Smashpedia
Register
Advertisement
This article is about Mr. Game & Watch's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. For other uses, see Mr. Game & Watch.
Now his attacks mimic the animations from his original appearance. For his side special, Judge, he pulls out a hammer and numbers 1-9 are displayed. If you pull off a 9 attack, it will really knock the opponent back. His Final Smash turns him into an octopus that can pull opponents off the stage!
—Description from the Super Smash Blog.

Mr. Game & Watch is a veteran fighter in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, making his first playable appearance in Super Smash Bros. Melee, alongside Ice Climbers. He was confirmed alongside Greninja during Nintendo's E3 2018 presentation. He is classed as #26, the last number of the Melee veterans. As in his incarnation from Smash 4, Mr. Game & Watch retains his voice-clips from Melee and Brawl for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

When unlocked, he is fought at Flat Zone X.

How to unlock:

Complete one of the following:

  • Play VS. matches, with Mr. Game & Watch being the 52nd character to be unlocked.
  • Clear Classic Mode with Pikachu 6 times or any character in his unlock tree, being the 6th character unlocked after Isabelle.
  • Have Mr. Game & Watch join the player's party in World of Light.

Attributes

Strengths

  • Possesses large disjointed and lingering hitboxes on several moves.
  • All throwing animations use the same animation, making for unpredictable throws.
  • Small body-frame and one of the lowest crouches to evade a variety of several attacks.
  • High damage output to opponents.
  • Less fluid animations on all attacks to simulate the frame-by-frame movements of his original games, thus making him more unpredictable.
  • Instead of his head and frontal limbs being invincible from the previous game, His up smash grants him fully-body invincibility. It also has an outlarged and disjointed hitbox which slightly lingers.
  • Up aerial and down tilt can occasionally "super jump" opponents and delay down aerials.
  • Extremely strong spacing abilities, as well as for great zoning and wall of pain techniques.
  • Outstanding mobility.
  • Possesses an amazing aerial and combo game, as well as for a formidable grounded game and approach.
  • Chef can knockback opponents if hit at point-blank range and has enough strength to stop most attacks.
  • Down throw and up throw are Mr. Game & Watch's strongest throws, being able to KO reliably well past high precents, such as below 150%.
  • Judge #9 can 0% KO players if used correctly with fresh enough rage. It will always KO if the target hit has 40% or higher damage. In addition, each Judge effect has various effects, such as freezing or inflicting high shield damage (and is enough to destroy a full shield). Overall, Judge #9 is similar in nature to a charged swing of a Home-Run Bat.
  • Judge has several strong effects, such as Judge #2 having 20% chance of tripping the opponent, #3 being a strong shield breaker of dealing significant shield damage, #6 burning the opponent and launching them at a strong semi-spike angle, and #8 freezing the opponent.
  • Fire is one of the best moves in the game and is the best up-special in the game for several reasons. It provides him with an amazing recovery and allows him to edgeguard opponents very well while being very resistant to being edgeguarded himself giving him a tremendous offstage presence, is the single best OoS option in the game due to its frame 3 hitbox and Mr. Game & Watch possesses intangibility throughout the initiality of the special move, can be used as a potent combo starter, finisher, breaker and extender, can stage spike opponents off-stage or KO them outright at high percents or off-stage due to its high knockback on both hitboxes, and is a fantastic option for getting out of disadvantage.
  • Oil Panic provides Mr. Game & Watch with an amazing defensive tool against projectiles, as it absorbs energy-based projectiles and reflects physical ones. The move can so be used as an attack when it the bucket is full from absorbing projectiles and can even OHKO characters at 0% depending on what was absorbed. Also, Mr. Game & Watch becomes intangible if a projectile is absorbed.
  • Possesses a fantastic set of smash attacks due to their high power and low ending and startup lag.
  • Down smash will bury opponents if sweetspotted, allowing him to punish with one of his powerful smash attacks. Also, the sweetspots are extremely disjointed and outlarged.
  • High jumping height, and fast running and walking speeds.
  • Forward smash's sweetspot is powerful, and the sweetpot is also outlarged and disjointed, even bigger than the sourspot.
  • Oil Panic is capable of destroying full shields (can be used on Jigglypuff to KO it because its shield can send it forcefully more higher than the other characters), along with Judge #3 (Judge #9 if the opponent's shield is running out). Oil Panic can also reflect various attacks, like Simon, King K. Rool, Pyra and Villager.
  • Mr. Game & Watch's giant keyblade, down aerial, is an extremely strong spike.
  • His final smash, Octopus, is one of the most threatening final smashes in the game.
  • Possesses extremely strong shield breakers in several attacks.
  • Possesses a strong edgeguarding game.

Weaknesses

  • Due to his two-dimensional nature, he is tied with Squirtle for being the third-lightest character in the game, and is therefore very easy to KO.
  • Spamming Judge can result in harsh punishment as it is very predictable. Also, striking Judge #1 will also deal 12% recoil damage to Mr. Game & Watch, regardless whether it hits the opponent or not.
  • Standing grab has poor range.
  • None of his throws tend to KO until very high precents, with his strongest throws, down throw and up throw, KOing at around 200%.
  • Down aerial can only spike at the beginning frames of the move. If Mr. Game & Watch didn't strike the opponent when starting this move, the downward momentum is extremely fast and can cause self-destructs. However, if hit, the stall-then-fall effect can be used to a greater extent in addition to creating interesting mindgames.
  • If Oil Panic is filled with extremely weak attacks by other characters, it will not OHKO opponents and deal mediocre knockback.
  • Oil Panic must be completely full in order to be used.
  • Somewhat weak throws and rather slow attack-speed with grabs.

Summary

Mr. Game & Watch is a short, speedy, yet floaty lightweight character that has some typical attributes of characters in his weight class, and is also a character of extremes. Out of all lightweights in the series, Mr. Game & Watch has the most outstanding mobility, with his aerial mobility being the greatest; he contains the 18th-fastest air speed, the 13th-highest air acceleration, the 21st-lowest gravity on par with Yoshi and Snake, and the 6th-slowest falling speed. Comparatively, he contains the 4th-highest traction, a high jumping height, a small size, and one of the lowest crouches that allows him to evade various attacks: like Marth and Lucina's shield breaker, and Simon's forward tilt, and he has above-average walking and running speeds (being tied as the 15th-fastest character in the game), although his initial dash is decently faster, making his grounded mobility the best. Overall, Mr. Game & Watch's movement speed is quite exceptional for a lightweight, but his slow falling speed can be somewhat detrimental. His short size also makes him difficult to hit, especially when crouching.

Unlike most other lightweights, Mr. Game & Watch possesses several attacks with large disjointed and long-lasting hitboxes and has a numerous amount of powerful KO options, which is his greatest strength in his attributes. All of his smash attacks have very high power and low ending lag throughout, with each of them possessing unique attributes. Forward smash is among the strongest in the game if sweetspotted while having low endlag and startup and good range, with the sweetspot being safe on shield. His up smash, Octopus Headbutt, is also very powerful; even being tied as the 12th most potent up smash in the game, and comes with full-body invincibility while the hitboxes are active. While it has slow startup, it has minimal endlag and is completely safe on shield. Down smash sends opponents at an awkward semi-spike angle off-stage, while the sweetspot buries opponents long enough to lead into a forward smash, even at medium percents. It also has a very large hitbox, allowing it to easily 2-frame many recoveries, and acts as an excellent punish option on rolls. Like his other smash attacks, down smash is safe on shield when spaced properly. Overall, Mr. Game & Watch possesses an excellent arsenal of smash attacks.

Outside of his smash attacks, Mr. Game & Watch's other moves have strong KOing potential. Forward tilt comes out quickly, contains a lingering hitbox, and kills under 100% by the ledge, sending characters at a semi-spike. Down tilt lowers Mr. Game & Watch's hurtbox to match his crouch, allowing him to whiff-punish certain attacks. It also possesses high power and semi-spikes opponents off-stage, leading to edgeguards and killing outright at 100%. His new forward aerial's explosion kills opponents at 115% by the ledge and center-stage, while his down aerial has been strengthened to become a viable kill-move around 130%. Similarly, his back aerial now sends at a flatter angle, and the final hit possesses enough power to KO below 100% offstage. The clean hit on down aerial boasts a powerful meteor smash that can KO below 65% or lower precents, and the late hit also deals good knockback that can KO near 130%, and even sooner if it connects near the top blast zone, courtesy of the move's vertical launch angle. The move's low ending-lag and reduced landing-lag allows as to be used as a potent edgeguarding and landing option, giving him a deadly mixup game in the air at all times.

Mr. Game & Watch's approach game is among the greatest in the game (both vertically and horizontally); a fast-enough running speed, fast and long-ranged and lingering tilts, non-laggy and disjointed, long-lasting smash attacks and aerials; along with dash attack being relatively fast and containing good range. His grab possesses extreme disjointed forward range (although it is somewhat laggy by itself). Also, Mr. Game & Watch's defensive game is arguably his best property, along with a relatively small size and the lowest crouch, he is immune from shield-stabs due to containing one of the largest max-shield (compared to his small body-size); out of all characters in the game, and he also possesses fast sidesteps and air dodges and rolls while gaining decent distance.

Oil Panic is used as Mr. Game & Watch's primary defense against camping and projectiles, as it both absorbs energy-based projectiles from several attacks: such as Mega Buster, Ray of Punishment/Chroma Dust and PK Fire, and reflects items like King K. Rool's Blunderbuss, Pyra/Mythra's blades, and Peach's Turnips. This can lead to massive advantages against certain characters—Ness, Snake, Olimar, Mega Man, Pyra/Mythra, Pichu, and Pikachu and the rest of the fighters with projectiles have notable difficulty fighting Mr. Game & Watch as it severely limits their playstyles and movesets. Oil Panic also has the notable ability of carrying over the charge to subsequent stocks, which can be used as a lethal finisher and even mind-games. The area in which Oil Panic can absorb projectiles is also deceptively large, which allows Mr. Game & Watch to store energy into Oil Panic merely by standing close to just the edge of any energy-based hitbox. However, Oil Panic has the glaring weakness of being filled with extremely frail attacks; such as Fox's blaster and Ice Climbers's blizzard. This causes Mr. Game & Watch to fill Oil Panic extremely quickly, rendering its defensive value useless, and forces him to either hold onto a weak use of it, or dump it without purposefully damaging the opponent in order to use it again as a defensive tool. Oil Panic is also a potent combo-finisher with nearly instantaneous startup lag, with its fairly large, lingering hitbox coming out on just frame 2, as well as extreme knockback that can kill at single digit percents when at max-power (power is dependent on projectiles absorbed). It is also notably difficult to defend against a fully charged use of it, as the lingering hitbox can still hit spot dodges if timed even slightly off, and a powerful-enough charge can break a full shield, allowing Mr. Game & Watch to punish and even KO with one of his powerful smash attacks, or even punish with Judge.

Mr. Game & Watch also has a very potent combo and aerial juggling game. Down throw combos into Oil Panic, Judge, and neutral air at low percentages. Chef can deal massive damage if multiple 'food' items hit, allowing it to get around 30-40% off of a single edgeguard. The pan also hits opponents into the stream of meat through a semi-spike, and at high percents can launch opponents fast enough to miss the food entirely and lead to more ledge trapping. Chef's speed and pattern makes it extremely difficult for certain characters to recover, such as Ganondorf or Mario. Not only does Chef deal massive damage, but landing the move allows Mr. Game & Watch to follow up with a grab, neutral aerial, forward tilt, dash attack, and even Judge. His up tilt, Flagman, though containing worse range, deals high damage and combos into neutral aerial and Judge at low percentages. Once Mr. Game & Watch has his opponents above him, he can juggle them for massive damage using his up and neutral aerials. His up air acts similar to Mega Man's up aerial, pushing opponents upwards, albeit with much less force. Despite the lack of its complete KO power, it has decent launch-power to push opponents vertically at the blast zone, allowing for early off-stage KOs, granting him back his "Toot-Toot" KO confirm, but can only be used at the highest part of the stage. All in all, Mr. Game & Watch's strong KO power is also paired with highly damaging combos and juggles.

Comparatively, Mr. Game & Watch sports a formidable grab and throw game; possessing one of the longest grabs in the game, and his pummel is one of the fastest and damaging in the game. His up throw and down throw are simple combo throws; easily comboing into neutral aerial or up aerial for juggling opponents rapidly, or even his potentially deadly special moves, Judge and Oil Panic. Also, his back throw and forward throw are very useful at sending the opponents off-stage (due to their high scale and low angle), allowing Mr. Game & Watch to set up edgeguards, and they can easily KO at higher precents by ledges, especially if DI'd, and back throw and especially forward throw can combo into Judge, Oil Panic, forward aerial, back aerial and down aerial for a combo breaker or finisher. Down throw is Mr. Game & Watch's strongest throw (though dealing the lowest damage output), being able to KO most characters as early as below 150%. Also, up throw is Mr. Game & Watch's best throw; dealing the highest damage output of all throws, functions the same as down throw, and is strengthened enough to become a viable KO throw at high precents, killing reliably below 160%.

Lastly, Mr. Game & Watch possesses a fantastic recovery option, as well as large, long-lasting and disjointed aerials that can also auto-cancel in a short hop. This means that he is a formidable edgeguarder and is extremely hard to gimp himself. His up special, Fire, contains frame-3 startup, invincibility in its early frames, and a strong vertical hitbox on its initial hitbox, and decent launch-power horizontally, allowing for early off-stage KOs if it hits opposite the blast zone. This makes it deadly, as it can stage spike unwary opponents while also easily gimping characters with poor recoveries, like Chrom, Jigglypuff, Pyra/Mythra and Ike. It is also an extremely useful combo breaker and one of the game's best out-of-shield options, due to its fast startup and invincibility. His back aerial, Turtle Bridge, is a large, long-lasting disjointed multi-hit move that has high knockback at the final hit. The move's large disjoint beats out a lot of recoveries that have hitboxes, and the multi-hit nature of the move makes it hard to tech for stage-spikes and often drags opponents stuck in the move closer to the blast zone. For many characters (including DLCs), getting striked with Turtle Bridge is often fatal off-stage, as the move lingers long enough to shift the opponent closer to the blast zone before dealing the final knockback on the last hit. On the ledge, Chef punishes ledge hangers and covers getup attacks and rolls (hit by the pan), forcing opponents to jump. This can easily allow Mr. Game & Watch to follow up with neutral aerial and force the opponent back off-stage. His new forward aerial can be comboed into with Chef and has strong KO potential on its own. His down aerial, his giant key, is an extremely powerful spike, having the great power to instantly KO opponents, and has very high KO potential at high precents if the late hit is used. It is also a powerful stage spike; compared to Fire and back aerial. Lastly, his up air has the notable quality of having no set limit on its distance, which can lead to interesting interactions when reflected by opponents, and subsequently by Mr. Game & Watch himself. All of these traits make Mr. Game & Watch the most mobile character in the air and even the ground. Overall, Mr. Game & Watch is extremely deadly off the stage and at the ledge to all characters, even those with great recoveries like Pit, Rosalina & Luma, and even himself.

While Mr. Game & Watch is strengthened enough to be a viable fighter, Mr. Game & Watch possesses a few notable weaknesses. Thanks to his two-dimensional nature, he is tied with Squirtle being the third-lightest character in the game, which, along with his floaty movement and average speed, make his horizontal and vertical endurance mostly terrible. In addition, despite possessing disjointed hitboxes, his overall range is mediocre. This is worsened by the fact that many of his disjointed attacks like down tilt, up tilt, and forward smash have underwhelming range for favourable disjoints. This allows sword-wielding characters like Marth and Cloud to easily keep Mr. Game & Watch at arm's length. Also, while his new forward aerial, Bombs Away, possesses more damage and knockback, alongside higher KO potential, it contains very low priority, so any move, including Mr. Game & Watch's moves himself, can hit the bomb and make it disappear. This makes it unsuitable for approaching and forces Mr. Game & Watch to approach with his back aerial instead. It is also a much more situational move in general, due to its higher lag and delayed hitbox, as the bomb will only explode upon touching the ground or waiting for half a second. Due to this, he has a somewhat lackluster neutral game and a rather poor approach. While Mr. Game & Watch's down throw and up throw are good at starting combos, Mr. Game & Watch's throws are unable to KO until very high percentages, with his strongest throws, down throw and up throw, KOing at around 200%.

All in all, Mr. Game & Watch is a very powerful glass cannon (with the properties of an all-rounder) with unique properties to a majority of his moves, and is viewed by many to be the most potent glass cannon character in the game, and possibly the series, as he can do very well in both offensive and defensive play, and even the neutral game. He possesses extremely high damage output and powerful KO options to outbox almost every character in the game, even the strongest characters, while being very vulnerable himself due to his extremely light weight, as well as for having disjointed, lingering and long-lasting hitboxes upon various attacks that assists him a powerful approach and a superior neutral game, amazing overall range, great spacing abilities, and overall impressive horizontal and vertical endurances, strong KO throws, as well as for amazing defensive attributes. Overall, his strengths considerably outweigh his weaknesses, making Mr. Game & Watch one of the most fragile characters, but also one of the most powerful in all of Smash, as many players either consider him a high-tier or top-tier character, with most considering him top-tier. He is also one of the most disliked characters in competitive play, having a reputation for being one of the most frustrating characters to deal with; due to his amazing out of shield options, brutal combo and juggling game, an oppressive off-stage presence and powerful low-laggy smash attacks which makes him very difficult to punish and allows him to deal large damage and close out stocks quickly in a short amount of time. These traits make him likely the most offensive and violent character in the game in terms of fighting to all characters, especially the strongest characters, all top-tiers and DLCs.

Changes from SSBWU/3DS

Aesthetics

  • Notice Mr. Game & Watch's appearance is largely unchanged from SSB4, though his outline is thicker and a darker gray and his feet are slightly larger.
  • Notice The following moves temporarily alter Mr. Game & Watch's appearance to resemble the characters from the Game & Watch games they are based on:
    • Standard attack (Greenhouse), forward tilt (Lion), up tilt (Flagman), down tilt (Manhole), forward smash (Fire Attack), down smash (Vermin), up aerial (Spitball Sparky), all throws (Ball), Chef, Judge and Oil Panic.
    • Notice This significantly changes most of Mr. Game & Watch's attack animations both functionally and aesthetically, and it makes him more expressive overall.
  • Notice Mr. Game & Watch's walking and running animation has been changed; now looking less flippant.
  • Notice Like in Melee, Mr. Game & Watch now creats a noise when getting KOed, and he also possesses a new "screaming" sound for getting Star KO'd. Both use the sound of his up and side taunts.
  • Notice Mr. Game & Watch possesses a new victory animation; where he juggles a series of three balls while utilizing his appearance from Ball. This replaces the previous victory pose; where he jumps up and down, originating from the previous game Smash 4.
  • Notice Mr. Game & Watch's mouth is open during his clapping animation, similar to his Melee appearance.

Attributes

  • Buff Like all characters, Mr. Game & Watch's jumpsquat takes 3 frames to complete (down from 5).
  • Buff Mr. Game & Watch runs marginally faster (1.5264 → 1.679), residing at the speediest side of the cast.
  • Buff Mr. Game & Watch walks slightly faster (1.1242 → 1.18).
  • Buff Mr. Game and Watch's traction has been significantly increased (0.06 → 0.131), now tied for the 5th-highest in the entire game.
  • Buff Mr. Game & Watch's air speed is slightly higher (1.12 → 1.176).
  • Nerf Forward roll has more ending lag (FAF 30 → 31) and grants less intangibility (frames 4-16 → 4-15).
  • Nerf Back roll has more startup with less intangibility (frames 4-16 → 5-16), and more ending lag (FAF 30 → 36).
  • Buff All rolls have been sped up while gaining longer distance than in the previous game, along with possessing more intangibility at all frames until he gets up.
  • Nerf Spot dodge has more startup (frame 2 → 3).
  • Nerf Air dodge has more startup (frame 2 → 3) and significantly more ending lag (FAF 32 → 60).
  • Buff Air dodge grants more intangibility (frames 2-26 → 3-28).
  • Buff The reintroduction of directional air dodges improves Mr. Game & Watch's recovery more than other characters', as due to Fire not causing helplessness, he can get additional distance with a directional air dodge after using it.
  • Notice Mr. Game and Watch has his hurtboxes modeled to match the new animation changes made to his attacks. This increases his hurtbox size for some of his attacks (notably Chef and up tilt), but reduces it for others (notably down tilt and neutral attack).

Ground Attacks

  • Neutral attack:
    • Buff The first hit transitions into the neutral infinite faster (frame 12 → 7).
    • Buff The first hit and infinite have altered angles to keep opponents closer to Mr. Game & Watch (83°/85° → 361°/180° (hit 1), 74°/40° → 361° (infinite)), and the latter has gained a hitstun modifier of 4, allowing the move to lock opponents and connect better.
    • Buff The infinite's finisher deals more damage (2% → 3%), with its knockback scaling not fully compensated (180 → 160).
    • Buff The infinite has gained a shieldstun multiplier of 10×. This allows it to lock opponents into their shields between each hit, and thus pressure them more effectively, without allowing opponents to cancel shieldstun like other neutral infinites, as the move pushes them out of range before they can shield 10 hits.
    • Buff The finisher has a larger hitbox (5.5u/4u → 6u/4u), and its farthest hitbox is placed higher (Y offset: 8.5u → 9.5u), improving its vertical range.
    • Nerf The first hit has smaller hitboxes (5.5u/4u/3u → 3.8u/4.3u), with the hitbox that reached behind Mr. Game & Watch being removed.
    • Nerf The first hit has a higher hitlag multiplier (1× → 1.5×), making it easier to SDI.
    • Nerf The infinite deal less damage per hit (1% → 0.8%).
    • Nerf The infinite no longer uses set knockback (5/10 set/100 scaling → 12 base/20 scaling), causing it to connect less reliably at high percents.
    • Nerf The finisher has considerably more ending lag (FAF 24 → 35).
    • Notice The first hit no longer uses set knockback (5/10/20 set/100 scaling → 25/20 base/22/15 scaling). At high percents, this causes it to connect less reliably into the infinite, but gives it a guaranteed jab cancel followup into Fire thanks to the latter's faster startup.
    • Notice The infinite has a higher hitlag multiplier (0.5× → 0.7×), but a lower SDI multiplier (1× → 0.8×).
  • Forward tilt:
    • Buff Forward tilt has less startup with a longer hitbox duration (frames 10 (clean)/11-17 (late) → 8-9/10-20).
    • Buff It deals more damage (10%/9% → 12%/10% (clean), 4% → 6% (late)) with knockback partially compensated only on the clean sweetspot (100 → 96), improving its KO potential.
    • Buff The late hit has significantly more knockback scaling (100 → 135/120). Combined with its increased damage, this grants it KO potential.
    • Nerf The move has smaller hitboxes (4.8u/4u → 4u/3.5u (clean), 4.5u/3.5u → 3.3u/2.8u (late)), the sourspot does not extend as far (Z offset: 5u-16u → 7u-12u, Y offset: 4u → 4.5u), and the sweetspot has been moved towards Mr. Game and Watch and does not extend as far vertically (Z offset: 16u → 15u, Y offset: 4u-7u → 4.5u-6.5u). This reduces its range overall.
      • Buff The lingering hitboxes significantlly enlargen its range.
  • Up tilt:
    • Buff Up tilt has less ending lag (FAF 36 → 34).
    • Buff It grants intangibility on Mr. Game & Watch's hands throughout the entire move, as well as his raised arm during each hit's active frames, allowing it to beat out opposing attacks more effectively.
    • Buff The first hit uses weight-independent set knockback (20 base/125/127 scaling → 60/80 set/100 scaling) and launches opponents at lower angles (100°/115° → 170°/145°), now being specifically designed to connect into the second hit. This allows the move to consistently deal its full damage and provide a higher frame advantage over the opponent.
    • Buff The second hit launches at a more vertical angle (115° → 75°). In combination with the move's reduced ending lag, consistent two-hit nature, and Mr. Game & Watch's faster jumpsquat, this considerably improves its combo potential.
    • Buff The second hit has more base knockback (30 → 50), but less knockback scaling (127/125 → 117), improving its KO potential overall.
    • Nerf Both hits' flags have smaller hitboxes (5.5u → 4.5u).
    • Notice The flags appear on each side of Mr. Game & Watch instead of above. This increases the move's horizontal range, but reduces its vertical range.
  • Down tilt:
    • Buff Down tilt deals more damage (6% → 9%) with knockback not fully compensated (40 base/125 scaling → 45/112), drastically improving its KO potential to the point it is the strongest down tilt at the edge (KOing at around 90%), and one of the strongest down tilts from center-stage (KOing at around 130%).
    • Buff The hitbox is placed higher, and it has gained an additional hitbox that extends much farther vertically (Y offset: 1.5u → 2.1u-9.3u), improving its coverage in front of Mr. Game & Watch.
    • Buff The move lowers Mr. Game & Watch's hurtbox to match his actual model, allowing him to easily avoid and whiff-punish many certain attacks.
    • Buff It powerfully semi-spikes characters.
    • Nerf The move has more ending lag (FAF 40 → 43).
    • Nerf It has a shorter hitbox duration (frames 6-11 → 6-8).
    • Nerf The windbox has been removed. This deprives the move of its juggling capabilities and potential recovery interruptions and it can no longer hit aerial opponents as a result.
    • Nerf The hitboxes are much smaller (2.5u → 1.2u/1.2u), and extend farther horizontally, but are placed closer to Mr. Game & Watch (Z offset: 12u-18u → 6.7u-16.8u). This reduces their horizontal range overall, and gives them a much less favorable disjoint due to Mr. Game and Watch leaning in further during the attack.
    • Notice The manhole-cover appears to be 3D. It is seen when a lightened-up projectile passes by it, referencing previous games.
  • Dash attack:
    • Nerf The hitbox has been moved closer to Mr. Game & Watch (Z offset: 6u → 5u), reducing its horizontal range.
    • Buff The move causes Mr. Game & Watch to slide in a choppy frame-by-frame manner, making it difficult for opponents to react to.
    • Buff The move's high amount of active frames to make its hitbox linger for an amount of time, making it one of Mr. Game & Watch's reliable approaching and safe-punishing options. Combined with lowering Mr. Game & Watch's hurtbox to match his model from Helmet, which allows it to low-profile many attacks, low endlag, good knockback to imrpove its KO potential at both by the ledge and center-stage, decent range, and no startup, it is among the best, yet strongest and long-ranged dash attack in the game.
  • Forward smash:
    • Buff The sweetspot deals more knockback overall (48 base/91 scaling → 46/97), and launches at a lower angle (52° → 48°), improving its KO potential.
    • Buff The move has gained an additional sweetspot hitbox inbetween the sourspot and existing sweetspot (5.3u → 2.9u/5.3u), while the sourspot has been slightly reduced to compensate (3u → 2.6u). This makes the sweetspot easier to land.
    • Buff The hitbox at the sweetspot is more bigger and disjointed than characters thinked it was on-stage, giving it significant range.
    • Nerf The sourspot has less base knockback (44 → 42).
    • Notice All hitboxes have been moved closer to Mr. Game and Watch (Z offset: 11u → 7.8u (sourspot), 17u → 12u/16u (sweetspot)) and upwards (Y offset: 3.5u → 5.3u (sourspot), 7.2u → 6.8u/7.8u (sweetspot)). Additionally, he doesn't lean forward as much. This reduces the move's horizontal range, but increases its vertical range and gives it a more favorable disjoint.
    • Notice The sourspot no longer possesses a sound effect on contact with the opponent.
      • Notice However, it emits a low-volumed thwacking sound if the opponent is upon contact within the sourspot.
  • Up smash:
    • Buff Up smash has less startup with a longer hitbox duration (frames 24-25 → 21-25), matching its Brawl and SSB4 counterpart.
    • Buff The move is significantlly sped up to match its Smash 4 counterpart.
    • Buff The hitbox is also enlarged, even larger than his own head and his body.
    • Buff It grants full invincibility to Mr. Game & Watch, rather than only to his head and frontal limbs.
    • Buff It has more knockback scaling (93 → 98), improving its KO potential.
    • Buff Deals more damage (16% → 20%).
    • Nerf It has a significantly shorter invincibility period, matching the duration of the hitboxes (frames 4-25 → 21-25). This prevents it from negating opposing attacks much earlier than the hitbox comes out, as well as during the whole period it is charged.
    • Notice The hitbox has been moved lower (Y offset: 12u-10u → 9.5u-8u), but also extends farther horizontally (Z offset: −3u-6u → −6u-5.5u). This noticeably reduces its vertical range, but increases its horizontal range, especially behind Mr. Game and Watch.
      • Buff The move's lingering hitbox increases its vertical range.
    • Notice Mr. Game & Watch faces away from the camera when using his up smash to the left. He also slightly flashes white during the move's invincibility frames.
    • Notice During the initial invincibility frames of the move before releasing it to attack, his scuba-diving helmet and his head will (all of a sudden) grow bigger. This paticular frame will last long on-stage if an opponent is upon contact behind himself or at adjacent range. This returned from Smash 4.
  • Down smash:
    • Buff Down smash has less startup (frame 15 → 12) and ending lag (FAF 42 → 38).
    • Buff The sweetspots bury grounded opponents, allowing them to followup into several other moves, including stronger finishers at high percents.
    • Buff The sourspot has significantly more knockback scaling (65 → 80), allowing it to KO under 150% from the center of Final Destination.
    • Buff All hitboxes extend farther to both sides (Z offset: -4.8u-4.8u → -5u-5u (sourspot), -12u/12u → -14.2u-−12.2u/14.2u-12.2u (sweetspots)), increasing the move's horizontal range and making the sweetspots easier to land.
    • Nerf The sweetspots are smaller (5u → 4.5u), slightly reducing their vertical range.
    • Buff Despite such small hitboxes, the hitboxes at both the sourspots and sweetspots linger, enlargening their range.

Aerial Attacks

  • Buff Neutral, back, and down aerial have less landing lag (12 → 7 frames (neutral), 19 → 18 (back), 28 → 22 (down)).
  • Neutral aerial:
    • Buff Neutral aerial auto-cancels earlier (frame 44 → 42).
    • Buff All hits have significantly longer durations (frames 7/12/17/22 → 7-10/12-15/17-20/22-23), much like the move's Brawl iteration.
    • Buff All of the move's hitboxes except the first hit's fish hitboxes are stretched horizontally (Z offset: 1.8u → −1u-6u/−1u-6u (hit 1), −9.5u/9.8u/1.8u → 9.6u-10.8u/−7.5u-−8.8u/−1u-6u/−1u-6u (hit 2), −11u/13u/1.8u → 13.3u-13.6u/−9.9u-−9.7u/−1-6u/−1-6u (hit 3), −11u/12.7u → −10.2u-10u/1.8u-3.4u (hit 4)) and vertically (Y offset: 17.9u/21u → 20.7u-21u/17.9u-18.3u (hit 2), 11u/12.5u → 12.4u-13.6u/11u-12u (hit 3), 1u/1.5u → 1.5u-2.9u/2.4u-1u (hit 4)), increasing the range of each hitbox.
    • Buff Due to its reduced landing lag, it has greatly improved combo potential, even allowing the multi-hits to set up into moves such as down tilt and forward tilt at KO percents.
    • Buff The first three hits have a lower hitlag multiplier (1× → 0.8×), making them harder to SDI out of.
    • Buff The first three hits launch at different angles, with the first two using autolink angles (160°/160°/90° → 165°/165°/367°/105° (hit 1), 160°/150°/367°/105° (hit 2), 145°/140°/120°/120° (hit 3)), and all of their hitboxes deal weight-independent set knockback (30/30/0 → 30/30/30/45 (hit 1), 30/30/20/20 (hit 2), 30/30/15/15 (hit 3)), improving their linking ability and preventing opponents from falling out at higher percents.
    • Nerf The move deals less damage (5% (hit 1), 4% (hits 2-3) → 3%; 17% total → 13%).
    • Nerf The last hit has a higher hitlag multiplier (1× → 2×), making it easier to DI.
    • Notice The first three hit have had their large hitbox replaced by two small ones (5u → 2.5u/2.5u (hit 1), 5u → 3u/3u (hits 2-3)).
  • Forward aerial:
    • Notice Mr. Game & Watch has a new forward aerial: he holds a bomb in front of him and drops it straight down, resembling Mario's Bombs Away, Safebuster, or Bomb Sweeper. Uniquely, the bomb functions as a projectile, exploding half a second (30 frames) after it is dropped or when it hits the stage. The move consists of both hits; one in front of Mr. Game & Watch when he drops the bomb, which deals 3% damage, and the other on the bomb's explosion, which deals 12%. The bomb does not explode upon hitting an opponent, and any attack that hits it will cause it to disappear.
    • Buff It deals more damage if both hits connect (11.5% → 15%).
    • Buff The explosion has significantly more knockback scaling (86 → 101), which alongside its higher damage output than the previous forward aerial improves its KO potential.
    • Buff Due to its new properties, it has increased vertical range below Mr. Game and Watch.
    • Buff The delayed explosion significantly improves the move's safety as a landing option against shielding opponents, to the point it is nearly impossible to punish after shielding it, despite its increased landing lag. It also grants the move combo potential, and allows it to hit offstage opponents below the ledge.
    • Buff The explosion has a much larger hitbox (5.5u → 10u). This drastically enlargens its range, coupled with the fact that it is one of Mr. Game & Watch's most reliable approaching options.
    • Nerf The move has more ending lag (FAF 45 → 48) and landing lag (15 frames → 17).
    • Nerf The move's initial auto-cancel window has been removed.
    • Nerf The hit in front of Mr. Game & Watch has a much smaller hitbox (5.5u → 2u), noticeably smaller than the bomb. This drastically reduces its range, despite being placed slightly farther horizontally (Z offset: 9u → 9.3u).
    • Nerf Both the initial hit and explosion have a much shorter duration (frames 10-25 → 10-13 (bomb), 44-45 (explosion)), and the bomb's ability to be canceled out by opposing attacks leaves Mr. Game and Watch completely vulnerable if it trades with an opposing attack. This makes the move significantly less effective for attacking and approaching directly.
    • Notice Both hits have a lower hitlag multiplier (1× → 0.5×).
    • Notice The initial hit uses set knockback (30/10 base/86/80 scaling → 30 set/50 scaling) and a hitstun modifier of 5, in order to link consistently into the explosion when close to the ground.
    • Notice The explosion launches at a higher angle (361° → 45°). This further improves its combo potential, but makes it less effective for edgeguarding.
  • Back aerial:
    • Buff The looping hits consistently use an autolink angle (366°/25° → 367°/367°), allowing them to connect reliably, despite the outermost hitbox dealing more knockback overall and the innermost hitbox no longer using set knockback (30/0 base/0/40 set/40/100 scaling → 0 base/100 scaling).
    • Buff The looping hits have a lower hitlag multiplier (1.5× → 0.9×), allowing them to transition faster.
    • Buff The last hit has more knockback scaling (170 → 185), improving its KO potential.
    • Nerf The move can no longer be frame-canceled. Its reduced landing lag does not compensate, hindering its combo potential and safety on shield.
    • Nerf The landing hit launches at a lower angle (68° → 58°) and deals much less knockback overall (90 base/120 scaling → 95/60). In combination with the removal of frame-canceling, this removes both its combo potential and its ability to KO at realistic percents.
    • Notice The move has a slightly altered animation where Mr. Game and Watch has his legs positioned to the side of his body rather than below it.
  • Up aerial:
    • Notice Up aerial has been reworked: it shoots a single puff of air that functions as a projectile, flying straight up and hitting multiple times, much like Mega Man's up aerial. This drastically resembles Spitball Sparky.
    • Buff Due to its new properties, it has much more vertical range, making it a more reliable followup option.
    • Buff It has a much longer duration (frames 6-12/20-22 → 9-14/15-20/21-26/27-32/33-36/37-42), significantly improving its juggling potential.
    • Buff The looping hits launch opponents more inward (94° → 97°) and use set knockback (20 base/60 scaling → 63/55/40 set/100 scaling), and the move no longer causes hitlag (1× → 0×). This allows for all hits to connect more reliably and makes them nearly impossible to escape.
    • Buff Despite its lack of KO potential, the final hit can KO at very high precents.
    • Nerf The move has more startup (frame 6 → 9), with its total duration increased as well (FAF 40 → 43), being interruptibile just after the hitboxes cease.
    • Nerf It auto-cancels later (frame 41 → 44) and no longer has an initial auto-cancel window.
    • Nerf It deals less damage (7% (hit 1), 9% (hit 2) → 1.8% (hits 1-5), 3% (hit 6); 16% total → 12%).
    • Nerf The hitbox is much smaller overall (6.5u/4.3u → 3.8u (hits 1-5), 4.3u (hit 6)), reducing its horizontal range.
    • Notice It no longer possesses windboxes, allowing it to hit consistently without pushing opponents out of range, but removing the ability to juggle opponents during vulnerable states (such as helplessness).
    • Notice The last hit deals significantly less knockback (55 base/98 scaling → 65/35). This removes its KO potential, but in combination with its longer duration and multi-hit nature, this allows it to combo far more effectively into other moves, including another up aerial to carry the opponent closer to the top blast line.
  • Down aerial:
    • Buff The removal of teching for grounded meteor smashes improves down aerial's combo potential on-stage, compounded further by its reduced landing lag.
    • Buff It auto-cancels earlier (frame 51 → 49), matching its interruptibility, and allowing it to auto-cancel after a full hop and Fire.
    • Buff The late hit deals much more knockback (20 base/106 scaling → 22/117), improving its KO potential.
    • Buff The clean hit is a powerful spike.
    • Notice The move can no longer be frame-canceled; however, this is compensated by its reduced landing lag.
    • Notice The key is larger, matching the vertical range of the sourspot more closely.

Grabs and Throws

  • Grabs:
    • Nerf All grabs have more ending lag (FAF 30 → 35 (standing), 37 → 43 (dash), 35 → 37 (pivot)).
    • Buff Unlike most of the roster, dash grab and pivot grab have increased range, especially dash grab (Z2 offset: 11.1u → 13.5u (dash), -14.8u → −15.6u (pivot)).
    • Buff All of his grabs are among the fastest in the game.
    • Nerf Dash and pivot grab have more startup (frame 8 → 9 (dash), 9 → 10 (pivot)).
    • Buff As with the rest of the playable roster, Mr. Game & Watch becomes intangible during his throws.
    • Notice When a playable character is thrown by Mr. Game & Watch, they turn into their respective stock icons for the duration of the juggle; combined with the new, more flatter look of stock icons, it greatly resembles a ball in the original eponymous game Ball. Squirtle, Ivysaur and Charizard utilize their own stock icons instead of Pokémon Trainer’s. TThe grabbable Assist Trophies still use their grab animations from Smash 4.
  • Pummel:
    • Buff Pummel deals more hitlag (5 frames → 14), but has significantly less startup (frame 13 → 1), and ending lag (FAF 30 → 7), greatly shortening its duration and making it more reliable for racking up damage, coupled with the fact that it is one of the fastest pummels in the game.
    • Nerf It deals much less damage (3.2% → 1.3%).
      • Buff It is still one of the most damaging and fastest pummels in the game.
  • Forward throw:
    • Buff Forward throw launches at a lower angle (58° → 52°), making it more effective for getting opponents off-stage.
  • Back throw:
    • Buff Back throw launches at a lower angle (58° → 52°), making it more effective for getting opponents off-stage.
  • Up throw:
    • Buff Up throw deals much more damage (8% → 15%), with its knockback scaling compensated (40 → 29).
    • Buff It has increased combo ability due to Mr. Game and Watch's faster jumpsquat and jumping speed; in addition to Fire at high precents, it can easily combo into neutral aerial and up aerial at low percents.
    • Buff Although up throw is not as powerful as down throw in terms of KO potential, it has good knockback growth, allowing it to KO at high precents.
  • Down throw:
    • Buff Down throw launches farther than up throw at higher precents for a "Toot-Toot" KO confirm he can pull off in Ultimate with this throw.
      • Buff It has higher knockback growth than up throw (40 → 100).
    • Nerf Down throw releases the opponent later (frame 26 → 35), with its total duration increased as well (FAF 41 → 50), giving the opponent more time to DI.
      • Buff As such, it grants intangibility on more frames (frame 1 → 35).
    • Buff Down throw is now Mr. Game & Watch's strongest throw, being able to KO reliably below 150%.
    • Nerf As such, this was removed from back throw in the previous game.
    • Notice It has significantly more base knockback (35 → 70). This worsens its combo potential at mid-to-high percents, and when combined with the changes to up aerial, effectively removes the "Toot-Toot" KO confirm he could pull off in Smash 4. However, this also increases its combo potential at low-to-mid percents in combination with Mr. Game & Watch faster jumpsquat, and grants it KO potential at around 200%.
    • Notice Mr. Game & Watch "drops" the character's icon during the animation, and Mr. Game & Watch's eyes follow the dropped icon; referencing Ball.

Other attacks

  • Buff His floor attack and ledge attack are significantlly sped up, compenstated with their high knockback growth to KO at extreme precents.
  • Edge attack:
    • Buff Edge attack deals more damage (7% → 9%).

Special Attacks

  • Chef:
    • Buff Chef deals more damage (5% → 8% (pan), 4% → 5% (food)) without compensation for knockback, although the food deals negative shield damage to compensate (0 → -1), while the pan deals formidable shield damage itself.
    • Buff The food's trajectory can be controlled by tilting the control-stick horizontally, rather than being randomized, improving its consistency as a ledge-trapping and zoning option.
    • Nerf The move has more ending lag (FAF 50 → 55).
    • Notice It shoots food at a slower rate when not tapping the special move button repeatedly (23 frames → 32).
    • Notice The pan hitbox has been replaced with two smaller ones (6.76u → 3.5u/4.2u).
  • Judge:
    • Buff Judge #5's first three hits have less knockback (40 base/80 scaling → 15/25 base/60/70 scaling), making it easier to hit opponents multiple times at higher percents.
    • Buff Judge #7 spawns three apples on hit instead of one, allowing Mr. Game & Watch to heal significantly more health after using the move.
    • Buff Judge #7 deals more base knockback (30 → 45), making it safer on hit at low percents.
    • Buff Judge #8 does more damage (9% → 13%), which also causes the freeze effect to last longer.
    • Buff Judge #8 deals less set knockback (70 → 60), slightly improving its gimping potential.
    • Buff Judge #9 has a larger hitbox (3u/4u → 3u/6u), matching the rest of the numbers.
    • Nerf Judge #2 no longer has a bonus trip-chance of 20%, removing its situational followups.
    • Nerf Judge #7 launches at a higher angle (361° → 45°), removing its ability to lock opponents at low percents.
      • Buff However, it contains high KO potential at higher precents.
    • Nerf Judge #9 has a much higher SDI multiplier (0× → 2×), allowing the opponent to manipulate their launch position to improve their chances of surviving, and shift their position when shielding the move to make it easier to punish, due to its high hitlag.
      • Buff Despite such high SDI, Judge #9 is still capable of KOing every single character at any type of direction around the stage at 0% to lower precents is utilized with fresh enough rage, making it less punishable.
    • Notice Judge can no longer roll the same number twice in a row.
    • Notice During startup, the numbers appear in a jumble before settling on the decided number.
    • Notice Judge #9 triggers a Special Zoom on hit.
  • Fire:
    • Buff Fire's windbox has been removed, instead possessing a new hit on frames 3-4 when the firemen appear, which links into Mr. Game & Watch's own hitbox. This hit deals 3% damage, launches opponents vertically (83° (grounded), 75° (aerial)) and has very high base knockback (132 base/36 scaling (grounded), 100/70 (aerial)), with a hitstun modifier of 10 on the grounded version. This new hit effectively reduces the move's startup (frame 9 → 3) and increases its horizontal range, giving it immense utility as an out of shield and disadvantage option, and due to the grounded version's high hitstun, it has also gained combo potential, leading into a neutral aerial at low percents and an up aerial until at high percents.
    • Buff It transitions into the parachute faster (FAF 41 → 37).
    • Buff Additional hitboxes have been added to the firemen.
    • Buff The ascending hitbox deals good knockback to improve its KO potential off-stage and at higher precents.
  • Oil Panic:
    • Buff Oil Panic reflects projectiles that are physical or non-absorbable, increasing its utility.
    • Buff It begins absorbing projectiles earlier (frame 7 → 6).
    • Buff The absorbing portion does not need to be held for as long (30 frames → 25), reducing its ending lag if not held (FAF 50 → 44).
    • Buff The absorbing portion's loop has been standardized, allowing Mr. Game & Watch to immediately go into the ending animation if the button is released after frame 30.
    • Buff Mr. Game & Watch is no longer forced into another loop after absorbing a projectile if the button is not being held. He also isn't put into the ending animation, allowing him to act the moment intangibility ends.
    • Buff The maxed-out power of Oil Panic retains its properties from the the previous game; dealing high amount of damage (60%), certainly OHKO all characters and destroy full shields.
    • Nerf The move's damage multiplier has been significantly reduced (2.8× → 2×).
    • Nerf The attack portion no longer has intangibility on frames 1-6.
    • Nerf The attack's minimum and maximum damage are lower, especially the latter (18%-60% → 16%-48%), and it deals less knockback (30 base/80 scaling → 25/80 (clean), 25/78 (mid), 25/76 (late)). This makes it significantly weaker, removing its one-hit KO ability, and further reduces its safety on hit at low percents when absorbing frail projectiles.
    • Nerf The attack has slightly smaller hitboxes overall (3.36u/4.8u/8.16u → 3.4u/4.5u/8u).
    • Notice Oil Panic triggers Special Zoom on hit, and briefly leaves the opponent covered in oil.
  • Octopus:
    • Notice Octopus's functionality has been altered. Instead of being controllable, the octopus automatically rears back and charges forward, grabs opponents who touch its tentacles, and drags them off-screen, akin to Ganondorf's Ganon. The main body deals damage instead of the tentacles. This allows the move to KO earlier, but makes it more polarized overall, as escaping the grab frees the opponent of any punishment.
    • Notice A greenish-beige backdrop similar to that of a Game & Watch unit temporarily appears during the Final Smash.
    • Buff The octopus can go through walls or platforms, allowing it to catch the opponents off-guard.

Moveset

Ground attacks

Attack Name Description Damage
Standard attack Greenhouse (グリーンハウス) / Greenhouse (Barrage) (グリーンハウス(連打)) / Greenhouse (Finish) (グリーンハウス(フィニッシュ)) Rapidly presses an insecticide pump, pumping gas onto the opponent. Unlike other characters, Mr. Game & Watch's rapid jab slightly pushes the opponent away. The first hit can combo into a grab, Fire, and even Judge or Oil Panic at high percents; the finisher starts KOing opponents at around 120%, and starts KOing middleweights at the ledge at around 150%. The finisher possesses a considerable amount of endlag, and is very punishable if shielded. Changes Mr. Game & Watch's model into his appearance from Greenhouse. 2%

1%
5%

Side tilt Lion (ライオン) Jabs forth with a chair to hit with its legs while wearing a hat. Relatively fast (frame 8) and extremely powerful, KOing at around 100% by the ledge. This is most likely used as an edgeguarding tool. The hitbox upon the attack also lingers, making it effective at catching spot dodges and ledge options. Changes Mr. Game & Watch's model into his appearance from Lion. 12%

10%
6%

Up tilt Flagman (フラッグマン) Mr. Game & Watch waves a flag in front of him, and a flag behind him in low arcs. The first hit knocks the opponent into the second one and has low ending lag, giving it combo potential at low to mid percents. However, it has noticeable start-up for a tilt attack, and it has poor reach both horizontally and vertically. No matter what side he faces, Flag 1 and Flag 2 will always be on the left and right sides, respectively. If this move is used twice in succession, with the second use facing the opposite as the first, the numbers (albeit being mirrored) will switch sides. The second hit KOs opponents at around 100%, and KOs middleweights at around 160%. Changes Mr. Game & Watch's model into his appearance from Flagman. 7%
Down tilt Manhole (マンホール) Pushes an angled manhole in front of himself. Does more damage than in the previous game and has much more knockback at the expense of increased endlag and reduced range. Down tilt has also lost its windbox from SSB4, disallowing juggling and potential recovery interrupting, and it can no longer hit aerial opponents. Has fast startup at frame 6 and possesses extremely high knockback for a tilt of its type (making it the strongest down tilt in the game knockback-wise), killing as early as 90% by the ledge and 120% center stage. It also semi-spikes the opponents, leading to edgeguards and potentially gimping characters with poor recoveries, while acting as a hard punish to any shielded ledge attack. Changes Mr. Game & Watch's model into his appearance from Manhole. 10%
Dash attack Helmet (ヘルメット) Performs a sliding headbutt while wearing a helmet. Long duration and lingering hitbox. It has good range and is very fast, sliding Mr. Game & Watch forward in a choppy frame-by-frame manner, making it difficult to react to. It also lowers Mr. Game and Watch's hurtbox to match his actual model, allowing it to low-profile many attacks. This move is a tool for both risky approaching and safe-punishing. Low ending lag, good knockback, and high amount of active frames make it a decent KOing option near the edge and useful for 2-framing opponents by the ledge. KOs opponents at 100% by the ledge, and KOs at 150% at the center-stage, though the clean hit contains troubles KOing middleweights center-stage until well past 180%. Originates from Helmet. 12%
Forward smash Fire Attack (ファイアアタック) Takes out a flaming torch and thrusts it forwards. The sweetspot is at the flame, while the sourspot is at the torch. While this move has moderate startup, coming out on frame 17, it has very little cooldown, is fully disjointed, and its sweetspot is safe on shield. While the sourspot deals underwhelming knockback, the sweetspot is powerful, KOing opponents reliably under 70%, making it one of the strongest forward smashes, while the sourspot KOs opponents at around 90%. The sweetspot is very disjointed. Changes Mr. Game & Watch's model to the Native Stereotype Americans from Fire Attack, only without the feather for safe reasons. 18%

23%

Up smash Octopus Headbutt (オクトパスヘッドバット) Performs an overhead-arcing headbutt while wearing a diving helmet. The move has noticeable start-up, coming out on frame 21, but has an extremely low cool down of only 13 frames and a deceptively long duration of 5 frames, making it a reliable baiting tool. Useful for shield breaker setups with Oil Panic due to its safety and even advantage on shield. The hitbox upon the attack is very large and disjointed and lingering. It also has combo potential into his neutral air, up air, and Fire. While his whole body gains invincibility, it only lasts during the frames the hitboxes are active. The 12th strongest up smash in the game, KOing middleweights at 90% uncharged and 60% fully charged. Deals powerful shield damage, which will result a shield-break if the move is charged up. His head is intangible during its active frames. Originates from Octopus. 20%

40-48%

Down smash Vermin (バーミン) Takes out a pair of hammers and slams them on the ground simultaneously and on both of his sides. Has the fastest start-up of all of Mr. Game & Watch's smash attacks, coming out on frame 12, and possesses very fast interruptibility, with only 21 frames of cooldown. It is rather disjointed for a down smash, and when sweetspotted, it will bury opponents, which can be followed up with a forward smash, down tilt, Oil Panic, or Judge, and will launch the opponents upwards at the sweetspot if used above the hammers or at the ledge. The sweetspot is massively disjointed. Its sourspot sends opponents at a powerful semi-spike angle and kills at 120% by the ledge. The aerial sweetspot of the attack is one of the strongest down smashes in the game, KOing around 75%. As a result, down smash has become one of Mr. Game & Watch's most reliable KO'ing options and is regarded by many to be the best down smash in the game. Changes Mr. Game & Watch's model into the character from Vermin. 14%

19-20%

Aerial attacks

Attack Name Description Damage
Neutral aerial Tropical Fish (トロピカルフィッシュ) Tosses out a pair of fish from a fishbowl. Multiple hitboxes enable it to cover every area except below him. Has the fastest start-up of all of Mr. Game & Watch's aerials (frame 7), launches opponents upward, has relatively low ending lag, and has the lowest landing lag of all of his aerials. Using the move to combo into itself and/or up aerial at low percents can deal upwards of 60% in a single combo or string. The first hit can be used as KO confirm into forward tilt or down tilt when landing with it. It drags the opponent downwards, following up with a smash attack, Judge or Oil Panic. The last hit will KO opponents at around 120%. As a result, it has become one of Mr. Game and Watch's most effective damage-racking options and is one of his best tools for approaching. Originates from Tropical Fish. 3%

4%

Forward aerial Bombs Away (ボンアウェイ) Gets out an igniting bomb and holds it in front of him, dropping it downward shortly after execution. The dropped bomb acts as a projectile, as it is sent directly downwards, exploding on a half a second afterwards or when it hits the stage. As of update 2.0.0, the entirety of the explosion's radius contains the hitbox. The bomb does not explode upon hitting an opponent, but will knock the opponent into its explosion, and any attack that hits it will cause it to disappear. There is a weak hitbox on the bomb (shortly before Mr. Game & Watch drops it) that slightly pushes midair opponents downward that deals set knockback, disallowing it to kill at any percentage. Hitting grounded opponents with the first hit will set them up to be hit by the second. Even if an opponent is hit from behind, the explosion always launches them whichever direction Mr. Game & Watch is facing. Compared to his old forward aerial, it functions more as a poking/spacing tool than an approach option. KOs at 115% by the ledge, KOs middleweights at around 160%, and KOs opponents at around 100%. Seems to originate from Mario's Bombs Away, Safebuster, or Bomb Sweeper. 3%

12%

Back aerial Turtle Bridge (タートルブリッジ) Takes out a snapping turtle and holds it behind himself as it bites, hitting four times. Has moderate start-up, but is also fully disjointed, hitting four times, and has low ending lag; compounded with Mr. Game and Watch's high air acceleration, this makes it effective as an edgeguarding option and a spacing tool. It has high landing lag, however, making it easy to punish if not spaced well. Although it cannot combo into itself anymore at higher percentages, its final hit is much stronger, making it a more reliable KO move. The finat hit KOs opponents and middleweights at around 130%. Component of Mr. Game & Watch notorious wall of pain. Originates from Turtle Bridge. 2%

3%

Up aerial Spitball Sparky (スピットボールスパーキー) Replaces his nose with a pump above him and shoots out a single puff of air upwards. Similar to Mega Man's up aerial, it acts as a projectile, hitting up to five times, and pushes opponents upward as it rises. It lost its windbox effect from SSB4. It has much more damage-racking and juggling capabilities than his up air in SSB4, at the expense of losing all of its KO power. Despite its complete lack of KO potential, it is notorious for being an incredible juggling tool due to its very long range, decent damage, low knockback, and low commitment, making it a core part of Mr. Game & Watch's combo game, and can be a big contributing factor to many of his best matchups due to how difficult it is for many opponents to escape. It will also likely KO opponents if used off-stage or at the highest portion of the stage, granting him back his "Toot-Toot" KO confirm. The move now has Mr. Game & Watch's model look more like his appearance in Spitball Sparky. 1.8%

3%

Down aerial Donkey Kong Jr. (ドンキーコングJr.) Takes out a giant key performs a vertical downward-diving thrust while holding it beneath himself. A stall-then-fall, it meteor smashes powerfully on the first frames. It is among the strongest spike in the game, being able to KO opponents relatively early. It can be moved left or right slightly during descent. While it can potentially cause Mr. Game & Watch to self-destruct while using it off-stage, his effective recovery, coupled with its low endlag and the move being slower than other stall-then-falls makes this unlikely. While the move has rather high landing lag, the landing hitbox can make it tricky to punish on whiff. It is a safe option when edgeguarding and has KO potential at high percents, killing at 130%. Originates the key feature from the Game & Watch version of Donkey Kong Jr. 14%

7%

4%

Grab and throws

Attack Name Description Damage
Grab Mario's Cement Factory (マリオズセメントファクトリー) Mr. Game & Watch reaches out right-handed in front of himself. While standing grab has poor range, both his dash and pivot grabs have massively disjointed range; even bigger and longer than his arm. All of his grabs are among the fastest in the game; despite its moderate endlag. Originates from how Mr. Game & Watch pulls levers from Mario's Cement Factory. N/A
Pummel Alarm (アラーム) Bashes the opponent with an alarm bell. It is among the fastest and most-damaging pummels in the game. Originates from the alarm feature on the "Wide Screen" and "Multi-Screen" Game & Watch series. 1.6%
Forward throw Ball (Front) (ボール(前)) Juggles the opponent as a ball from back to front, and tosses them forwards. Possesses little utility beyond throwing the opponent off-stage. Changes Mr. Game & Watch's model into his appearance from Ball. 10%
Back throw Ball (Back) (ボール(後)) Juggles the opponent as a ball from front to back, and tosses them backwards with the properties of a german suplex. This is Mr. Game & Watch's third-strongest throw, since it launches the opponent the farthest in comparison of his down throw, KOing opponents and middleweights reliably below 170%. Possesses little utility beyond throwing the opponent off-stage. Changes Mr. Game & Watch's model into his appearance from Ball. 10%
Up throw Ball (Above) (ボール(上)) Juggles the opponent as a ball from front to back, and tosses them upwards. Deals the highest damage of all throws; compenstated with its high knockback growth. This is Mr. Game & Watch's second-strongest throw, KOing opponents and middleweights reliably below 150%. Although it is not as versatile as down throw in terms of follow-up potential, it is an effective combo starter, and can be followed up with up aerial or neutral aerial at low percents, or Fire at high percents. Changes Mr. Game & Watch's model into his appearance from Ball. 15%
Down throw Ball (Below) (ボール(下)) Juggles the opponent from front to back, and drops them on the ground behind him, and launches them upwards. Mr. Game & Watch's eyes follow the dropped ball on the ground. Deals half as much damage as all the other throws deal, but makes up for this with its impressive combo potential. Despite its lower damage output, it is Mr. Game & Watch’s most strongest throw; also his most reliable KO throw, killing reliably below 150%, but still does not KO middleweights until around 200%. At low-to-mid percents, it is a reliable combo starter, and can be followed up with neutral air, Judge, Oil Panic, Fire, or up air for his "Toot-Toot" KO confirm. Changes Mr. Game & Watch's model into his appearance from Ball. 5%

Other attacks

Attack Name Description Damage
Floor/Trip attack Vermin (バーミン) Gets out a hammer, then swiftly slams it in front of himself and then behind himself. This can hit up to two times and the first hit can knock the opponent to the second hit if used near a wall. One of the fastest floor attacks in the game. If used at the opposite direction, he will slam the hammer behind him and then in front of him. Its high knockback growth and KO potential makes it among the strongest floor attacks in the game. Originates from Vermin. 7%
Ledge attack Alarm (アラーム) Takes out an alarm bell and thrusts it forwards while climbing up. One of the fastest ledge attacks in the game. This generates a shrill alarm noise in the process (the same paticular sound heard from Judge #9). Its high knockback growth and KO potential makes it among the strongest ledge attacks in the game. Originates from the Game & Watch's alarm feature on the "Wide Screen" and "Multi-Screen" Game & Watch series. 9%

Special attacks

Mr. Game & Watch's Special Moves
Melee Brawl 3DS/Wii U Ultimate
Standard Special Chef
Side Special Judge
Up Special Fire
Down Special Oil Panic
Final Smash Octopus


Special move Name Description Damage
Neutral special move Chef (シェフ) Tosses out a various amount of food which work as projectiles out of a frying pan, moving slowly through the air in an arc. The trajectory can be controlled by tilting the stick forward and/or backward. By tapping the button, the food will be flung at a faster frequency. The food can be used defensively to cancel attack animations of opponents as a zoning tool as well as to prevent aerial approaches and can be used for edgeguarding against opponents with linear recoveries. Hitting with the pan itself deals burning damage, and launches at a semi-spike. Mr. Game & Watch's model changes into his appearance from Chef. 5%
10%
Side special move Judge (ジャッジ) Swings a hammer in front of him in an arc, and raises a digital display with a random number from 1-9 with his other hand. It can have any one of 9 effects, which the vary is based on the number; #1 only damages himself, while #9 is strong enough to be a virtual one-hit KO. Mr. Game & Watch's model changes into his appearance from Judge.
  • Judge #1: An extremely weak swing that does not cause a flinching effect to the opponent. It is the least damaging Judge attack and deals 12% recoil damage, regardless of whether or not it hits.
  • Judge #2: A weak swing that deals minimal knockback. It has a 20% chance of tripping the opponent.
  • Judge #3: A decent swing that has a slapping effect. It sends opponents in the opposite direction from where Mr. Game & Watch is facing. It deals significant shield damage, which can follow up into a tilt, dash attack, a smash attack or Oil Panic in order to destroy the shield.
  • Judge #4: A decent swing that causes a slashing effect and launches opponents diagonally forward.
  • Judge #5: A strong swing that has an electric effect and hits multiple times.
  • Judge #6: A powerful swing that has a burning effect and is a strong semi-spike. Has the second strongest knockback of all Judge attacks.
  • Judge #7: A very strong swing that deals moderate knockback and produces 3 apples if it hits the opponent. Each apple heals 4%.
  • Judge #8: A powerful swing that freezes the opponent and deals very low knockback. Emits the "ping" sound effect that is usually associated with one-hit KOs.
  • Judge #9: An extremely powerful swing that deals very high knockback via electricity. It is the most damaging Judge attack and emits the "ping" sound effect like Judge #8. Similar in nature to a charged swing from the Home-Run Bat, but the hit's base knockback is much lower, which prevents it from being a true OHKO. When used fresh with enough rage, it will OHKO every character in the game at 0% anywhere around the stage. It will also cause significant shield damage like Judge #3, which can follow up into a tilt, dash attack, a smash attack or Oil Panic in order to destroy the shield.
Varies
Up special move Fire () Two firefighters appear between him, utilizing a trampoline to launch Mr. Game & Watch into the air. This move has very little startup lag and a large hitbox as he rises. At the apex of his jump, he deploys a parachute to slow his descent. Functions similar to Belay. Has the second-fastest start-up of all of Mr. Game and Watch's attacks (3rd frame), hits behind and in front of him, and launches opponents directly upward, granting the move combo potential, even at high percents. Capable of canceling into any move when falling. Because Mr. Game & Watch becomes intangible during his ascent and both hitboxes have good knockback, Fire is a good edgeguarding move offstage and a deadly stage spike when recovering low. It is Mr. Game & Watch's most effective OoS option, and is considered the best in the game, as well as for being an early KO move off-stage, since it has strong launch-power to push the opponents to the blast zone. Great finisher of Mr. Game & Watch notorious wall of pain. Originates from Fire. 3%

6%

Down special move Oil Panic (オイルパニック) Takes out an oil drum/bucket, which absorbs energy-based projectiles, and reflects physical ones. Projectiles reflected will not be amplified, sped up, or have their duration refreshed. Once three units are absorbed, it turns into a powerful attack consisting of Mr. Game & Watch sending out a large splash of oil from his oil drum. No matter the strength of the oil, this move will always trigger Special Zoom. A maxed-out power of Oil Panic will almost certainly OHKO opponents and destroy full shields, making it a very powerful shield breaker, while the least powerful Oil Panic can KO middleweights at the ledge around 95%. Comes out on frame 2, and with these traits Oil Panic is an incredibly dangerous move. Any opponent that are hit by the oil will be covered in oil for a brief moment. Mr. Game & Watch's model changes into his appearance from Oil Panic. 18%-60%
Final Smash Octopus (たこ) Transforms into the large octopus that appears in its eponymous game, Octopus, rears back and charges forward. The octopus can move up or down, only. Any opponents who touch its tentacles will be grabbed and dragged off-screen by the octopus, taking gradual damage if the opponents are trapped into its tentacles. If the opponents are dragged to the blast zone, they will be instantly KOed. Touching the main body will just deal damage. Just like in the previous game, pressing the attack button will extend the length of the tentacles. By button-mashing, however, opponents can escape. The octopus can also go through walls and stages; any grabbed opponents who make contact with walls or floors will take damage and be launched for KOing. After reaching the blast line, Mr. Game & Watch will return back to his previous position. 4.9%

15%
30%

Taunts

  • Up Taunt: Rings his bell at a vertical angle. Based on the alarm feature of Game & Watch units.
  • Down Taunt: Sits down and sighs while catching his breath, which blows out large puff of air. Similar fashion in the Game & Watch version of Super Mario Bros., when Mario and Luigi finished a level.
  • Side Taunt: Rings his bell at a sideway angle. Based on the alarm feature of Game & Watch units.

On-Screen Appearance

  • Progresses along a line of unlit Game & Watch LCD frames until reaching the foreground.

Idle Poses

  • Looks behind himself for a brief time.
  • Hops in place in a short height.

Victory Poses

An original melody with an energetic tempo, based upon the typical "bleep blooping" noises that characters or other objects in a LCD Game & Watch unit would make.

  • Rings his bell at a leftward and rightward angle, simultaneously turning around in the process. Recreation from Super Smash Bros. Melee, Brawl and For Nintendo 3DS and Wii U.
  • Juggles three balls from left and right while using the character's appearance (Mr. Juggler) in Ball. This replaces his previous victory pose: where he jumps indefinetely with outstretched arms and legs.
  • Pounces around the screen in erratic poses, tripping halfway, before beginning his balance by teetering on his left foot, then proceeds to jump back and forth, landing on a single foot and his head. Recreation from Super Smash Bros. Melee, Brawl and For Nintendo 3DS and Wii U.

Classic Mode: A Long Legacy

MrGameAndWatchSSBUCongrats

Mr. Game & Watch's congratulations screen in Classic Mode.

Mr. Game & Watch fights the cast of all "old school" characters in retro stages in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. They are fought in reverse order of release dates. The order of battles starts off with Kirby (whose grayscale), before beginning to battle more characters who originate from their old classic games, ending with the penultimate battle with a multi-man of Mr. Game & Watches on Flat Zone X (the latter being a possible recreation to the final battle of Melee's All-Star Mode). Thus, while Mr. Game & Watch's Classic Mode is a long legacy of "old school" characters, the final bosses are Master Hand and Crazy Hand. If intensity is lower, it is only Master Hand who fights against Mr. Game & Watch.

Round Opponent Stage Music Notes
1
SSBU Kirby Stock Icon (Alt 5)
Kirby 
Dream Land GB Kirby Retro Medley

(Green Greens)

Kirby has his white alternate costume equipped, referencing his monochromatic appearance in Kirby's Dream Land.
2
Pac-ManSSBU
PAC-MAN
Pac-Land PAC-MAN Originates from the original arcade-game PAC-LAND from NAMCO 1984.
3
DuckHuntSSBU-1
Duck Hunt
Duck Hunt Famicom Medley Originates from The Story of Duck Hunt.
4
MarioSSBU
Mario



LuigiSSBU-1
Luigi
Mario Bros. Ground Theme - Super Mario Bros. Free-for-all. Originates from the classic arcade-retro type of Super Mario Bros. from 1983.
5
DonkeyKongSSBU
Donkey Kong
75m 25m Theme Team battle. Mr. Game & Watch and Mario will be fighting against Donkey Kong. If P2 is playing with Mr. Game & Watch in this, Mario will not be with him (however, Mario will still be there is P2 chooses him as their character).
MarioSSBU
Mario is a CPU ally, likely a reference to Mario appearing in the original Donkey Kong.
6
SSBU Mr
SSBU Mr




SSBU Mr



SSBU Mr



SSBU Mr



SSBU Mr



Mr. Game & Watch (x6)

Flat Zone X Flat Zone Horde Battle. Possible recreation to Mr. Game & Watch's final battle of All-Star Mode in Super Smash Bros. Melee. As the name of the battle implies, the clones take extreme knockback and are very easy to KO, referencing the rest of the Horde Battles in the game.
SSBU Mr
If the player is using one of their costumes, the default Mr. Game & Watch takes their place.
7 Bonus Stage
Final Master Hand and Crazy Hand Final Destination Master Hand / Crazy Hand If the intensity is higher, Master Hand and Crazy Hand will fight against Mr. Game & Watch.

Credits roll after completing Classic Mode. Completing it as Mr. Game & Watch has Flat Zone 2 accompany the credits.

In competitive play

Shortly after Ultimate's release, the perception of Mr. Game & Watch was very negative; several players believed the nerfs he received - mainly the lack of priority in his new forward aerial, the reduction of invincibility frames on his up smash, and the loss of his "Toot-Toot KO confirm - were far too detrimental for him to have any chance of competitive success even in spite of his buffs. Combined with the prevalence of swordfighters in the game who were known for giving Mr. Game & Watch trouble in previous games, he was widely considered to be an unviable character that was even worse than his Smash 4 iteration with ZeRo going as far to rank him as the 2nd worst character in the game.

However, the Smash community eventually discovered that the buffs he was given far outweighed his nerfs and that the character had in fact become significantly stronger. Not only have his moves undergone aesthetic appearences as they now appear exactly as they do in the original Game & Watch games, but they have received major changes to their damage, knockback, range, lag, or have been completely reworked. Altogether, while his most potent tools were toned down from Smash 4, the majority of the least useful moves in his toolkit have been significantly improved.

Similar to the vast majority of the cast, Mr. Game & Watch's mobility has been made faster as he has slightly increased running speed and air speed, along with a much faster inital dash. Like the rest of the cast, he now has a 3 frame jumpsquat which improves his air game.

Mr. Game & Watch has much better KO potential as his forward tilt and down tilt have much higher knockback, allowing them to KO earlier (although down tilt's ending lag has been slightly increased) and the former has consistent 2-frame potential due to its faster startup and long hitbox duration. Additionally, the ability to dash cancel into these moves increases their utility. His smash attacks have all received major buffs. His forward smash has more knockback which makes it able to KO earlier and the increased size of the sweetspot makes it easier to land. His up smash has been given more active frames now being active from frames 21-25 instead of 24-25 and has slightly increased knockback scaling which allows it to KO earlier. While it has less invincibility frames throughout the total animation, it has invincibility frames during the hitbox frames (21-25) that cover Mr. Game & Watch's entire body which makes the move more dangerous to intercept unlike Smash 4 where the invincibility frames only covered parts of his body and left others completely vulnerable. His down smash has less startup along with a shorter total duration, making it faster without increasing its ending lag. Additionally, its sweetspots now bury the opponent which allows Mr. Game & Watch to follow up with one of his powerful finishers including a forward smash, forward tilt, or Judge to name a few and its semi spike sourspot has more knockback scaling. Lastly, its hitboxes extend further out making it easier to land. Mr. Game & Watch has arguably the best set of smash attacks out of the whole cast due to their increased power and utility while retaining their infamously low ending lag.

Mr. Game & Watch's aerial game and edgeguarding have also been improved. He has a new forward aerial where he drops a bomb in front of him. Compared to to previous forward aerial, this move has higher damage output and knockback which makes it better as a KO move while also having incredible utility for shield pressuring, ledgetrapping, combo starting, and landing. His back and down aerials are more powerful, making them great offstage punish options and his neutral aerial has excellent combo potential, increased range, and improved juggling ability as the new autolink angles prevent the opponent from falling out at high percents. His up aerial has lost its KO potential and has increased startup, but has gained outstanding juggling and damage racking ability as a tradeoff as it can keep the opponent in the air for a long time with little chance to escape. Finally, his neutral, back, and down aerials all have less landing lag.

His special moveset have also received major buffs. Chef deals increased damage and the trajectory that the food travels can be controlled; tilting the control stick forward makes the food fly faster and travel a further distance while holding the special button instead of repeatedly pressing it makes the food fly slower. Judge has received improvements to many of its numbers; Judge 5 has less knockback which makes it easier to hit opponents multiple times at high percents, Judge 7 now spawns three apples instead of 1 is safe to hit at low percents due to its increased knockback, Judge 8 does more damage and the freezing effect lasts longer, and Judge 9 has a larger hitbox. Oil Panic has gained additional utility as a defensive tool against projectiles; not only does it absorb projectiles one frame faster and has less ending lag but it also acts a reflector that reflects any projectile it can't absorb. Lastly, the biggest buff to his special moves and arguably his most valuable buff overall was to Fire. The move's frame 3 windbox has been replaced with a hitbox on both sides of Mr. Game & Watch that has strong knockback and a hitstun modifier of 10. Combined with the move's intangibility frames, it has outstanding utility as an out of shield option, disadvantage breaking option, and combo starter while also being a potential KO move off-stage; due to the late hit's high knockback and retaining its incredible recovery potential. Not only is this move arguably the single best out of shield option in the entire game, but it is also one of the best moves in the game overall.

In the end, Mr. Game & Watch is now considered to be a high-tier or top-tier by most players thanks to his newly gained strengths which is a sharp contrast to his perception in the early meta. Despite his nerfs as well as continuous issues with his extremely light weight, he possesses high power, great out of shield options, an oppressive offstage presence, a devastating combo game, and an incredible recovery while also having fairly good frame data and has achieved fantastic tournament results thanks to Regi, Frido, Take, and especially Maister. His iteration in Ultimate is almost unarguably his best in the series.

Role in World of Light

WoL-26MrGame&Watch

Mr. Game & Watch is one of the multiple characters that made an absence in the opening cutscene of World of Light, but he was vaporized by the beams and was later imprisoned under Galeem's control and Galeem has created puppet fighters for Mr. Game & Watch, alongside the rest of the fighters (sans Kirby) when Galeem unleashed his beams of light. Later on, Dharkon created dark puppet fighters for Mr. Game & Watch.

Mr. Game & Watch is unlocked in the upper portion of the area reminiscent of PAC-MAZE of The Light Realm. He can be found by going through the teleporters to find the correct path. After finding the correct path through the maze, the player must defeat the Sidestepper and Nikki spirits blocking him. Once defeated, the player will be able to awaken him.

Trivia

  • This is the first game in the series where Mr. Game & Watch is portrayed holding an object different than his signature bell in his official artwork, instead being shown holding the flag from Flagman (the same one as his up tilt). It also resembles his Alt. trophy in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.
    • In-game, however, Mr. Game & Watch changes his appearance to match the character in Flagman, rather than using his own appearance.
  • Mr. Game & Watch's official render somewhat resembles his official render Smash 4, although mirrored, and the positioning of his legs has been mirrored.
    • It is also the first time in the series where his pose in his official render shows him facing right instead of left.
  • Mr. Game & Watch, Jigglypuff, Ike, Ganondorf, Yoshi, Link, Ness, Lucas, and King Dedede are the only characters in Ultimate who have kept the same falling speed for three games in a row.
  • During the launch of Ultimate's official website, Mr. Game & Watch's name was erroneously labeled as "Mr. GAME & WATACH" exclusively on the mobile variant of his fighter page. The typo was later corrected.
  • Fire Attack SSB4

    Mr. Game & Watch about to use fire attack from Smash 4 on Pikachu.

    In Pikachu's showcase trailer, Mr. Game & Watch is seen using his forward smash animation from Smash 4. However, it was later changed to reference its origin game (Fire Attack) like some of his other moves. This change attracted criticism for its portrayal of a Native American stereotype (itself sourced from the original version of Fire Attack); Nintendo of America responded to the criticism by apologizing for the outdated imagery and promising to alter it by removing the feather from Mr. Game & Watch's model, matching a change seen in the Game & Watch Gallery 4 version of Fire Attack.
    • The screenshot of 4 Mr. Game & Watches on Flat Zone X has an old animation from Smash 4 on the building, in which Mr. Game & Watch retains his regular form when using his neutral attack. In the final game, Mr. Game & Watch instead changes his appearance into that of the main character of Greenhouse.
    • Fire Attack comparison

      Mr. Game & Watch's forward smash, derived from Fire Attack, pre-patch and post-patch.

      The Fire Attack spirit also had its artwork altered in the same patch as well, removing the feather.
  • Although Mr. Game & Watch has no visible eyes in his neutral animation, the loading screen, which temporarily lights up the selected character's eyes, makes Mr. Game & Watch glow where his eyes would be. The same applies to his activation picture in his Final Smash, which focuses on where his eyes would be, as with other characters, as well as for parrying. This is possibly because most of his incarnations like his Ball, Manhole, Judge, Oil Panic, Fire Attack, Vermin and Spitball Sparky forms have eyes due to shapeshifting, which may indicate where his actual eyes are in his neutral animation, which has invisible eyes.
    • While some of his moves cause him to resemble characters from the Game & Watch series with eyes, they are not affected by parrying.
  • The most logical reason why Mr. Game & Watch is eyelss because Mr. Game & Watch takes his overall appearance from his appearance in Fire, Parachute and Helmet, where he doesn't represent eyes at, although he may have true eyes deep down in reality, although invisible, that doesn't mean that he always have an eyeless trait.
  • While Mr. Game & Watch was also never heard of using ordinary speech, Mr. Game & Watch's "bleep blooping" sound effects are the only way he "talks," and are only heard from the outside, but on the inside, he is capable of using ordinary speech.
  • Along with Samus and Dark Samus, Mr. Game & Watch is one of the few characters in Ultimate to lack voice-clips in the Sound Test, despite Duck Hunt and R.O.B. being included. This is probably because the game considers his various bleep bloops as sound effects instead.
  • In-spite of other languages having a translated word for the term "Mr.", no other language uses it in Ultimate for Mr. Game & Watch's name except for Russian, appropriately using "Г-н".
  • On the character selection screen, the icon in the Japanese version show Mr. Game & Watch's name within only one row, while in the English version it is shown with two rows. He shares this trait with Captain Falcon, Zero Suit Samus, Pokémon Trainer, Wii Fit Trainer, Rosalina & Luma, the Mii Fighters, Piranha Plant and Banjo & Kazooie.
  • Mr. Game & Watch's "transformation" into other Game & Watch characters are fully 2-D, unlike his regular model, although the manhole in his down tilt is still rendered in 3-D. This can be seen when under the effect of a metal box.
  • Mr. Game & Watch’s route in Classic Mode is vaguely similar to Pac-Man’s, as both characters fight retro video-game characters from the NES era for opponents.
    • Coincidentally, they are chronologically the oldest fighters in Ultimate, with Mr. Game & Watch being older than Pac-Man by one month.
  • The two sprites of Judge that appear on the celebration screen for Mr. Game & Watch's route in Classic Mode carry a 3 and 9, which is goroawase for "san-kyu", or "thank you".
  • In the form of all Game & Watch series spirits, Mr. Game & Watch is one of the only characters to use their default costumes in a spirit battle present at the game’s initial launch, the others being Yoshi, Bowser Jr., and R.O.B.
    • Mr. Game & Watch is also one of two of these characters to use his default costume in more than one spirit battle, the other being Bowser Jr., and the only one of those four to do so at launch.
    • Alongside Yoshi and Bowser Junior, Mr. Game & Watch is one of the few characters with a spirit battle where all of his alternate costumes appear.
  • As a consequence of possessing the lack of visible eyes, Mr. Game & Watch is the only character with puppet fighters in World of Light that lack their signature red or purple eyes, simply using his model and various dark alternate costumes with no alterations. This might be the reason why he wasn't seen with the army of puppet fighters in the opening cutscene of World of Light, most likely blending in the dark background.
    • Pac-Man, Samus, and Dark Samus also share this distinction, though it is only through the spirit battle previews, where they, along with Mr. Game & Watch, do not emit red-flashing eyes.
  • The only characters and forms of Mr. Game & Watch from the Game & Watch universe who do not appear as spirits are Vermin, Spitball Sparky, Bomb Sweeper, Greenhouse (also known as Stanley The Fumigator), Tropical Fish and Mario's Cement Factory, as every other forms of Mr. Game & Watch appear as spirits in World of Light.
  • Although various of Mr. Game & Watch's counterparts appear as spirits in World of Light, they are actually seen during Mr. Game & Watch's attacks, as well as for his throws and special attacks, despite being complete spirits in the game.
  • Mr. Game & Watch is one of few characters who has two moves that trigger special zoom, being Judge and Oil Panic.
  • Due to a programming oversight, the sweetspots of Mr. Game & Watch's down smash do not cause any hit effect to appear on aerial or downed targets. This is due to the effect being misspelled as "noamal" in the scripts.
  • Vermin showcase

    Mr. Game & Watch using Vermin during his showcase trailer.

    In Mr. Game & Watch's showcase trailer in Ultimate, Mr. Game & Watch is seen using his Vermin form in his down smash, which had a very different expression on his face (such as his eyes being circular and large, his hair being more bigger than the original and his mouth being more extended). This form was not currently seen in-game of Ultimate, as this was only seen in his showcase trailer.
  • During all of Mr. Game & Watch's throws, the character transforms into their stock icon upon turning into a ball. Mr. Game & Watch is the only character to have this trait.
  • When a character becomes a ball in Mr. Game & Watch's throws, they are considered a UI element instead of a part of the foreground, and as such will appear over Windy Hill Zone's grass.
  • Oddly, Mr. Game & Watch cannot angle his shield directly forward as doing so will cause the shield to reset to neutral position.
  • Mr. Game & Watch's keyblade in his down air is somewhat similar to Sora's, making them quite connected to each other.

Palette Swaps

Mr. Game & Watch Palette (SSBU)


Color Description
Black Based off of his most recent and basical appearance in the Game & Watch series. His overall appearance is based on the generic Game & Watch-esque people from the games Fire and Parachute.
Red Reminiscent of characters and objects as depicted on the Virtual Boy.
Yellow Reminiscent of characters and objects as depicted on the original Game Boy.
Blue Based on Mr. Game & Watch's third costume in Super Smash Bros. Melee. Reminiscent of the blue monochrome display of the Game & Watch version of the Super Mario Bros. console.
Teal Directly recreated from Super Smash Bros. For Nintendo 3DS and Wii U. Reminiscent of the two shades commonly used by the Game Boy for the background and foreground.
Cyan Reminiscent of the backlit display of the Game Boy Light.
Green Reminiscent of his appearance in the green multi-screen console of Greenhouse in the Game & Watch series, and is based on the green monochrome display of the Game Boy.
White Reminiscent of the monochromatic LCD screen of the Game & Watch games, also basically an inverted version of himself.

Gallery

External links

Smash Ultimate logo glow  · Fighters
Veterans Bayonetta  · Bowser  · Bowser Jr.  · Captain Falcon  · Cloud  · Corrin  · Dark Pit  · Diddy Kong  · Donkey Kong  · Dr. Mario  · Duck Hunt  · Falco  · Fox  · Ganondorf  · Greninja  · Ice Climbers  · Ike  · Jigglypuff  · King Dedede  · Kirby  · Link  · Little Mac  · Lucas  · Lucario  · Lucina  · Luigi  · Mario  · Marth  · Mega Man  · Meta Knight  · Mewtwo  · Mii Fighters (Mii Brawler  · Mii Gunner  · Mii Swordfighter)  · Mr. Game & Watch  · Ness  · Olimar  · Pac-Man  · Palutena  · Peach  · Pichu  · Pikachu  · Pit  · Pokémon Trainer (Charizard  · Ivysaur  · Squirtle)  · R.O.B.  · Robin  · Rosalina & Luma  · Roy  · Ryu  · Samus  · Sheik  · Shulk  · Snake  · Sonic  · Toon Link  · Villager  · Wario  · Wii Fit Trainer  · Wolf  · Yoshi  · Young Link  · Zelda  · Zero Suit Samus
Newcomers Banjo & Kazooie  · Byleth  · Chrom  · Daisy  · Dark Samus  · Hero  · Incineroar  · Inkling  · Isabelle  · Joker  · Kazuya  · Ken  · King K. Rool  · Min Min  · Piranha Plant  · Pyra/Mythra  · Richter  · Ridley  · Sephiroth  · Simon  · Sora  · Steve  · Terry
ROBSymbolElectroplanktonSymbolDSSymbolBalloonFightSymbolMiscellaneous first-party universes SpecialStagesSymbolNintendogsSymbolPilotwingsSymbolWreckingCrewSymbol
Character R.O.B. (Brawl  · 3DS/Wii U  · Ultimate)
Side Characters Assist Trophies Arcade Bunny  · Barbara  · Color TV-Game 15  · Devil  · Dillon  · Dr. Kawashima  · Dr. Wright  · Excitebike  · Helirin  · Infantry and Tanks  · Isaac  · Jill  · Nikki  · Nintendog  · Ray MK III  · Prince of Sablé  · Saki Amamiya  · Sheriff  · Starfy  · Sukapon  · Takamaru  · Vince  · Yuri Kozukata
Mii Fighter Costumes Arcade Bunny  · Barbara  · Chibi-Robo  · Isaac  · Lip  · Ray MK III  · Saki Amamiya  · Takamaru  · Toy-Con Robot  · Vince
Enemies Sneaky Spirit
Stages PictoChat  · Hanenbow  · Balloon Fight  · Living Room  · PictoChat 2  · Pilotwings  · Wrecking Crew
Items Flipper  · Lip's Stick  · Rocket Belt  · Steel Diver  · Super Scope  · Unira
Music List List of Music (Other)
Songs "Balloon Fight Medley"  · "Nintendo Land Medley"  · "PictoChat"
Collectibles Trophies Melee Trophies  · Brawl Trophies  · 3DS Trophies  · Wii U Trophies
Stickers List of Stickers (Other)
Spirits List of spirits (Others)
Related universes R.O.B.  · Balloon Fight  · Electroplankton  · Nintendo DS  · Nintendogs  · Pilotwings  · Wrecking Crew  · List of minor universes
Advertisement