Ness (SSBM)

This page is about Ness's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Melee. For other uses, see Ness.

Ness
Ness
Universe	EarthBound
Appears in	SSB SSBM SSBB
Availability	Starter
Tier	Bottom (21)

Ness (ネス, Nesu) is a default character in Super Smash Bros. Melee. Tierwise, he is placed toward the bottom. This is ironic because he was among the best in the original Super Smash Bros. Announced at E3 2001, He was originally going to be replaced by Lucas from Mother 3, but the game wasn't released by the time Melee was completed. He is currently ranked at 21st place on the tier list.

Attributes

Ness is a very unique, although awkward character to use in Super Smash Bros. Melee. He has a very odd playstyle and is extremely difficult to use and master. Even most pro players cannot use Ness perfectly. Ness has many good attributes, many of which which are quite odd for a bottom tier character. He has excellent combo and juggling capabilities, able to easily rack up large amounts of damage fairly quickly in the air. He is especially good against fastfallers, who he can usually combo up to kill percentage. His attacks are extremely fast, most with literally no starting or ending lag. He also has a great amount of high priority attacks, 2 projectiles, strong kill moves, the games best set of throws, and can even absorb energy based projectiles.

However, Ness suffers from some very huge problems. Ness has horrible range on almost all of his attacks except for PK Thunder 2 and his smashes, though his speed, combo ability, and the Double Jump Cancel somewhat make up for this. Ness also has the game's worst running grab due to its high lag and short range; and second worst standing grab, only longer ranged than Pikachu's, but still very quick; making grabbing extremely difficult. Because of this, his amazing throws are usually unused in battle. Ness also has a slow, and somewhat weak, meteor smash. His meteor smash does have excellent range however, but will still be difficult to land in battle, and usually the opponent will always make it back to the stage. Ness' Up-B recovery is long and has high priority, but extremely easy to gimp due to the amount of skill it takes to go certain angles, and the relatively high amount of vulnerability Ness has before he hits himself with his PK Thunder to recover. Ness also suffers from having a short, but very quick, washdash; only a small amount of reliable kill moves, usually KOing with the Forward Smash, Back Aerial, Back Throw, or PK Thunder 2 all of which are relatively difficult to land, except the bat and bair; very weak Up and Down Smashes, which are typically only useful for occasional spacing opportunities or the Yoyo Glitch; slow, weak projectiles (with the exception of PK Flash, which is extremely powerful when charged) that leave you very vulnerable, and being extremely slow without advanced techniques, making him one of the hardest characters to learn and play well as.

Though Ness has many severe weaknesses, many can be almost nullified with a large amount of practice, skill, and experience. Ness is a very unique character, and is known for being remarkably fun to use in combat.

Moveset

Ground Attacks

Tilts

• Standard Attack: Ness punches forwards, hooking the opponent. 3% If pressed twice more, Ness will punch forwards the kick. 2% punch, 4% kick.
• Dash Attack: Ness uses PK Brainshock forwards. Has three hits. Good, disjointed range. Sends opponent in random directions. 12%
• Forward Tilt: Ness does a roundhouse kick forward. 11%
• Up Tilt: Ness thrusts his hands upwards, as if hitting a volley ball. 7%
• Down Tilt: Ness thrusts his leg downwards, then pivots his foot to hit the opponent. Can combo into itself by mashing A after the move is executed. 3%

Smashes

• Forward Smash: Ness swings a bat forwards. If hit on the tip, there is more knockback and damage. Has high knockback and damage, but a little bit of start-up lag. 32%
• Down Smash: Ness swings his yo-yo backwards then forwards. Has decent knockback and good range. 25%
• Up Smash: Ness does a "Around the World" trick, swinging his yo-yo above his head. Has decent knockback and range. Can be used to perform the Yo-yo Glitch. 22%

Aerial Attacks

• Aerial A: Ness spins around, arms stretched out. Has medium knockback. 11%
• Aerial Forward A: Ness uses PK Brainshock forwards. Is a multi-hitting move. 15%
• Aerial Back A: Ness thrusts his feet backwards. If sweetspotted, it electrifies the opponent. Has very high knockback. 16%
• Aerial Up A: Ness headbutts upwards. 13%
• Aerial Down A: Ness kicks downwards. It is a meteor smash, and has start-up lag. 12%

Grabs and Throws

• Pummel: Ness headbutts the opponent. 3%
• Forward Throw: Ness throws the opponent forwards. Is stronger at lower percents. 11%
• Back Throw: Ness throws the opponent behind him. Can KO at high percents. 11%
• Up Throw: Ness throws the opponent upwards. Can chain with many Uairs. Decent knockback. 10%
• Down Throw: Ness throws the opponent downwards, and hits the enemy with PK Fire. Low knockback. 8%

Changes from N64 to Melee

• Available as a starter
• New Neutral B (PK Flash). PK Fire is now Ness' Side B.
• Bat has longer reach.
• Up Smash and Down Smash have decreased in range and power.
• PK Thunder 2 has a little less knockback. (Ness also doesn't travel as far as in 64)
• Color of PSI Magnet changed from green to blue.
• Ground Jump is now normal, rather than psychokinetic.
• Dash A and and Forward Air are now psychokinetic.
• PK Thunder moves faster and probably travels less distance.
• New Voice Samples.
• The crowd no longer cheers when Ness absorbs a projectile with Down B.
• Slightly heavier compared to 64. (In 64, he was lighter than Fox, now he's heavier than Fox)

Pros

File:Nesst.jpg

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File:Ness1.jpg

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• Long range recovery that has the largest ledge sweetspot range, and he can curve on walls, such as at Final Destination. Which makes it more adaptable and less predictable, and on top of that it is one of the most powerful moves in the game knockback wise...and all of these things help because his downsides with it are pretty large as well.
• Effective, as well as lowest double jump cancel that adds on to his comboing skill
• Very good aerial attacks that are good for comboing, killing, and edgeguarding.
• A Powerful forward smash that can deflect projectiles.
• Very versatile projectile; arguably the best Up B in the game.
• Very good throws. (Forward throw is good for knockback at low percentages. Back throw is according to Simna, the strongest throw in the game which makes it good for finishing opponents. Up and Down Throw are good for setting up combos.)
• Majority of attacks are fast with little lag
• Sidestep dodge has lots of lag and invincibililty frames, making it easy to dodge with Ness

Cons

• On the slow side as far as movement on the ground goes without advanced techniques like the Wavedash. Still he is faster in the air than most of the cast overall and he has a great Double Jump Cancel which helps with his speed as well.
• Highly abusable, easily edgeguarded recovery for many reasons: 1st off it has a high learning curve just to learn how to use right, you can aim and launch yourself anywhere and because of that if your angle is off you could bounce right off the stage and die anyway even with Ness' great sweetspot range. 2nd off on more issues with the aiming, it also has a large amount landing lag if you don't land at the right angle and height on the stage. Finally it can also be extremely difficult to impossible to use on certain stages in various situations as something could literally "steal your thunder" other than a foe. For example, because you need space to move PK Thunder during the recovery aiming process trying it between objects like the buildings on Fourside is not possible and overall you are out a stock if your air dodge and 2nd jump don't add enough distance to make it back.
• An Extremely short standing grab range (The second lowest in the game, next to Pikachu), plus many of his moves happen to be a little lacking in overall range as well (in the air and on the ground).
• The special moves are overall slow coming out and have various amounts of cool down time with them, and adding to that it makes each one have a very limited use that makes them all situational.
• Weak, near useless down and up smash attacks as far as normal use goes.
• A very steep learning curve in general, from both basic just picking him up to high level play.

Unique Abilities

• PK Thunder
• Thunder Jacket
• Yoyo Glitch
• Super Yoyo Glitch

Trophies

"Ness is a young boy who's mastered the psychic power known as PSI. Ness was living a normal life in the suburbs of Onett until a meteor crashed into a nearby mountain and sent him on a wild adventure. Believing in the ultimate powers of wisdom, courage, and friendship, Ness proves that some heroes come in small packages."

Game: Earthbound (06/95)

Smash Red

"The key to mastering Ness is controlling his unique midair jump, which makes up for what he lacks in speed. His PK Flash attack may seem weak at first glance, but it grows more powerful the longer you hold down the B button. To do a lot of damage with PK Fire, try to burn your opponent as many times as possible."

Smash Blue

"Ness's mind is his best weapon. PK Thunder is a PSI missile weapon that can be guided using the Control Stick, and if Ness hits himself with it, he turns into a living missile capable of doing massive damage. This move can also be used for recovery. PSI Magnet turns energy missile attacks into health; try out certain Pokémon for stamina replenishment."

Costume Gallery

File:Alt-ness2.jpg

Ness' changeable clothing in SSBM