Super Smash Bros./Pikachu

Pikachu:



This is Pikachu. He's a cute little bugger, isn't he? Well, that pudgy yellow body and adorable blue hat hide a dark, deadly murder machine powered by painful electric death.

Don't believe me? Read the rest of this guide to find out how exquisitely destructive this little guy is. You'll see. They'll ALL see...

Overview
Pikachu is a Pokemon, from the game and series of the same name. Arguably the most popular of Pokemon, at least among 13 year old girls, Pikachu is the newest (in terms of time since conception) character in Super Smash Brothers 64. Although he has relatively short-range throws and tilts, and a very slow/weak dash attack, Pikachu is arguably one of the best characters in the game. He has high attack priority and range in the air, insanely fast recovery times (whether from being attacked or attacking), he has the best back-to-stage recovery in the game (if done right), and can combo like mad. He enjoys long, moonlit walks on the beach, pokemon food, and is also known as "Pika", "The Yellow Death", "Thunderstruck", and simply, "that crazy rat".

Pros vs Cons
I realize I discussed these above, but here's the breakdown.

Pros
+ Short start-up and cool-down times

+ Disjointed hitbox on fsmash

+ High aerial priority and range

+ Thunder (B-down) makes killing off the top easier

+ Best mobile edgeguarder in the game

+ Best overall recovery in the game

+ Has R-cancel opportunities

+ Multiple brutal edgeguards

+ Hardest character to edgeguard

+ Has a projectile (two different trajectories, and it goes around corners)

Cons
- Light

- Short ground tilt range

- Relatively short grab range

- Slow acceleration into run (slower dash-dance)

- Short-range, relatively low priority nair

- Long cool-down on neutral A

- Pointless dash attack

A-attacks
These are Pikachu's physical attacks, done with the A-button and modified with the control stick. Nintendo's official website for SSB64 and its official names for moves are long gone, so I'll substitute my own. Names, that is. I have better things to do than build Nintendo's website.

Ground
The moves that Pikachu can do while standing on the ground are:

Neutral A
Name: Party Hat of Doom

Tap A while motionless on the ground to do this move. Pikachu headbutts the air (or the opponent if you're close enough). If you continue to hit A, Pika will continue to do so until you stop. This move is one that I personally almost never use. Though it is possible to back your opponent up against the wall with this, its cool-down time is too slow for the normal use of a jab (see the SSB64 Guide for this).

NOTE: It is possible to shield grab your opponent if you have backed them up against the wall with this move. Simply hold Z while continuing to pound that A-button, and then throw them when you grab them.

Dash-A
Name: Tripping Headbutt

Tap A while dashing or running and Pikachu will do this move. He's a bit chubby, so he just throws himself onto the ground headfirst in hopes of sliding into the opponent and stabbing them with his party hat. Because he throws himself on the ground and has to get up again, the cool-down time is rediculous, and the knockback is not worth the vulnerability. If it's possible, I use this move less than I use the neutral A, because I have never found a real use for it.

Ftilt
Name: Mouse Kick

If you tilt the stick to the right or left and press A, Pikachu will put all of his weight on his front two paws and kick out in the direction that you pressed with both of his rear paws. This attack has relatively short range, but it is fast and has acceptable knockback for a tilt. I'll use it to interrupt an incoming throw like I would with a jab if I were any other character, or to move my opponent a little bit to the side as a set-up for a combo.

Dtilt
Name: Tail Slap

Tilting the stick down and pressing A makes Pikachu drop into a crouch and turn around to put his tail out in front of him at ground level. The warm-up time is just a hair longer than one would expect, but the rest of the move is pretty quick. I find the most use for it in edgeguarding, as it sends the opponent down and away at a slight downward angle, and has decent knockback. It can also be used as the Mouse Kick is above, as an interrupter against combo-starters, and it actually has a bit more range. However, I don't use it much overall.

Utilt
Name: Steel Rainbow

Tilting the stick gently upwards and pressing A makes Pikachu drop to all fours and swing his tail in a nearly 90 degree arc over his head (an angle of pi/2 for you math geeks). This is a great combo starter, as it bounces your opponent nearly straight up, with a small angle to whatever side of you the opponent is on. It has awesome priority and just enough knockback to stun the opponent and bounce them without letting them escape. This is a juggle move, if you really want to stand in place and utilt about 5 times. I personally use it to get my opponent up in the air so that I can combo them. It's also good to bounce them up as a set-up for a usmash, if you're going for a kill. It's also good because its high priority allows you to stop attacks coming from above (not all, mind you - Link's dair will still pwn you if you try this) and turn them into a combo of your own. You can also hit people in front and behind you with it because of its arc. I like this move a lot, but it's really not one of my bread-and-butter.

Fsmash
Name: Electric Buzz-saw

Tapping the stick to the left or the right and hitting the A-button will make Pikachu do this move. You'll notice, if you look closely enough, that Pikachu's cheekspots turn blue when doing this move (maybe he's holding his breath). Pika charges up his energy for a moment, and then spits out a solid bar of energy out in front of him. This chunk of electricity stays there for about a half-second, so anybody running into its hitbox (which is quite a bit larger than one would think) will be hit by it as long as its still out there. This is one of Pikachu's edgeguards, as it has fantastic knockback and stays out in front of you for long enough that its harder for your enemy to throw off your timing and avoid it. I very rarely use it when in combat on the stage, unless its in a special situation (i.e., to throw off my opponent or as an unexpected combo finisher). Use it as you will, but I recommend it purely as an edgeguard at first.

Dsmash
Name: Double Ground Kick

Usmash
Name: Rising Tail

Tapping the stick up and hitting the A-button makes Pikachu do this powerful move. He does a backflip, swinging his tail in a powerful vertical arc through the area (and hopefully the enemy) in front of him. This is one of Pikachu's killing moves. It can be used to juggle at low damage on heavy characters when a utilt isn't powerful enough, but you're going to want to try to use it for the kill. It kills on normal-sized characters at around 80%-100% (usually), and has pretty good range in front of Pikachu. Once you work up the damage, a utilt is the perfect setup for the usmash, or a forward throw into a wall, or simply a dash-dance to a usmash.