- For fighter info, see Mr. Game & Watch (Super Smash Bros. Melee), Mr. Game & Watch (Super Smash Bros. Brawl), Mr. Game & Watch (Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U), and Mr. Game & Watch (Super Smash Bros. Ultimate).
Mr. Game & Watch (Mr.ゲーム&ウォッチ Misutā Gēmu ando Wotchi?), is a composite representation of various generic characters featured in Nintendo's Game & Watch products and video game series created in 1980 by Gunpei Yokoi. Mr. Game & Watch is created by Nintendo, and is an amalgamation of the Game & Watch handheld consoles. Mr. Game & Watch also makes his appearance in the Super Smash Bros. series, making his debut in Melee.
Character Description[]
Mr. Game and Watch is a man from Superflat World, a completely flat world, having no third-dimension whatsoever. He is also entirely monochrome, being fully black, however, in the Super Smash Bros. series, this color can be different depending on which alternate costume is selected. He can only move in different "frames", similar to the numbers on a calculator (as said in Snake's Smash Taunt), or the Game & Watch games themselves. In the Super Smash Bros. series, he is actually a 3D model, but is so thin he appears to be 2D. This 3D model can be seen in Super Smash Bros. for 3DS's classic mode, and in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's Figure Player screen.
Appearance[]
Mr. Game & Watch is a 2D generic stick figure-styled silhouette male character whose entirely monochrome-schemed, having a fully black body and a gray outline from his body. His body is most likely shaped as a teardrop, and he has a large straight nose, a circle-shaped head, and his mouth is sometimes typically seen open, and he has outstretched and puffy stubs for his legs, circular stubs for his hands (somewhat similar to The Powerpuff Girls), but is occasionally seen with realistic hands, but without fingers and only a thumb. He has thin limbs, mainly his arms and legs. For the most part, not much of his features are visible in his appearance, such as his eyes, ears and a tongue, even though he has hearing, eyesight and eating capabilities. Sometimes, he can have a 3D model, and sometimes has his mouth on the inside visible, with his mouth being white and his tongue being black.
In most of his official artworks around the smash-series, Mr. Game & Watch is seen with his signature alarm bell and is typically seen looking leftwards. However, in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Mr. Game & Watch is portrayed holding a different object other than his signature bell from official artworks, which is the flag from Flagman, and he is also facing rightwards. This is the first game where he has these traits. It also resembles his Alt. Trophy in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U.
In Super Smash Bros. Melee[]
As a playable character[]
Mr. Game & Watch makes his smash-series debut as the final unlockable character in Melee. Mr. Game and Watch can be unlocked one of four ways: completing either Classic or Adventure with all characters on any difficulty and stock or the Target Test with all characters, or playing 1000 vs. mode matches.
Mr. Game & Watch fights with a variety of items derived from the Game & Watch series. Chef, his B-move, launches bacon at random distances from a pan. At closer distances, this pan can be used as a pseudo spike; Judgment, his Side-B, is a hammer with randomly chosen strength and effects, as shown on the digital display he is holding with his other hand, ranging from weak (1) to strong (9); Fire, his Up-B, launches Mr. Game & Watch at a lengthy vertical distance, with the help of a firefighter team (note that this is the only one Up-B attack which gets more distance when a character is big by getting a mushroom); Oil Panic, his Down-B, allows him to catch energy-based projectiles. Once three projectiles were caught, the contents can be dumped as a flow of oil, causing damage depending on the projectiles caught. This move can be used to cause the Kamikaze Glitch.
Mr. Game & Watch translated well into Super Smash Bros. Melee. However, this proves to become a severe disadvantage. His movement is choppy and sluggish, thus meaning he becomes dependent on wavedashing and dash-dancing as his primary method of movement. His moves, primarily his special moves, have very limited uses in competitive play and only two of his aerial attacks can be L-canceled. However, the few usable moves he has come equipped with high range and very large hitboxes, many of which are powerful finishers. Aside from his moves, Mr. Game and Watch's throws are very useful due to the fact they can all be used to chain grab. Mr. Game & Watch's defensive game is arguably his worst property; with an extremely small shield (which leaves his hands and feet unprotected, even at maximum size) and a very poor sidestep and roll, he has a very weak defensive game. This, combined with the fact that he has an extremely light weight, causes him to get easily KO'd at very low percentages. Mr. Game and Watch players must therefore be able to read their opponents ridiculously well in order to simply survive and to have a chance in competitive play.
Trophies[]
As with the other playable characters, Mr. Game & Watch has three collectible trophies.
- Mr. Game & Watch
- First appearing in 1980, the Game & Watch series is the father of all portable liquid crystal games. The main character is simple and monochrome but has a timeless individuality. There are 39 different games in the series and they've sold over 43 million units worldwide. Pictured at left is the particularly popular Fire model.
- Game & Watch [1980]
- Mr. Game & Watch [Smash]
- A resident of a totally flat world, Mr. Game & Watch's frame-by-frame movements is distinctive. His image is known far and wide, and respected by gamers everywhere. In Super Smash Bros. Melee, he hurls sausages with his Chef technique. The random strength of his Judgement is determined by the number displayed; food appears on lucky 7.
- Mr. Game & Watch [Smash]
- A man of great stature in the world of Nintendo characters, Mr. Game & Watch is a comparatively light fellow and doesn't feature many powerful attacks. When he's in danger of falling, Fire calls out a rescue brigade to send him skyward once more. He can also catch missile weapons with Oil Panic; once he's caught three, he can dump the bucket on his foes.
In Super Smash Bros. Brawl[]
As a playable character[]
Mr. Game & Watch returns as an unlockable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. While his moveset seemed mostly unchanged from Melee, he has been heavily buffed overall, making a noticeably massive leap from the bottom-tier in Melee to the mid-high tier in Brawl. Additionally, he now has a new Final Smash. Mr. Game & Watch's attacks have been powered up and sped up, and he arguably has the best set of smash attacks in the game. He has been given a new technique, called Bucket Braking, which lets him negate all knockback while in midair.
Interestingly, in a DOJO!! update where Sakurai explained some mysteries about the Subspace Emissary, he says that Tabuu used Mr. Game & Watch's flat qualities to create Shadow Bugs, making Mr. Game & Watch the origin of Shadow Bugs, though Mr. Game & Watch is not aware of it himself.
Mr. Game & Watch has been significantly buffed from Melee, as he benefits from Brawl's new physics, along with other various buffs. The introduction of hitstun canceling and momentum canceling helps Mr. Game & Watch more than most characters, as it not only makes him harder to combo but it also significantly improves his endurance mainly due to Bucket Braking. Other new mechanics in Brawl, such as B-reversing also help him out, and the removal of certain mechanics from Melee, such as L-canceling affects him less than other characters. His shield game has been improved significantly. His shield is much larger, and his sidestep is no longer one of the worst in the game. Overall, Mr. Game & Watch is a much more effective character than in Melee, although he still struggles against the stronger characters in the game, resulting in him being above-average.
Trophy Info[]
- Mr. Game & Watch
The monochrome hero of the Game & Watch series, a fellow who oozes personality. First appearing in 1980, the series was the original portable game systems. The first games in the series were quite simple, but as time passed, technology evolved. The multiscreen series featured gameplay on dual screens. As the name states, the games also kept time.
- (GB) Game & Watch Gallery
In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U[]
As a playable character[]
Mr. Game & Watch is once again an unlockable playable character. He was teased before release in a small appearance at the end of Pac-Man's reveal trailer to illustrate how the two are the oldest characters in Smash Bros. history (even older than Mario and Donkey Kong); in that cameo, he notably performs his down taunt from Brawl, which was replaced by the release of Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.
Overall, Mr. Game & Watch was nerfed in the transition to Smash 4. The removal of Bucket Braking is his most notable negative change, as it greatly hinders his ability to survive, considering his status as a lightweight character. Several of his moves also have added ending lag, such as his up tilt, down tilt, and neutral aerial, and some of his moves are weaker finishers, such as his forward aerial. However, his attacks possess high damage output, with some becoming more efficient, including his back aerial's multiple hits linking better, and up smash, which now includes invincibility on startup. His throws have also improved, as they are all now performed much faster, with down throw being especially great at starting combos. However, his nerfs are considerably enough to cause a drop in his tier placement, now ranking 39th out of 55 on the Smash 4 tier list, and he has seen lackluster tournament representation and results.
Trophies[]
- Mr. Game & Watch
- Game & Watch was a series of handheld video games that started in 1980, which pretty much makes Mr. Game & Watch the father of the Game Boy and Nintendo DS. Or maybe an older sibling? Anyway...in Smash Bros., Mr. Game & Watch uses distinct retro moves to damage his foes. However, he only has two dimensions, so he's pretty easy to send flying.
- Game & Watch (04/1980)
- Mr. Game & Watch (Alt.)
- Mr. Game & Watch's Oil Panic special catches shots and turns them into oil. After catching three, the bucket will be full and you'll be able to throw oil all over your enemies. Some shots, like Samus's fully powered Charge Shot, will fill the bucket in one go! Throwing the oil you get from a shot like that can KO your foes in a flash!
- Game & Watch (04/1980)
In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate[]
As a playable character[]
Mr. Game & Watch is once again an unlockable playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, alongside the entire playable roster of the series. He now changes appearance depending on the game in which the move he is using comes from. His moveset has been significantly altered; for instance, he has a new forward aerial in the form of a bomb projectile, and his up air now functions similarly to Mega Man's. In addition, his Final Smash, Octopus, now carries and drags opponents off-screen for KO scores.
Having been regarded as a lower mid-tier character in Super Smash Bros. 4 (39th out of 55), Mr. Game and Watch has been significantly buffed in his transition to Ultimate. In a similar fashion to Link, Mr. Game and Watch has undergone a massive overhaul in his moveset that goes beyond changes to aesthetic appearances; a majority of his moves have been altered in range, damage, knockback, lag, or have been completely reworked altogether in their purpose and utility. As a result, Mr. Game and Watch has undergone a plethora of buffs and nerfs in his transition to Ultimate, arguably the most out of any other returning veteran. While these changes have weakened his most powerful tools and set-ups from 3DS/Wii U, they have also greatly improved several of his more underwhelming moves in his toolkit from the previous game. As a result, he is widely agreed to be a high-tier or top-tier character and his iteration in Ultimate is almost universally agreed to be his best, and so this caused him to make a giant leap all the way to being the 8th of the 10 characters on the top-tier list.
Trivia[]
- Mr. Game & Watch is the only fighter to be two-dimensional when not fighting at Flat Zone, Flat Zone 2, Flat Zone X, Hanenbow, Pac-Land, Duck Hunt and Super Mario Maker.
- However, when Mr. Game & Watch breaks a Metal Box, he looks 3D; a similar effect that occurs when his false version is fought in The Great Maze. However, this is just a result of the texture characters used when in these two states.
- Mr. Game & Watch is the oldest playable character in Smash Bros. history, making his first appearance in 1980. Pac-Man also came out in 1980, but Mr. Game & Watch is older by a few months.
- While Mr. Game & Watch is the last character to be fought in All-Star Mode in Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, he is the first character to fought in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, fighting alongside Pac-Man and Mario in the latter game.
- All of Mr. Game & Watch's moves use objects from games in the Game & Watch series, making him the only character to have every single move in his arsenal based on a game he appeared previously before.
- Mr. Game & Watch and Falco are the only characters who debut as unlockable characters in Melee and remain as unlockable in Brawl, both versions of Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
- Mr. Game & Watch is the first of five fighters in the Super Smash Bros. series to have a logo that resembles a part of their bodies. His logo shows his upper body as he dons a helmet and rings a bell. The other four are Sonic (Sonic's head), Mega Man (One of Mega Man's gears), Wii Fit Trainer (Wii Fit Trainer performing the Dance pose) and Pac-Man (Pac-Man's 2D form).
External links[]
- Analysis of Mr. Game & Watch Part 1
- Analysis of Mr. Game & Watch Part 2
- Mr. Game & Watch in Smash History (TrailerDrake)