Super Smash Bros./Characters

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There are 12 playable characters in Super Smash Brothers; eight that are available at the start, and four that can be unlocked in single player mode through completion of certain challenges. They all have certain advantages and disadvantages, and although this game is very well balanced, certain characters are better than others are. However, Super Smash Brothers 64 character tiers are very subjective, so characters will not be listed in order from best to worst. I give a basic summary of characters, and go can go to the in-depth guides for more specific info, but you will have to figure out character rankings for yourself.

Captain Falcon

As a top tier character, Captain Falcon can dominate a game with his speed and power. Falcon's ability to combo his opponents up to a high percentage in a short amount of time makes him an excellent 1 vs 1 character. However, because of the chaotic nature of multiplayer Smash, Falcon's ability to take control of a game is diminished, as isolating an opponent to combo them is difficult with multiple adversaries. In order to have a successful fight using Falcon, one must always keep in mind that he is a momentum character. Using his speed to move an opponent to a more isolated area, followed by relentlessly piling on damage with aerial attacks, is a great formula for success with Captain Falcon.

• In-depth Captain Falcon guide

Donkey Kong

The large primate from the old arcade-style Mario games is back again. With a mixture of endurance and power, Donkey Kong is a middle tier with potential. The largest influence on his tier position his his size and lack of speed, which leave him vulnerable to attack. Relying heavily on his power, he dominates games by keeping things simple. He is a character that can take over a game by using well timed grabs and a mixture of aerial attacks. If one is looking for a character with a great deal of creativity, then Donkey Kong may not be the best selection.

• In-depth Donkey Kong guide

Fox

Fox McCloud is the protagonist in Nintendo's futuristic Starfox fighter-plane games. Although you never saw his character in action (only his ship), his special moves in Super Smash Brothers are gracefully taken from his ship's maneuvers. He is a fast, somewhat light character with some powerful moves.

• In-depth Fox guide

Jigglypuff

Jigglypuff joins Pikachu as one of two playable Pokémon in the game. His strengths lie mostly in team play due to the slow recovery time from his "Rest" attack. This attack can be incredibly useful, however, when executed right after a Z-cancelled downwards drill kick. His aerial forward B attack can be used to increase his horizontal recovery distance by a ton. His backwards throw is also pretty powerful.

• In-depth Jigglypuff guide

Kirby

Hailing from the old-school Kirby series of the original NES days, Kirby carries into the game a variety of abilities he has in the other games in his series, including the ability to suck other characters inside himself and take their abilities. While some of his moves are regarded as cheap by many players, when mastered, his drill kick and Final Cutter attacks can be lethal.

• In-depth Kirby guide

Link

His speed is slow, and he has the worst jumps in the game but he is very powerful. Pressing Up+B while in the air causes him to spin his sword around, making him go higher. Link has a good arsenal of weapons. He is able to throw a boomerang, and bombs. But bombs are on a timer, so don't be cought holding them when they explode, as the blast radius also damages you. The thing about Link is his throw; he can stretch farther then anyone else. But he is weak unless you can manage to think up Combo attacks: e.g. Up+A, Up+A until high enough, then, Up, A!

• In-depth Link guide

Luigi

• In-depth Luigi guide

Mario

When one thinks "Nintendo", this guy comes to mind. A plumber with a moustache and a penchant for jumping who happens to be in love with a perpetually kidnapped princess (I mean, what the heck, Nintendo?), he and his games fill many of the spots for top-selling games of all time. In Super Smash Brothers 64, this red-capped and blue-overall wearing Italian is a good all-around character. He has fantastic aerial recovery time, a great u-air juggle, and very annoying fireballs, but isn't quick enough to keep up with the likes of Fox or Captain Falcon.

• In-depth Mario guide

Ness

Ness is a young psychic boy (exact age unknown), protagonist from Nintendo's Earthbound RPG series. Ness is a hidden character, so you will have to unlock to use him in versus play. To do this, you have to beat the game on Normal difficulty with 3 stock, no continues, and then defeat him in 1v1 combat. He is probably one of the more difficult characters to play with, since his third jump is very tricky to pull off for a new player, and his floaty, circular second jump can weird out even veteran players. He is a fairly light, slow character with powerful attacks, and is the only character with a healing move.

Note that it is extremely difficult to unlock Ness without proper practice with one character: To do this: Learn all their attacks, Create combo attacks, learn other characters attacks and make counter-attacks, then learn other characters counter-attacks and prevent them.

• In-depth Ness guide

Pikachu

An electric Pokémon from the game series of the same name, Pikachu is very powerful and agile. He is so powerful and agile, in fact, that he has been considered "cheap" by the unenlightened. I myself find few disadvantages to the little guy, but then again, he's my main. He has one of the best recoveries, if not the best, in the game and has a simply unavoidable edgeguard. He suffers from short range on the ground, is relatively light, and takes a good level of skill to play well, but this electric mouse could very well be your route to victory.

• In-depth Pikachu guide

Samus

Samus is a master of distance, but an all around good character to play. Various moves need to be mastered to be an effective Samus player.

• In-depth Samus guide

Yoshi

Yoshi comes from the popular Mario series, and brings into the game some of his abilities from the series such as his ability to suck people up with his long tongue. He is generally considered one of the worst players in the game due to his lack of a third recovery technique (which he attempts to make up for with an extra-high second jump) and his general slowness. He does have powerful melee attacks, though their slowness makes them easily avoidable.

• In-depth Yoshi guide