Zero Suit Samus (SSBB)/Forward smash

Hitbox visualization showing Zero Suit Samus's forward smash.

Overview

Zero Suit Samus swings her plasma whip forwards. The move has excellent range, long enough to cover an entire Battlefield platform (although the whip's trail makes it appear slightly longer). Interestingly it can also hit behind her, although this range is minimal.

Unfortunately, these are the move's only strengths, as it has a ton of weaknesses that easily make it ZSS's worst move and arguably the worst forward smash in the entire game. It is very slow, having a start-up of 19 frames, and is, at best, -40 on shield; in addition, it is even punishable on hit by certain characters like Falco. The move is also extremely weak for a forward smash, with the sweetspot not being able to KO Mario until over 160% from the center of Final Destination and some of the sourspots not even being able to kill at 200%. In fact, the sweetspot is so weak that, fully charged, it still KOs later than some uncharged forward smashes with below average power. In addition, the whip's hitboxes do not getting stronger when charged. The close hit can trip at low percentages, although the only real reward is resetting to neutral.

Overall, this is Zero Suit Samus's worst move; competitive players would do well to avoid it all costs.

Hitboxes

Gun

ID	Part	Damage	SD	Angle	BK	KS	FKV	Radius	Bone	Offset			SDIx	H×	T%	Clang	Rebound	Type	Effect	G	A	Sound	Direct
Clean hit
0	0	10%	0		30	100	0	3.0	0	0.0	10.0	5.0	1.0x	1.0x	0%							Shock
1	0	10%	0		30	100	0	3.5	0	0.0	9.0	12.0	1.0x	1.0x	0%							Shock
Late hit
0	0	9%	0		30	100	0	3.0	42	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0x	1.0x	0%							Shock

Whip

ID	Part	Damage	SD	Angle	BK	KS	FKV	Radius	Bone	Offset			SDIx	H×	T%	Clang	Rebound	Type	Effect	G	A	Sound	Direct
Clean hit
0	0	6%	0		35	100	0	3.0	9	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0x	0.5x	0%							Shock
1	0	9%	0		35	100	0	4.0	7	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0x	0.5x	0%							Shock
2	0	11%	0		35	100	0	4.0	5	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0x	0.5x	0%							Shock
3	0	13%	0		35	100	0	4.0	3	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0x	0.5x	0%							Shock
Late hit
0	0	6%	0		30	100	0	3.0	9	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0x	1.0x	0%							Shock
1	0	6%	0		30	100	0	4.0	7	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0x	1.0x	0%							Shock
2	0	6%	0		30	100	0	4.0	5	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0x	1.0x	0%							Shock
3	0	6%	0		30	100	0	4.0	3	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0x	1.0x	0%							Shock

Timing

Charges between	12-13
Clean hit	20-21
Late hit	22-24
Animation length	65

Legend (1 square = 1 frame)

Lag time

Charge interval

Hitbox

Hitbox change

Zero Suit Samus's moveset

Neutral attack (1 · 2 · 3) · Forward tilt · Up tilt · Down tilt · Dash attack · Forward smash · Up smash · Down smash
Neutral aerial · Forward aerial · Back aerial · Up aerial · Down aerial
Grab · Pummel · Forward throw · Back throw · Up throw · Down throw
Forward roll · Back roll · Spot dodge · Air dodge · Techs
Floor attack (front) · Floor getups (front) · Floor attack (back) · Floor getups (back) · Floor attack (trip) · Floor getups (trip)
Edge attack (fast) · Edge getups (fast) · Edge attack (slow) · Edge getups (slow)
Neutral special · Side special · Up special · Down special · Final Smash