Yoshi (Super Smash Bros. Melee)


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

Yoshi (ヨッシー) is a character in all three games in the SSB series. He was announced as a playable character at the E3 2001. He possesses a more realistic dinosaur crouching posture and mottled skin in Melee.

He is currently ranked in the F tier. Although he has decent comboing ability, he suffers from lacking a real third jump, resulting in an over-reliance on his large double jump. In addition to this, Yoshi sports a very slow, punishable, and all-around abysmal defensive game; he cannot even jump out of his shield, and he is cursed with a very slow roll. These negative properties have existed in Yoshi throughout the Smash Brothers series.

Attributes
One of Yoshi's most unique attributes is his shield. It lasts longer than other shields, is much easier to Perfect Shield with, and is immune to shield stabbing. However, he has a slow roll, can't jump out of his shield, and takes a longer time to exit his shield than any other character. Yoshi is heavy, but he is rather small and fast for a heavyweight (both of which are attributes usually not found in heavyweights). Yoshi can juggle many characters well, but he has mediocre combo ability on floaty characters. In recovery, Yoshi has very fast air speed, the highest second jump, and can use his side special (egg roll) to cover decent horizontal distance. On the downside, Yoshi lacks a third jump. Thus, he is highly vulnerable to being hit out of his second jump while recovering. Yoshi has a solid air game. His F-air and D-air are both meteor smashes, and the latter can deal up to 47% damage (making it the most damaging aerial attack). His ground game is weakened due to his grabs having a lot of start-up lag and being relatively short for ranged grabs. Yoshi's up special, egg throw, is a controllable projectile that can be used for many situations. His egg roll, though, can lead to a self-destruct if not used carefully. Yoshi can also moonwalk and double jump cancel. Although skilled players will be on the lookout for his egg lay move and will break out of the egg before many hits can be landed, it can throw an opponent off balance as they break out of the egg.

Normal

 * Neutral Attack- When A is pressed, Yoshi will do very fast short-ranged kick that will do 2-3% damage, followed by a more powerful kick if A is pressed again that does 4-6% damage.
 * Forward Tilt- A similar attack to the first hit of his Neutral Attack, only with more range and knockback. 9-10% damage.
 * Down Tilt- Swipes his tail. 9% damage.
 * Up Tilt- A fast but very short ranged tail swipe to the air. 10% damage.
 * Dash Attack- Headbutts in front mid-dash. 8% damage.

Smash Attacks

 * Forward Smash- Reels his head back, charging in place, and headbutts forwards. Somewhat predictable. 16% uncharged, 20% fully.
 * Down Smash- Swipes his tail in front and then back. Uncharged, 10% front 8% back, fully charged, 14% front, 11% back.
 * Up Smash- Headbutts upwards in an arch. 13% uncharged, 19% fully.

Other Attacks

 * Ledge attack- Picks himself up and whips his tail in front. 6% damage
 * 100% ledge attack- Slowly gets up and forces his head out. 12% damage, the most powerful ledge attack in the game.
 * Floor attack- Swirls around, tail extended. 6% damage.

Aerial Attacks

 * Neutral Aerial- A Sex Kick. 14% when first comes out, weaker afterwards.
 * Forward Aerial- Brings his head back and brings it down. Meteor Smash. 17%.
 * Back Aerial- Several fast tail swipes behind him. 17% if all hits connect.
 * Up Aerial- Thrusts his tail upwards very fast. 12% damage.
 * Down Aerial- Kicks his feet down very fast and continuously, weakly. Around 20% damage. Up to 47% if every kick hits.

Grabs & Throws

 * Pummel- Chews on foe. 2-3% damage per pummel.
 * Forward Throw- Spits foe out. 6% damage.
 * Back Throw- Turns around and spits foe out. 6% damage.
 * Up Throw- Chunks the opponent upwards. 4% damage.
 * Down Throw- Forcefully slams foe into the ground. 4% damage.

Changes from N64 to Melee

 * New Side B (Egg Roll)
 * More realistic appearance.
 * New Back Air.
 * Forward Air has lag.
 * New up-tilt.
 * Slower DJC's

Strategies
Yoshi has several specialty techniques that no other character can do. One of these is the edge-canceled eggs (ECE). The player does this by releasing from the edge, by either pressing down or back, double jumping then start throwing an egg. One needs to do this fast enough so that one does not over shoot the edge and land on the stage or too far above the edge, otherwise Yoshi is a sitting duck. After one throws the egg one can re-grab the edge, canceling all lag one would have had if one did it on the stage, and renewing one's invincibility. If the player wishes to have more accuracy when aiming at an opponent off the stage, one can do a reverse edge-canceled egg (RECE). This is done the same way except one turns around with one's second jump, this is much harder to do because one must control the distance from the ledge otherwise Yoshi will not be able to grab the edge backwards and will fall to his demise.

An easier technique that Yoshi has is egg rolling back onto the stage. One does this by egg rolling away from the stage and immediately smashing the direction of the stage. This is generally used for mind games more than damage.

Yoshi's double jump offers a special ledge grabbing technique that can be used for edge-hogging. He is able to walk or run off the stage and immediately grab the edge by using his double jump towards the stage.

One special note about Yoshi's Egg Toss is that he can grab ledges behind him for a short period of time afterward. This is what makes Reverse Edge-Canceled Eggs possible.

Edgeguarding
Several of the attacks Yoshi can use to edgeguard are down tilt, down aerial, forward aerial, eggs and smash attacks.

Down Tilt
Down tilt is known as the gimp kill of Yoshi's edge-game. If it works, which is uncommon, it's usually either against a Falco or the opponent has made a mistake. What the player does is you knock Yoshi's opponent off the stage and await him/her to try and grab the edge or make it back onto the stage. At this time one uses Yoshi's dtilt(which has a set-knockback) to knock them back off the stage, hopefully this time without their second jump. This is where timing comes in, one must hit them after they use their up special to recover but before they are close enough to hit you with it. At this point a cycle will begin (if one is doing it correctly) of Yoshi dtilting them off the stage then them hopelessly trying to grab the edge. After one racks-up some damage on them this way, usually Yoshi uses one of the other edgeguarding techniques to finish them off.

Down aerial
The down aerial is a mildly risky technique when used for edge guarding. This is because if the player does not jump Yoshi will die, as Yoshi's second jump is not enough to get back on the edge. However, all one needs to do is short hop and start Yoshi's down air before he reaches the height of the edge. One uses it by jumping off the edge and hit down on the c-stick or down on the joystick and A. If the player uses the joystick method then they will want to start it before they reach the max height on Yoshi's jump because one does not want to fast fall this move, else Yoshi will die. This move is a meteor, so it can be meteor-canceled. If Yoshi hits the opponent with it when they're at a low %'s, he may drag them down, but at high %'s, he'll only be able to hit them with only one part. With most edgeguarding techniques this move becomes more effective with more damage on your opponent.

Forward aerial
Yoshi's forward aerial is a meteor smash. It can be slightly risky when used. This is due to getting hit before, during, or after the player finishes the attack, if the attack is dodged. Because the attack is a meteor smash and not a spike, Yoshi's opponent has the chance to meteor cancel. This means that one should immediately double jump back to the stage after one's attack is completed, or one may run the risk of getting hit into the stage and knocked to your death.

Eggs
Eggs are one of Yoshi's main damage dealing and edge guarding techniques. These can be used from the stage or the edge. From the edge is most commonly known as (reverse) edge-canceled eggs, which are explained in the above section, Specialty Techniques. The player can also throw an egg after edge hopping, which has the effect of a standing egg throw. A standing egg throw is a risk-free way of egging an opponents recovery. However, a cost of not edge canceling one's eggs is the increased time in between one's eggs, which means Yoshi's opponent has more of a chance to reach the ledge or stage. The plus side of this is the ability to jump off the stage, whether with a full hop or short hop, into one of the aforementioned edge guarding techniques.

Double Jump Land
Because Yoshi's double-jump makes him dip downward slightly before moving upward, he can DJC and DJL along with Peach. To DJL, hit jump and then, during the 4-or-5 start-up frames (depending upon whether it was a Short Hop or a full jump), hit jump again. Yoshi will do a little jerk as if jumping; the sound effect of his double-jump will play and he will immediately go into his landing animation. By doing this repeatedly, Yoshi will do a series of funny rapid jerks, thus allowing you to mindgame your opponent.

Trophies
''Yoshis are gentle, fleet-of-foot dinosaurs that make their home on idyllic Yoshi's Island. They come in a variety of colors and have evolved an interesting trait to help increase their numbers: they can transform anything they swallow into an egg. With adhesive tongues and bottomless bellies, Yoshis have been known to eat anything.''

Super Mario World 8/91

Smash Red
Trophy #284: ''To make up for his lack of powerful airborne attacks, Yoshi has a miraculous jumping ability and is resistant to damage while in the air. Yoshi can also swallow a foe and transform him or her into an egg: try doing this close to an edge! The speed and power of the Egg Roll increases if you hold down the B Button, but it'll be tougher to control.''

Smash Blue
Trophy #285: ''Yoshi has no third jump, so the timing of his second jump is of vital importance. The angle and distance of his Egg Throw can be altered by how you tilt the Control Stick and how long you press the B Button. When Yoshi lands after doing his Yoshi Bomb, stars appear on either side of him, making it hard for enemies to deliver counterattacks.''

Videos
| Jurassic Parkour - a Yoshi tech skill video