once in the air to rise.
 * 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-B Wall Jump - On Yoshi's Story, if Mario is sent off, and he can't recover normally (Cape to Jump to Up-B), use the Up-B as a normal jump towards the wall and Wall Jump. This move takes a bit of practice and is both usable in the NTSC and PAL version of Melee.
 * Cape Edgeguard - When the opponent's recovery is easy to predict, use the Cape to turn them around, so that they doesn't return. This technique is not appropriate for some characters, such as Sheik, Marth, Yoshi, and Ness.

In Single-player
In the game's single-player 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 previous segment, Mushroom Kingdom Adventure, is finished, 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 on the Battlefield stage, where he functions as simply a Mario permanently under the influence of the Metal Box item. If Luigi has been unlocked, Metal Mario will be joined by Metal Luigi, and they both team up, making for a harder fight.

Mario is featured in the following Event Matches:
 * Event 1: Trouble King: Mario is the playable character in a fight against Bowser on the Battlefield stage, with a 2-minute time limit and both characters having 2 stock each.
 * Event 10: All-Star Match 1: Mario is the first opponent to be fought in this series of staged battles. The chosen character battles him on the Yoshi's Island stage, having 2 stock while Mario has 1. With a timer of four minutes, he and the other four characters must be defeated with the overall time and life remaining: Donkey Kong, Yoshi, Peach, and Bowser.
 * Event 19: Peach's Peril: As Mario teamed up with Peach with 1 stock each, survival must be ensured against the vicious assaults of the enemy Bowser on the Final Destination stage for one minute. Score is determined by how many times Bowser is KO'd in this time frame, as he has infinite stock.
 * Event 22: Super Mario 128: This match pits a 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 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 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, a NES sequel to Super Mario Bros.

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
 * 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.
 * Donkey Kong, 1981


 * Mario (Smash Red)
 * 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 (Smash Blue)
 * 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

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.
 * Mario's Blue alternate costume looks like his costume on the boxart of "Mario Bros."
 * Currently, Mario is the only character in Melee whose clone is ranked higher than he is.