Side Smash Attack

A side smash attack, also known as a forward smash, is a smash attack that any character can perform by tapping the control stick in a horizontal or slightly above horizontal direction and pressing A immediately afterward, or by tilting the C-stick in a horizontal or slightly above horizontal direction, though the latter method does not work in the single-player modes of Super Smash Bros. Melee (since it moves the camera instead) or in Super Smash Bros. (as the C buttons are used to jump in SSB). Like strong side attacks, certain side smashes can be performed at two or three different angles depending on where the control stick is directed, directing the hitbox in that diagonal direction.

In Melee and Brawl, the side smash can be charged by holding down the A button for up to two seconds, resulting in higher damage and knockback.

List of side smashes in Super Smash Bros.

 * Mario: Winds up to deliver a powerful punch with an enlarged fist. Slow, but a great KO move.
 * Donkey Kong: Brings his hand behind himself, then slaps the foe hard. Incredibly strong, but one of the slowest Smashes in this game.
 * Link: Slashes from top to bottom. Deals good damage and has nice reach.
 * Samus: Punches with her arm cannon. A quick attack with fair knockback.
 * Yoshi: Slams the foe with his head. Comparable to Mario's Side Smash in terms of speed and power.
 * Kirby: A furious spin kick with good range and power.
 * Fox: Fox spin kicks, lunging forward onto the ground. Not an outstanding KO move, but good speed.
 * Pikachu: Lets loose a powerful jolt of a electricity for great damage. Has a disjointed hitbox.
 * Luigi: A huge, powerful punch attack similar to Mario's Side Smash.
 * Captain Falcon: Delivers a spinning side kick imbued with fire.
 * Ness: Swings his baseball bat for a powerful attack.
 * Jigglypuff: Performs a lunging kick similar to Kirby's Side Smash in terms of speed and power.

List of side smashes in Super Smash Bros. Melee

 * Mario: Looses a ball of fire from his extended palm. Decent reach, but not the strongest Smash.


 * Luigi: Performs a horizontal spearhand. This move can be angled up or down.


 * Peach: Swings forward one of three items - golf club, tennis racket, or frying pan (the most damaging of the three).


 * Bowser: Rears his head back, then headbutts forward. Noticeably long start-up, but definitely the strongest Smash Attack in Melee.


 * Dr. Mario: Extends his palm, unleashing a powerful electric blast. Like Mario's Side Smash, but has more knockback.


 * Donkey Kong: Claps forward with surprising speed and great knockback.


 * Link: Slashes forward. The player can perform a second, stronger Smash by hitting the A button or C-stick immediately following the first attack.  Decent reach on both slashes.


 * Zelda: Zaps the foe with magic from her extended hands. Somewhat quick with slightly disjointed hitbox.


 * Sheik: Performs two rolling kicks forward. The first kick usually leads right into the second, which does knockback.


 * Ganondorf: Lunges forward with an elbow thrust, much like Captain Falcon. Deals high damage and is imbued with shadow.


 * Young Link: Like Link's, this Smash has a second available hit. This one is a bit faster with more horizontal knockback.  The first hit is also weaker, so it is easy to trap foes and land both hits.


 * Samus: Punches forward with her Arm Cannon. Quick, but not impressively strong.


 * Yoshi: Slams horizontally with his head. Some start-up lag, but good knockback power.


 * Kirby: Jumps forward while kicking. Good reach.


 * Fox: Does a sort of spinning kick while jumping forward. A rather quick move, with enough power to make it a viable finisher.


 * Falco: Performs a kicking attack much like Fox's, although it may be slightly weaker.


 * Pikachu: Looses a thunder jolt from its cheeks. Great knockback and disjointed hitbox.


 * Jigglypuff: Lunges forward while kicking. Some start-up lag, but strong nonetheless.


 * Pichu: Zaps the foe with electricity from its cheeks, like Pikachu, but with less range. This move, however, scores multiple hits, and the last hit deals great knockback.


 * Mewtwo: Blasts psychic energy from its palms. Decent reach, but weak knockback.


 * Ness: Swings his famous baseball bat. A powerful move which can even reflect most projectiles.


 * Captain Falcon: Thrusts his elbow forward. Good knockback, but considerable starting lag.


 * Marth: This is considered by many to be the best Smash in Melee. Marth slashes quickly from top to bottom, with a powerful sweet spot at the sword's tip.  It is very fast, and gives good range.


 * Roy: Much like Marth's, a huge vertical slash. Roy's, however, is slightly slower, but with amazingly strong knockback.


 * Mr. Game & Watch: Hits the foe with a fire poker. Slow, but strong, with a long-lasting hitbox.

List of side smashes in Super Smash Bros. Brawl

 * Mario: Sticks out his palm and looses a burst of fire. A quick, ranged smash, but also quite weak. Slightly disjointed hitbox, can be angled.


 * Luigi: Horizontally spearhand karate chops forward. Most likely his best KO move, this is very quick with surprising knockback.


 * Peach: Swings forward with either a golf club, frying pan or tennis racket. Tennis racket sends foe forward, golf club sends foe up at a 45 degree angle, frying pan sends foe straight up. Not much knockback on any of them, but this is a quick move with a disjointed hitbox.


 * Bowser: Headbutts forward. Most damaging forward smash in the game (does 46% damage fully charged), but with little range, a lot of start-up and ending lag.


 * Donkey Kong: Claps forward. Quite quick, with good knockback.


 * Diddy Kong: Spins his body around, hitting first with a weak right arm then again with a strong left arm, screeching whilst doing so. Surprising range, but quite weak for a smash.


 * Yoshi: Swings his head forward.


 * Wario: Performs his shoulder charge from Wario Land games. Average in all areas, cannot be block thrown. Has a small amount of Super Armor.


 * Link: Swings his sword forward. The attack button/C-stick can be hit again to deliver a second, more powerful hit. First hit is now more powerful than Melee, so the second hit is harder to hit with.


 * Zelda: Sticks her arm out and lets out a small burst of magic, which sucks foes in and deals multiple hits. The last hit has a lot of knockback. This is quite quick, powerful, and has a very slightly disjointed hitbox.


 * Sheik: 2 rolling-kicks forward. The first kick nearly always links into the second, more powerful kick.


 * Ganondorf: Elbows forward, like Captain Falcon. Gives a shadow fire effect.


 * Toon Link: Similar to Link's. However, the first swipe delivers no knockback, the second hit can be blocked after being hit with the first, and the 2nd strike is one of the most powerful side smashes in the game; stronger than Link.


 * Samus: Shoves arm cannon forward forcefully. Quick but weak.


 * Zero Suit Samus: Whips forward with the plasma whip. A lot of range; moderate damage and knockback. Has noticeable startup lag as well. Long, very disjointed hitbox.


 * Pit: Swipes forward twice with swords. Considered to be a good KO move.


 * Ice Climbers: Swing hammers forward.


 * R.O.B.: Lets loose a blast of fire/electric energy from his eyes. Can be angled well. Disjointed hitbox, useful knockback for spike setup.


 * Kirby: Jumps forward with his foot extended. Similar to Jigglypuff's, but with less start-up lag and more range.


 * Meta Knight: Pulls his sword back and, after a grunt, looses forward an astoundingly powerful slash. This is considered to be Meta Knight's only laggy move, in any way, shape or form.


 * King Dedede: Swings hammer forward, very slowly. This is incredibly powerful. The highest knockback side smash in the game.


 * Olimar: A Pikmin spins and flys forward. This has a lot of range, but only delievers powerful knockback when the opponent is near to you and when you use a red/purple Pikmin.


 * Fox: A simple forward cartwheel. Same as his Melee side smash, with a different animation.


 * Falco: A slashing cross-chop forward. The most powerful side smash of the Space Animals, and very powerful in general.


 * Wolf: Slides forward in an odd pose, with his front claws outstretched. This cannot be block thrown. Incredible range. Not one of Wolf's better finishers, though.


 * Pikachu: Looses a burst of electricity in a ball from its cheeks. Extremely disjointed hitbox.


 * Squirtle: Charges forward, shell-first. Cannot be block thrown.


 * Ivysaur: Plants vines on the floor and shoves its body forward. Cannot be block thrown initailly, but can be after Ivysaur returns to the ground.


 * Charizard: After some start-up lag, it slams its head forward and upwards.


 * Lucario: Looses a burst of aura. High knockback, but a lot of start up lag.


 * Jigglypuff: Similar to Kirby, it jumps forward with its foot extended. However, this has more start up lag.


 * Marth: The deadly tipper move. He slices forward, with the tip of his sword delivering a stunned effect and a lot of knockback. Viable for best in the game because of its speed, power, and range.


 * Ike: Smashes his sword forward. Very powerful. Out of all the low percentage KOing side smashes, this is one of the most reliable.


 * Ness: Swings a baseball bat forward, with significant start up lag. The tip of the bat is more powerful than the rest of it, and it can reflect projectiles. Great finisher.


 * Lucas: A very quick swing forward with a branch. This can also reflect projectiles. Similar to Ness', but quicker, a bit less powerful, and more reliable to reflect projectiles with (because of speed). Even though weaker than Ness', an outstanding finisher.


 * Mr. Game and Watch: Swings a fire poker forward. Disjointed hitbox and long range. Lag at beginning though.


 * Snake: Fires an RPG-7 at his feet. Large hitbox, good knockback but a lot of start up lag.


 * Sonic: Punches forwards. A good KO move, but lacks in range and is slower than most of his other attacks.

Notable side smashes

 * Link, Young Link, and Toon Link have a second side smash that can be performed by tapping A again after completing the first slash.
 * Ness' and Lucas' side smash is unique mainly because it allows them to reflect trajectory attacks, if timed correctly.
 * Marth's forward smash is most likely the most well known and feared of all the side smashes because of its speed, range, and knockback.
 * Roy's side smash is one of the few finishing moves in his arsenal, having longer reach and a stronger knock-back than Marth's forward smash.
 * Bowser's side smash is the most powerful in Melee, doing 32% fully charged, and can even send the Sandbag farther than the Home-Run Bat at certain percentages. In Brawl, it is powered up even more to 46%, making it the most powerful side smash.
 * King Dedede's side Smash in Super Smash Bros. Brawl has been confirmed to be the highest knockback side smash in the game. It does 33% damage fully charged, and can kill at even 18%.
 * Wolf's forward smash has incredible range, and almost no start-up lag.
 * Ike's side smash. Although it doesn't deal as much damage as a few of the strongest characters, it has the second highest knockback and extremely long range.
 * Peach's side smash involves one of three randomly chosen weapons, each with varying range and knockback angle.
 * Lucario's Side smash (as well as his up smash) leaves a small ranged Aura residue from his paws, allowing Lucario to attack from a small distance.
 * Wario has a forward smash that comes out quick,does decent damage, and good knock-back. However it is notable for having a good amount of Super Armor.