Keyboard

Keyboard play is the act of playing Super Smash Bros. or Super Smash Bros. Melee using a keyboard as the controller. This is used by smashers mostly in online or emulator play as an alternate instrument to the standard controller.

Since emulator play holds by far the most prominence with Smash 64, most notable keyboard players are Smash 64 players.

Although a keyboard is significantly more difficult to use than a controller due to the higher amount of keys and the lack of an analog stick, there exists various advantages provided by keyboards that can provide superior gameplay inputs than controllers.

Pros

Enhanced SDI

Smash directional influence is the only form of DI in the original game, making its usage very important when trying to escape multi-hit moves and combos. Keyboard users can input their directions with much more ease and speed, resulting in dramatically more noticeable SDI.

Easier button mashing

Attacks requiring quick button mashing to be utilized properly, such as the Mario Tornado or Luigi Cyclone, are much easier to input.

Cons

Harder maneuvering

Keys lack the easy handling of an analog stick and for this reason require much more practice to properly master in-game movements.

Much less free-directional control

Similar to the above, some special moves such as Quick Attack or Fire Fox can only be used in horizontal, vertical, or 45° diagonal directions with a keyboard, as opposed to the mostly unrestricted direction control an analog stick allows. For example this makes it more difficult to get maximum distance out of a two-hop Quick Attack.

Harder short hopping

Short hopping requires significantly more practice for mastery due to the difficulty of pressing a key quickly enough not to input a full jump.

Notable keyboard players

•  Bane
•  Killer
•  KoRoBeNiKi
•  Nephiros
•  Star King
•  Guardknight
•  SuPeRbOoMfAn (uses the alias KeyboardKing)
•  Unreal

Notable keyboard usage in tournaments

• SuperBoomFan used his infamous keyboard Kirby against Sensei in Zenith 2013 Smash 64 Grand Finals, with which he almost beat Sensei, before switching to the normal controller towards the end of the set.

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