Yoshi (Super Smash Bros. Melee)

This article is about Yoshi's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Melee. For the character in other contexts, see Yoshi.

“	A dinosaur that boasts surprising jumping prowess.	”
—Description from Melee's manual.

Yoshi
Universe	Yoshi
Also appears in	SSB Brawl SSBWU/3DS Ultimate
Availability	Starter
Tier	B+ (10)
Character Statistics
Number of Jumps	2
Voice Actor
Voiced by	Kazumi Totaka

Yoshi (ヨッシー, Yosshī) is a character in all current games in the Super Smash Bros. series. He was announced as a playable character at the E3 2001. He now possesses a more realistic dinosaur crouching posture and mottled skin.

He is currently ranked 10th in the tier list, located on the B+ tier. Although he has decent comboing ability, he suffers from lacking a real third jump, resulting in an over-reliance on his large midair jump. In addition to this, Yoshi sports a very slow and punishable defensive game; he cannot jump out of his shield, and he has a very slow roll. Despite these shortcomings Yoshi sports many decent edge-guarding strategies, and an adequate aerial game. Yoshi's offensive capabilities are relatively effective when faced with multiple opponents, as many of his special attacks have a wide area of effect.

Attributes

One of Yoshi's most unique attributes is his shield. It lasts longer than other shields, is much easier to perfect shield with, and is immune to shield stabbing. However, he has a slow roll, he can't jump out of his shield, and he takes a longer time to exit his shield than any other character. Yoshi is heavy, but he is rather small and fast, both of which are attributes usually not found in heavyweights. Yoshi can juggle many characters well, but he has mediocre combo ability on floaty characters.

In recovery, Yoshi has very fast air speed, the highest midair jump, and can use his side special move, Egg Roll, to cover decent horizontal distance. On the downside, Yoshi lacks a recovery move. Thus, he is highly vulnerable to being hit out of his second jump while recovering.

Yoshi has a solid air game. Both his forward and down aerials are meteor smashes, and the latter can deal up to 47% damage, making it the most damaging aerial attack. His ground game is weakened, due to his grabs having a lot of start-up lag and being relatively short for ranged grabs. Yoshi's Up Special Move, Egg Throw, is a controllable projectile that can be used for many situations. His Egg Roll, though, can lead to a self-destruct if not used carefully. Yoshi can also moonwalk and double jump cancel. Although skilled players will be on the lookout for his neutral special move, Egg Lay, and will break out of the egg before many hits can be landed, it can throw an opponent off balance as they break out of the egg.

Changes from Smash 64 to Melee

When making the transition from Super Smash Bros. to Melee, Yoshi received both buffs and nerfs, but was slightly nerfed overall.

Aesthetics

• Yoshi received a slightly more realistic appearance, with mottled skin and a more dinosaur-like posture.
• The Pink Yoshi and Blue Yoshi palette swaps are now playable.

Attributes

• The addition of directional air dodges improves his recovery.
• Air speed is slightly slower.
• His DJC combos are slower and somewhat harder to perform.
• Can no longer jump out of his shield, significantly hindering his OoS options and exacerbating his already-poor ability to deal with shield pressure.

Ground Attacks

• Forward tilt and up smash are slightly weaker. The latter can also no longer be used as a horizontal finisher.
• Forward and up smashes are slightly quicker.
• Forward tilt is easier to combo from at higher percentages on most characters.
• Up tilt's animation has been changed to Yoshi flicking his tail upward, which is less useful for combos at lower percentages compared to his up tilt in Smash 64.
• Down tilt is less useful for gimping at very low percentages.
• Forward smash is significantly weaker.
• Up smash now only hits opponents vertically, making it much easier to combo from.
• Down smash now has negligible startup lag, considerably more power, and a more favorable semi-spike launch angle, making it Yoshi's best KOing option.

Aerial Attacks

• Neutral, forward, and up aerials are stronger.
• Forward aerial has much more startup lag, (although most of the meteor smashes have this problem).
• Back aerial's animation has been changed to Yoshi wagging his tail behind him four times, which is a multi-hitting attack that is no longer able to KO ,but is now a very potent damage racking attack (although it is not as potent as his down aerial).
• Down aerial has a lower possible damage output, going from a maximum of 56% in Smash 64 to a maximum of 53% in Melee.

Grabs and Throws

• Yoshi now has an up throw and a down throw, giving him more versatility after a grab.

Special Moves

• Yoshi has a new special move, Egg Roll. While the move is not very useful as an attack, it helps Yoshi's very limited recovery options.
• Egg Throw now has greater versatility. They can now extend aerial combos and set up for various aerial KOing options or a smash attack.

PAL differences

Like other characters, Yoshi received some changes in the PAL version of Melee.

• Yoshi is heavier (111 instead of 108).
• Both forward and up smashes deal 1% more damage.
• Down aerial deals considerably less damage (38% instead of 53%).

Moveset

		Image	Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack				3%	Yoshi does a very fast short-ranged kick followed by a more powerful kick.
				5%
Forward tilt	↗			13%	Yoshi thrusts one foot out. Similar to the second hit of his neutral attack, only with more range and knockback. This attack can be angled up or down.
	→			12%
	↘			11%
Up tilt				10%	Yoshi whips his tail upward to launch the opponent into the air. Fast but has short range.
Down tilt				10%	Yoshi performs a low tail sweep.
Dash attack				9% (clean), 8% (late)	Yoshi jumps and performs a running headbutt. Yoshi's head is invincible while attacking, which can cancel out some projectiles.
Forward smash				16%	Yoshi winds back before hurling his head forward. This attack can be slightly aimed up or down. Yoshi's head is invulnerable during the attack.
Up smash				14%	Yoshi jumps and performs an upwards headbutt. Just like his forward smash, Yoshi's head is invincible while performing this attack.
Down smash				14% (front), 12% (back)	Yoshi swipes his tail in front and then back. A very useful edge-guarding move that powerfully sends opponents on a low semi-spike trajectory.
Neutral aerial				14% (clean), 10% (late)	Yoshi sticks one foot out in midair. A sex kick that deals decent knockback.
Forward aerial				17%	Yoshi reels back and quickly swings his head downward. A powerful meteor smash, being the third most powerful in the game.
Back aerial				7% (hit 1), 6% (hit 2), 5% (hit 3), 4% (hit 4)	Yoshi swipes his tail four times behind him. Great for racking up damage, although not as great as his down aerial. All hits deal up to ≈20.65% when used fresh.
Up aerial				12%	Yoshi quickly strikes upward with his tail. Can be used to juggle, working especially well when DJC'd (Double Jump Cancelled).
Down aerial				4% (hits 1-14)	Yoshi rapidly peddles his feet downwards as he descends, weakly meteor smashing enemies. Most damaging aerial in the game, dealing ≈51.32 if all 14 hits connect (NTSC version only).
Grab				—	Yoshi uses his tongue to grab an opponent and pull them into his mouth. His dash grab cause him to trip if he doesn't get anyone. Despite the appearance, Yoshi cannot use his grab in midair, being the only character with a ranged grab to do so.
Pummel				3%	Yoshi chews on the foe.
Forward throw				6%	Yoshi reels back with the opponent in his mouth and spits them out forward.
Back throw				6%	Yoshi turns around and spits the opponent out backwards.
Up throw				5%	Yoshi leaps and spits the opponent out upwards.
Down throw				4%	Yoshi leaps and spits the opponent onto the ground.
Floor attack (front)				6%	Yoshi gets up and does a headbutt on both sides.
Floor attack (back)				6%	Yoshi gets up and does a quick spin kick that hits on both sides.
Edge attack (fast)				6%	Yoshi leaps onto the stage and strikes with his tail.
Edge attack (slow)				12%	Yoshi steadily climbs up, reels his head back, and headbutts forward.
Neutral special			Egg Lay	7%	Yoshi sticks out his tongue to grab an opponent, swallows them, and turns them into an egg. The higher percentage the opponent have, the harder it will be for them to break out of the egg. Opponents trapped inside the eggs will receive less damage than usual.
Side special			Egg Roll	4-13%	Yoshi turns into an egg and rolls forward. The damage done is based on how fast Yoshi is moving. If the move is started in the air, it won't do any damage until Yoshi hits the ground. One note is that Yoshi will becomes helpless if the move is ended in the air.
Up special			Egg Throw	10% (grounded explosion), 12% (aerial explosion)	Yoshi throws an egg at an upward arc. The strength and angle of the egg that is thrown can be controlled by holding the B button and tilting the control stick respectively during Yoshi's windup.
Down special			Yoshi Bomb	14% (body), 1% (stars)	Yoshi jumps and plummets downwards, producing stars on both sides when he lands. If used in the air, Yoshi will fall straight down. Can sweetspot the ledge only if Yoshi is facing towards one.

Taunt

• Faces the camera and jumps up and down, waving his hands in the air and saying "Yoshi!"

Matchups

Super Smash Bros. Melee Character Matchups

Avg.

Techniques

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

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

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

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

Down Tilt

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

Down Aerial

The Down Aerial is a mildly risky technique when used for edgeguarding. This is because if the player does not jump Yoshi will die, as Yoshi's midair jump is not enough to get back on the edge. However, all one needs to do is short hop and start the attack before he reaches the height of the edge. Players have to be very careful, since Yoshi cannot recover from a fast fall initiated after the peak of the short hop. This move is a Meteor Smash, so it can be Meteor Canceled. If Yoshi hits the opponent with it when they're at a low damage, he may drag them down, but at high damage, he'll only be able to hit them with only one part. With most edgeguarding techniques this move becomes more effective with more damage on the opponent.

Forward Aerial

Yoshi's Forward Aerial is the second most powerful Meteor Smash in the game. It can be slightly risky when used. Because the attack is a meteor smash and not a spike, Yoshi's opponent has the chance to meteor cancel. This means that one should immediately double jump back to the stage after the attack is completed, or one may run the risk of getting hit into the stage and fall to their death.

Eggs

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

Double Jump Land

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

Trophy descriptions

In addition to the normal trophy about Yoshi as a character, there are two trophies about him as a fighter, unlocked by completing the Adventure and All-Star modes respectively with Yoshi on any difficulty.

Yoshi

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

• Super Mario World 8/91

Yoshi (Smash Red)

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

• B: Egg Lay
• Smash B: Egg Roll

Yoshi (Smash Blue)

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

• Up & B: Egg Throw
• Down & B: Yoshi Bomb

Classic

Smash Red

Smash Blue

Alternate Costumes

Yoshi's alternate costumes in Super Smash Bros. Melee.

Trivia

• If Yoshi is Star KO'd, his respective voice clip will play a second late, rather than when he begins falling. This also occurs in Stamina Mode, as when Yoshi runs out of stamina, he will begin falling, and the clip will play after.

External links

• Jurassic Parkour - a Yoshi tech skill video