Pac-Man (SSBU)

Pac-Man in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Universe	Pac-Man
Other playable appearance	in SSB4
Availability	Unlockable
Final Smash	Super Pac-Man
Tier	B+ (40)

Pac-Man (パックマン), stylized in-game as PAC-MAN, is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. He was confirmed alongside the rest of the veterans on June 12, 2018. Pac-Man is classified as Fighter #55. Like in Super Smash Bros. 4, Pac-Man reuses sound effects from various Pac-Man games and Bandai Namco arcade games.

Pac-Man is currently ranked 40th out of 82 on the tier list, placing him in the middle of the B+ tier. This is a significant improvement to his placement in Smash 4, where he was ranked 45th out of 54. Pac-Man's greatest strengths lie in his zoning capabilities thanks to his barrage of projectiles in Bonus Fruit and Fire Hydrant. Bonus Fruit is notable for having different projectiles with distinguishing properties, with Bell being the most effective one as it confirms into KOs. His Hydrant is notorious for creating a barrier that a lot of characters can struggle to deal with up close, allowing Pac-Man to continue setting up shop behind it. His recovery is among one of, if not, the best recoveries in the game due to its outstanding travel distance of Power Pellet and mixup potential and Pac-Jump giving him a high vertical boost. This makes Pac-Man one of the hardest characters to edgeguard due to his amount of options. Pac-Man's normals are also amazing in their own right as most of them have amazing frame data and shield safety, which allows him to box out his opponents at ease. Finally, his grab, previously seen as one of the worst in Smash 4, has been buffed significantly to increase its hitbox detection, allowing it to even beat spotdodges.

Despite his abundance of strengths, Pac-Man has some flaws. Pac-Man has few reliable ways to KO his opponent, with his smash attacks and aerials being pretty predictable, so holding shield can be effective against him. His projectiles can also be used against him, with the Bonus Fruit being able to be caught when shielded and used freely against him, as well as his Hydrant being able to be hit back at him by a strong enough move. His recovery, while amazing, is relatively exploitable, as both moves can be interrupted: Power Pellet can be canceled if the pellet is hit before Pac-Man dashes, and while Pac-Jump allows up to three total uses, it can be used by opponents to recover themselves, or force Pac-Man into helplessness if the trampoline is used three times.

Overall, Pac-Man's strengths outweigh his nerfs, and his representation has been above average for most of the game's competitive lifespan, with especially strong performances from Tea. However, his results have not been as strong lately, owing to Tea's adoption of a co-main in Kazuya, as well as worsening matchups across the roster. As such, Pac-Man was once considered a top-tier character, but is now relegated to being a high-tier at best today.

How to unlock

Complete one of the following:

• Play VS. matches, with Pac-Man being the 49th character to be unlocked.
• Clear Classic Mode with Kirby or any character in his unlock tree, being the 3rd character unlocked after Jigglypuff.
• Have Pac-Man join the player's party in World of Light.

Pac-Man must then be defeated on Pac-Land (the Ω form is used in World of Light).

Attributes

Pac-Man is a middleweight whose attributes deviate slightly from those of other fighters of his weight class. Although his dashing speed is average, his air speed is slightly above-average and his traction and air acceleration are above-average, Pac-Man's walking speed is slightly below-average, his falling speed is below-average, and his gravity is the 11th-lowest in the game. As a result, these traits make Pac-Man a rather floaty and relatively speedy character for a middleweight, albeit not to the degree of Rosalina & Luma and Mario, respectively. Pac-Man is also able to crawl and wall jump, although the former is generally impractical because of his crouch's tall height.

Pac-Man, like Diddy Kong, is reliant on his item-producing special moves to control the flow of a battle and win in the neutral game. Two special moves, Bonus Fruit and Fire Hydrant, grant him numerous mix-ups for almost any situation. The fruits and objects generated by Bonus Fruit each have different attributes; in addition to functioning as useful spacing, combo, and edge-guarding options, some of them (primarily the apple, melon and key) notably boast respectable KO potential as a way to circumvent the sluggishness and short ranges of Pac-Man's smash attacks. As a result, Bonus Fruit allows Pac-Man to confuse and force movements from his opponents to put them in disadvantageous positions, especially off-stage.

When used in the air, Fire Hydrant functions similarly to Stone, which makes it useful for covering landings or breaking combos. It is also Pac-Man's most powerful projectile when launched, which makes it a viable KO option from a distance. In addition to its offensive potential, Fire Hydrant has defensive potential, thanks to its bursts of water possessing a push effect. As a result, the water can be used to create space, gimp poor recoveries, and even force opponents into Pac-Man's attacks.

Aside from his projectiles, Pac-Man also possesses a slow, but potent KO option in Power Pellet. Power Pellet also functions both as a great recovery and mindgame option: it can be aimed prematurely and made to curve in creative angles using his Fire Hydrant's push effect, and can function as a KO confirm from Bonus Fruit's bell. Pac-Jump is an effective vertical recovery if all of its trampoline jumps are used, and makes it safe to edge-guard off-stage, as Pac-Man will likely make it back onto the stage. It is also difficult to gimp, especially from an overhead perspective, thanks to Pac-Man's jumps having unblockable hitboxes. Due to its quick start-up and aforementioned hitboxes, Pac-Jump also functions as a good out of shield option when used properly.

Outside of his specials, Pac-Man has a good combo game. Though his ground attacks are weak with slight ending lag, Pac-Man's neutral attack and tilt attacks are fast. His tilts, in particular, also give him slightly extended hitboxes (forward tilt and up tilt) or slide him forward (down tilt), letting him attack out of shield easily or poke opponents at a safe distance. Pac-Man's dash attack is one of his best approach options, thanks to it hitting multiple times and having extremely minimal ending lag, the latter of which is very atypical for dash attacks. Pac-Man is also capable in the air; his aerial attacks are fast and can chain into themselves (especially his forward and up aerials). In addition, his neutral and back aerials are effective edge-guarding options; their clean hitboxes also make them useful from out of shield and for KOing, respectively.

Unlike in SSB4, Pac-Man has a respectable grab game; he possesses a rather long-range grab with long-lasting hitboxes, giving him a good grab range. His throws have some utility: up throw has combo potential (primarily into neutral and up aerials) at low to medium percentages, whereas down throw has a decent damage output and can set up tech-chases (most notably into Bonus Fruit's key, Power Pellet, dash attack, or a short hopped forward aerial into neutral aerial). Although the latter combo does not work on characters whose hurtboxes are low after missing a tech, it is still beneficial, as Pac-Man can instead lock the opponent with a short hopped forward aerial at low to medium percentages. Forward throw can be used for mix-ups due to its minimal ending lag and awkward launching angle, whereas back throw is a decent KO option.

Pac-Man has a few noticeable weaknesses; however, arguably his biggest one is his inability to KO early because of the overwhelming majority of his moves having low base knockback. Although his tilts and aerials are fast, only Pac-Man's down and clean back aerials can KO at reasonable percentages, especially while near the left or right blast lines. Although Pac-Man's smash attacks can KO easily while near the edge thanks to their respectable damage outputs and knockback growth values, they are very punishable and predictable because of their considerable start-up and ending lag.

Although Bonus Fruit's key and a launched Fire Hydrant are viable KO options, the former needs to be charged to be accessible, whereas the latter can be easily used against Pac-Man just as he is about to launch it. Additionally, Pac-Man's average overall range and awkward hitboxes can make landing hits or spacing difficult against opponents with long range. His below-average overall mobility can also make it difficult to chase down opponents, create space, and/or cycle through Bonus Fruit, especially against rushdown-oriented characters.

Pac-Man's grab game, while nowhere near as awful as it was in SSB4, is still flawed in some ways. His grabs, despite being much more consistent, are still somewhat risky due to retaining fairly high ending lag that tether grabs are known for. Although Pac-Man's up throw now has combo potential and his back throw remains a reasonably strong KO option, his forward and down throws leave a lot to be desired. The former throws higher damage output and base knockback, making it only mediocre at best for mix-ups, whereas the latter throw has all but lost its already minimal combo potential due to its ending lag being increased.

Despite their perks, all of Pac-Man's special moves can be used against him. Bonus Fruit's objects are items that can only exist once at a time, hence opponents can grab them out of the air, nullifying one of Pac-Man's only projectiles, so long as they hold onto it. So long as Bonus Fruit is nullified, Pac-Man is disadvantaged at spacing, KOing, and mindgames, while a competent opponent can even use Bonus Fruit's items against him. Fire Hydrant can be turned against him as well; it can be knocked back or reflected by opponents, even in the first few frames when it is released, making it possible for Pac-Man to immediately be dealt noticeable damage. Its push effect also affects him, and can inadvertently cost Pac-Man if he is careless.

Despite being strong, Power Pellet is highly predictable and can be interrupted by any attack, which drops a healing Power Pellet that can be used by the opponent. Pac-Jump, despite propelling Pac-Man very high vertically, can also be used by opponents for gimping Pac-Man's own recovery. Due to these possibilities, a good Pac-Man player must keep watch of where his items are to inflict the highest knockback possible at a safer range, and avoid his items' abilities being turned against him.

Overall, Pac-Man excels at mind games and damage racking, yet his moveset's overall low base knockback and average range make it difficult for him to KO opponents early. As a result, he is dependent on utilizing traps and zoning to continually deal damage and set up a KO, such as collectively using his air game, Bonus Fruit, and varied recovery to edge-guard. While Pac-Man's special moves grant him a uniquely versatile moveset, they can also hinder him in battle, as one careless move can ultimately decide the momentum of not only himself, but even the whole match itself.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. 4

Pac-Man was considered to be a low-tier character in Super Smash Bros. 4 (where he is ranked 45th out of 54 on the final tier list), owing to a somewhat underwhelming normal moveset, over-reliance on his special moves, constant micromanagement of his resources, the potential of all his special moves being used against him, poor KO potential and an extremely infamous grab that was burdened with huge lag and a tendency to miss due to its misleading and intermittent grabboxes. Potentially owing to his low regard, Pac-Man was dramatically buffed overall in his transition to Ultimate.

One of Pac-Man's biggest buffs involves his previously infamous grab: it is now drastically quicker overall, functions as a single and continuous hitbox instead of separate and short-lasting ones, and is more in line with the rest of the cast due to the universal increase to ending lag within grabs. When combined with his up throw's newfound combo potential and his back throw remaining a reasonably strong KO option, Pac-Man now possesses a much more useful grab game.

Bonus Fruit now cycles significantly faster and allows Pac-Man to charge cancel by jumping, granting him more options in the process. If Pac-Man picks up one of the Bonus Fruit's items he previously dropped, he can begin the cycle at the one he is currently holding. This technique, dubbed the Fruit Recycle, allows Pac-Man to constantly pressure with his Bonus Fruit's items by allowing him to switch items and set up new combos after catching an item. Bonus Fruit's bell, in particular, can now paralyze opponents if it is Z-dropped, granting him a new item setup.

Aside from his grab and Bonus Fruit, many of Pac-Man's moves have seen miscellaneous improvements. Down tilt is less punishable due to the changes of the move's momentum and reduced ending lag, dash attack has an additional hit while possessing even less ending lag (relative to its final hit), down aerial's initial hits link together much better and inflict more damage, his new up tilt possesses greater frame data and increased vertical range to improve its utility as an anti-air, and some of his best aerial combo starters (such as neutral aerial and forward aerial) have altered knockback, allowing his attacks to flow better into each other. His recovery reaches further, as Power Pellet is faster and less punishable, grants even more distance, suffers much less lag on a wall-collision, and no longer causes tumbling when he runs into the ground, instead allowing him to move along the floor.

Pac-Man's mediocre KO potential, one of his biggest weaknesses from SSB4, has also been improved considerably, as his smash attacks have less start-up, Power Pellet's fully charged sweetspot and forward smash are much stronger, back aerial launches at a lower angle, down aerial's final hit is much stronger and launches at a much lower angle, and Bonus Fruit's aforementioned buffs allow Pac-Man earlier access to its key, which has strong KO potential on its own. All of these changes alleviate one of Pac-Man's biggest weaknesses from SSB4. Finally, the universal changes to the mechanics in Ultimate have benefited Pac-Man overall. The universally faster mobility improves his previously mediocre mobility, thus benefiting his approach. The universal reduction to landing lag further improves his respectable combo ability by allowing him access to his quick aerials, while dash-canceling's expanded prevalence improves the utility of his tilts, thus granting him newfound approaching options by performing one of his tilt attacks out of a run.

However, Pac-Man received some noticeable nerfs, especially to his combo game. The mechanics of his Bonus Fruit's items have been altered drastically, heavily limiting the variety of item-based techniques he can perform: the time window for catching the items is now very narrow, as most of the items disappear almost immediately after hitting an opponent, while the cherry and strawberry now have a set distance and no longer linger on the ground. Bonus Fruit's items also cannot be picked up again after being Z-dropped; when combined with the changes to footstools and locks, Pac-Man can no longer perform his notorious zero-to-death footstool combos. While all these changes prevent the opponent from capitalizing on his own fruits, it also homogenizes his item play. Fire Hydrant's physics have also been changed, as it loses more momentum and height from each bounce, making it less effective for coverage and set-ups when it is launched. In addition, several moves are less useful for launching Hydrant, lessening the variety of coverage and pressure.

Pac-Man's aforementioned new up tilt is more situational than his previous up tilt in SSB4, as it can no longer hit opponents directly next to or behind him, and it is unable to launch Fire Hydrant backward. In addition, Pac-Man's neutral and forward aerials have lost their ability to lock (though this is compensated by their newfound combo potential). Lastly, Pac-Jump is even more exploitable than before, as opponents can now hit the trampoline to reduce its availability.

Overall, Pac-Man's moveset is more consistent for close-quarters combat, and his tools have been improved to catch up with the quick and aggressive pace of Ultimate. The changes overall make Pac-Man more formidable, although his playstyle has less of an emphasis on item-stalling and rewards item-positioning and setups more than before. However, he still retains several of his former issues from SSB4, such as mediocre melee-oriented range, a slight dependence on setups to KO, the necessity for micromanagement, and the ease of his special moves potentially being turned against him. Nevertheless, despite the buffs to other characters and the introduction of powerful DLC characters in game updates, Pac-Man has immensely improved from SSB4, and is considered one of the most buffed characters in the transition to Ultimate and a highly effective character as opposed to non-viable.

Aesthetics

• As with all veterans returning from SSB4, Pac-Man's model features a more subdued color scheme; the yellow of his body is now much lighter compared to the saturated shade used in SSB4, being more consistent with his appearances outside of Smash. His boots now have well-defined soles on the bottom.
• Like most of the cast, Pac-Man is more expressive, no longer being limited to simply smiling and surprised expressions. He now shows an angry expression during his forward smash, down smash, back aerial, and the end of his dash attack. He will also look disappointed if his grab misses, and will appear panicked while drowning, and becomes stunned when falling underwater instead of maintaining his grin. His mouth also briefly opens when he stands up from a crouch.
• Pac-Man's on-screen appearance has been slightly altered, now doing a slow chomp in his classic 2D "wedge" form, before jumping into his modern form. In Smash 4, the chomp is quicker and stops once Pac-Man opens his mouth once.
• Pac-Man's taunts have been altered:
  • Namco Roulette's animation is faster. Its roster includes the exclusive characters from both the Wii U and 3DS versions. Additionally, Heihachi Mishima from Tekken and The Prince of All Cosmos from Katamari Damacy have been added.
  • Side taunt has been altered to show Pac-Man alternating chomps left and right twice, instead of twice on one side before turning.
  • Pixelated fairies from Pac-Land appear during Pac-Man's down taunt in place of Blinky and Pinky.
• A fairy now appears in his Pac-Land-inspired victory animation.

Attributes

• Like all characters, Pac-Man's jumpsquat animation takes three frames to complete (down from 5).
• Pac-Man walks faster (1.045 → 1.097).
• Pac-Man dashes faster (1.52 → 1.672).
  • Pac-Man's initial dash is faster (1.6 → 1.87).
• Pac-Man's air speed is slightly faster (1.04 → 1.092).
• Pac-Man has significantly more traction (0.045 → 0.116), going from below-average in Smash 4 to above-average in Ultimate.
• Spot dodge has slightly less ending lag (FAF 26 → 25).
• Forward roll grants one frame less intangibility (frames 4-16 → 4-15).
• Back roll has slightly more startup lag (frame 4 → 5), grants slightly less intangibility (frames 4-16 → 5-16), and more ending lag (FAF 30 → 35).
• Neutral air dodge grants more intangibility (frames 3-27 → 3-29).
• Neutral air dodge has less significantly less landing lag (22 frames → 10).
• Neutral air dodge has significantly more ending lag (FAF 33 → 56).

Ground attacks

• Neutral attack:
  • Neutral attack's first hit is now a hook rather than a jab.
  • Neutral attack transitions faster (frame 9 → 7).
  • Neutral attack's first and second hits no longer use set knockback, instead possessing minimal knockback scaling (22/16 (set) → 25/15 (base), 25/20 (scaling) (hit 1), 26/15 (set) → 30/35 (base), 30/35 (scaling) (hit 2)), and all but one of its hitboxes launch at a more consistent angle (80°/361° → 361°/361°/180°/361° (hit 1), 80°/361° → 361°/361°/361° (hit 2)), allowing both hits to connect into each other more reliably and jab lock.
  • Neutral attack's first hit deals slightly less damage (3% → 2%).
  • Neutral attack's first and second hits have increased hitlag multipliers (1× → 1.6× (hit 1), 1× → 1.2× (hit 2)), giving the opponent more time to SDI each hit.
  • Neutral attack's first and second hits have had their two larger hitboxes replaced with smaller ones (4.2u/3.5u → 1.5u/1.7u/2u/2u (hit 1), 4.2u/3.5u → 2.5u/2.8u/3u (hit 2)), giving them less range.
  • All hits of neutral attack have shorter durations (frames 4-6 → 4 (hits 1 and 2), 4-7 → 4-5 (hit 3)).
• Dash attack:
  • Dash attack hits four times instead of three.
    • All hits after the first one have less startup lag (frame 20/30 → 19/28/37) and the last hit has comparatively less ending lag (FAF 42 → 46).
    • Dash attack deals more damage if all hits connect (9% → 10%).
  • The looping hits have drastically less hitlag (2x → 0.6x), making them much harder to SDI out of.
  • The last hit deals less damage (5% → 4%) with knockback scaling partially compensated (60 → 65).
• Forward tilt:
  • Forward tilt has altered hitboxes (4u/4u/3u → 4.8u/3.6u/3u) with the outermost hitbox being larger and positioned further out (X offset: 6 → 7), improving its range overall despite the middle hitbox being smaller.
• Up tilt:
  • Pac-Man has a new up tilt: a quick upwards punch.
  • It has more vertical range.
  • It has much less ending lag (FAF 34 → 25), improving its combo potential.
  • It deals slightly less damage (7% → 6.5%) and much less knockback (50 base/100 scaling → 43/68), noticeably hindering its KO potential.
    • However, its reduced knockback further improves its combo potential.
  • Pac-Man's fist has one less frame of intangibility (frame 6-10 → 7-10).
  • Its hitbox is located on Pac-Man's fist. As a result, it is generally smaller overall (6.5u → 5.5u/3.2u), and has much less horizontal reach, missing most characters on the ground even if they stand directly next to him. Due to the same factors, Pac-Man's new up tilt can no longer be used to knock Fire Hydrant backwards.
  • It launches at a slightly higher angle (96° → 93°).
• Down tilt:
  • Down tilt has less ending lag (FAF 29 → 27).
  • Pac-Man returns to his original position after attacking, rather than moving forward, improving its safety, but worsening its utility for tech-chasing.
  • It has more base knockback and less knockback scaling (50 base/80 scaling → 65/50), making it safer on hit at lower percents, but hindering its KO potential.
• Forward smash:
  • Forward smash has less startup lag (frame 18 → 16) with its duration increased (frames 18-28 → 16-29, 11 frames → 14).
    • Its FAF remains unchanged, giving its strong hit more comparative ending lag and making it less safe on shield.
  • Forward smash's ghost has a bigger hitbox (4.8u → 5.4u (early), 4u → 4.3u (late)) and extends vertically (Y offset: 5 → 5.4-4.2), improving its range.
  • Forward smash's early hits deal noticeably more base knockback, greatly improving its KO potential despite having less knockback scaling (25 base/99 scaling → 40/97).
• Up smash:
  • Both hits of up smash have less startup lag (frame 13/16 → 11/15) with its duration increased on the second hit (16-26 → 15-28, 11 frames → 14).
    • Its FAF remains unchanged, giving its strong hit more comparative ending lag and making it less safe on shield.
  • Up smash's ghost has a larger hitbox (6u → 6.2u (clean), 4u → 4.5u (late)).
  • Up smash's first hit now uses set knockback (95 base/20 scaling → 125 set/100 scaling) and launches at a lower angle (115° → 135°). This improves its linking ability into the second hit and now allows it to be used to knock a Fire Hydrant backwards, but significantly worsens its reliability as a follow-up option off of Bonus Fruit's Bell.
• Down smash:
  • Down smash has less startup lag (frame 18 → 15) with its duration increased (18-28 → 15-28, 11 frames → 14).
    • Its FAF remains unchanged, giving its strong hit more comparative ending lag and making it less safe on shield.
  • Down smash's ghosts have larger hitboxes (6u → 6.2u (clean), 4u → 4.5u (late)) and extend vertically (Y offset: 6 → 5.3-5.8), improving its range.

Aerial attacks

• All aerials have less landing lag (12 frames (neutral) → 7, 16 (forward/up) → 10, 22 (back) → 13, 20 (down) → 12).
• Neutral aerial:
  • Neutral aerial deals less knockback (20 base/100 scaling → 45/70). Coupled with its lowered landing lag, it can combo consistently.
  • Its later hits deal more damage (6% → 8.5% (mid), 3% → 6% (late)).
  • Its angle on all hits was changed (361° → 50°). This increases its combo potential, but removes its ability to lock.
  • It has larger hitboxes (7.0u → 7.6u (clean), 5.0u → 7.0u (mid), 3.5u → 4.5u (late)).
  • Its lowered knockback removes one of Pac-Man's former KO options, as it can no longer KO until around 180%.
• Forward aerial:
  • Forward aerial deals more damage (5.3% → 7.65%).
  • It has much more base knockback, but much less knockback scaling (7 base/90 scaling → 70/29), increasing the percent range in which the move can combo, as well as making it unpunishable on hit at 0%.
    • Due to the changes to its knockback, forward aerial can no longer lock opponents.
• Back aerial:
  • The changes to the Sakurai angle causes back aerial to launch opponents at a lower angle (40°/45° → 38°), improving its KO potential.
• Up aerial:
  • Up aerial has an altered ending animation.
  • It now pushes Pac-Man back down to where he would have been as the move ends. In order to use the floating effect to boost his recovery, the player must repeatedly interrupt the ending animation of the move with another up aerial.
• Down aerial:
  • Its hits transition faster, with 1 frame less lag between each one.
  • Its multi-hits are larger (5.5u → 6.2u) and have gained an additional hitbox against aerial opponents, improving its range overall.
  • It has much less ending lag (FAF 60 → 50).
  • Down aerial deals more damage (1.5% → 2% (hits 1-3), 6% → 7% (hit 4), 10.5% → 13% (maximum)) with knockback compensated on the final hit (90 scaling → 80).
  • Its multi-hits deal more set knockback (10 → 35 (grounded), 10 → 22 (aerial)), and launch aerial opponents at an altered angle (100° → 130°), improving its linking ability overall.
  • Its final hit sends at a more horizontal angle (65° → 45°), granting it edgeguarding and KO potential.
  • Its final hit always launches in the direction Pac-Man is facing, improving its combo potential while also making it more consistent for edgeguarding.

Throws and other attacks

• Grab:
  • Dash grab and pivot grab have more startup lag, no longer the same as his standing grab (frame 12 → 14 (dash), 12 → 15 (pivot)).
  • All grabs have significantly less ending lag (FAF 76 → 59 (standing), 76 → 67 (dash), 76 → 62 (pivot)).
  • Grab has two long-lasting hitboxes instead of multiple short hitboxes (frames 12-14, 22-24, 32-39 → 12-33 (standing)/14-35 (dash)/15-36 (pivot)).
  • One of grab's hitboxes extends alongside the tractor beam's animation, removing its notorious blindspots.
  • Grab's tractor beam has a smoother extending and receding animation.
  • If the grab misses, Pac-Man will look disappointed.
• Pummel:
  • Pummel deals more hitlag (5 frames → 14), but has much less startup (frame 16 → 1) and ending lag (FAF 25 → 7), shortening its duration.
  • Pummel deals much less damage (3.25% → 1.3%).
• All throws excluding down throw are now weight-independent.
• Forward throw:
  • Forward throw deals more damage (6% → 8%) and has more base knockback (48 → 55), improving its edgeguarding potential.
• Back throw:
  • Back throw has a visible wind-effect while Pac-Man spins.
  • Back throw releases the opponent earlier (frame 28 → 25) and has significantly less ending lag (FAF 72 → 60).
• Up throw:
  • Up throw has less ending lag (FAF 45 → 38) and base knockback (60 → 55), granting it combo potential.
• Down throw:
  • Down throw's animation has been sped up significantly.
  • Down throw releases the opponent earlier (frame 39 → 34) with its duration unchanged, increasing its ending lag.

Special moves

• Bonus Fruit:
  • All Bonus Fruit except the second and third fruits cycle significantly faster (frame 54 → 52 (apple), 78 → 72 (melon), 102 → 92 (galaxian), 126 → 112 (bell), 150 → 132 (key)).
  • Bonus Fruit has a shorter charge cancel animation (8 frames → 4).
  • As with other charge specials, Bonus Fruit can be jumped or air dodged out of while charging.
  • Cherry
    • Cherries deals slightly more damage (4% → 4.3%).
    • They deal slightly less knockback overall (40 (base)/80 (scaling) → 41/71)
    • Their lifespan can no longer be extended by keeping them in the air for longer, and they will despawn after a set amount of time.
    • They deal less shield damage (0 → -2.1).
  • Strawberry
    • Strawberries deal slightly less knockback (40 (base)/80 (scaling) → 41/71)
    • Their lifespan can no longer be extended by keeping them in the air for longer, and they will despawn after a set amount of time.
    • Strawberries deal less shield damage (0 → -3).
  • Orange
    • Oranges deal slightly less damage (8% → 7.5%)
    • They have altered knockback values (50 (base)/76 (scaling) → 51/68), which, combined with the lower damage output, drastically weakens their KO potential.
    • Oranges deal less shield damage (0 → -3.2).
  • Apple
    • Apples deal slightly more damage (9% → 9.5%).
    • They have reduced knockback values (60 (base)/100 (Scaling) → 61/91), KOing slightly later despite the increased damage, and more favourable launch angle (75˚ → 80˚).
    • However, the higher launch angle makes it less susceptible to DI, and makes LSI impossible, improving the consistency of the Apple's KO potential.
    • Apples deal considerably less shield damage (0 → -4.7).
    • Apples have a shorter maximum duration (240 frames → 180).
  • Melon
    • Melons deal less knockback (40 (base)/100 (scaling) → 39/94), hindering their KO potential.
    • Melons launch at a slightly higher angle (55˚ → 60˚), slightly improving their vertical KO potential, while slightly worsening their horizontal KO potential.
    • Melons deal significantly less shield damage (0 → -6).
    • Melons move more slowly (initial speed: 1 → 0.85), and accelerate downward more quickly (gravity: 0.005 → 0.006).
  • Galaxian
    • Galaxians deal slightly less knockback (40 (base)/80 (scaling) → 41/72).
    • Galaxians deal considerably less shield damage (0 → -4.5).
  • Bell
    • Bells deal slightly less damage (8% → 7.5%).
    • Bells deal more knockback at low percents, and much less knockback at high percents (30 (base)/120 (scaling) → 70/54). This also means they paralyze opponents for longer at lower percents, but the paralysis duration increases much more slowly.
    • As a result of the above changes, Bells are now incapable o