Second Jump Recovery
A Second Jump Recovery (abbreviated to SJR) is an advanced technique in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Super Smash Bros 4 and Super Smash Bros Ultimate which allows the player to use their mid air jump/jumps even if they have already used up their mid air jumps. While the technique exists in every game since Brawl, the technique is the most prominent in Brawl.
Performing the technique
In Brawl, there is a transitional frame after every animation which transitions from one animation to another. This single animation frame usually has no impact on gameplay but there is one instance where it does have an effect. If the player is in the air and later lands on the ground on the same frame this animation frame occurs, they will be in a strange ground/aerial state. The game treats the player as they are in the air but they are also touching the ground, so the game gives the player their double jump back, even if the player has already used it (hence the name "Second Jump Recovery"). The player is in this state for one frame only where they can either perform a double jump, use a special move or use an aerial/special with a landing hitbox. The main way this can be set up is by perfectly timing an aerial or an air dodge so that their animation ends a frame before the player lands. The technique can be performed by every character and if a character has multiple mid air jumps, an SJR will recovery all of their mid air jumps, regardless of how many jumps they have used up.
Infinite Second Jump Recovery
An Infinite Second Jump Recovery (abbreviated to ISJR) is essentially performing multiple SJRs in succession. As an SJR allows the player to regain their double jump, it also allows the player to set up another SJR which they can do as many times as they want to. Most characters in Brawl are capable of performing an ISJR although there are a couple of exceptions (such as Ike).
Uses
Despite sounding fairly useful, SJR is quite limited overall due to the difficulty of performing it. As the player as to finish an animation and then land on an exact frame, it is essentially a frame perfect trick. The second double jump can be buffered but the initial aerial or air dodge has to be performed on a specific frame in order for the technique to work. This is especially hard to do when the player is regularly falling, as the player not only has to time the aerial perfectly but they also have to make sure that they do the right animation and they have to consider factors such as platforms and fast falling. Some characters do have SJR setups using their regular jumps but even these setups typically require at least one frame perfect input in order to work. ISJR setups also usually require at least one frame perfect input, with no characters having a bufferable SJR setup, making it incredibly hard to perform multiple SJRs. Because of this, SJR and ISJR are highly difficult and impractical techniques which are not highly useful/common in competitive play as a result.
One interesting thing about SJR is that it allows a player to perform an aerial/air dodge/special on the first frame of their double jump. When a player double jumps normally in Brawl, they have to double jump for a frame before they can perform any other action but when performing an SJR double jump, it allows the player to double jump and perform another action at the same time (if both actions are buffered). While this sounds like a rather minor difference and this can be performed without the use of SJR (by simply buffering a double jump and another action at the end of any animation), they are a couple of instances where this has some interesting effects when used as an SJR:
- If Ganondorf or Captain Falcon performs an SJR double jump and uses Wizard's Foot/Falcon Kick on the double jump's first frame, they will get a vertical boost. This vertical boost is rather drastic in Ganondorf's case with this being known as the Flight of Ganon. Ganondorf can even set this up by using a Wizard's Foot after rolling into the ledge.
- If Yoshi performs a double jump and air dodges on the double jump's first frame when he is close to the ground, Yoshi will gain an extra mid air jump, effectively giving him a triple jump. This does not work like a traditional SJR since Yoshi simply needs to be close enough to the ground and he needs to be able to buffer a double jump and air dodge. He does not need to be in the animation transition frame. This overall makes it more practical than a regular SJR and Yoshi has ways he can set up into it, such as with a short hop neutral aerial or even an instant double jump air dodge.
- Additionally, if Yoshi performs an aerial instead of an air dodge, he will immediately land. When performed out of an instant double jump, this is known as the Dragonic Reverse which can be used as a pseudo wavedash.
The main limitation with this property however is that it only works with aerials or air dodges that cannot be interrupted. This is because if an aerial has interruptible frames, the next animation used will override the jump, even if the player times it to occur on the same frame as the jump. An SJR works on an aerial's entire animation and not when the player becomes actionable so the player cannot perform the technique by using an animation's interruptible frames, only when the animation is completely finished.
Video
A video showing off various SJR setups with Captain Falcon.
Special move Second Jump Recoveries
While the universal SJR method is highly difficult to perform, some characters can use their special moves to easily go into an SJR state, allowing them to abuse SJRs far more than any other character. Two characters who can particularly abuse this are Pikachu with Quick Attack and Bowser with Flying Slam.
With Pikachu, performing Quick Attack into the ground will put Pikachu into the transition animation frame after the teleport has finished. This allows Pikachu to easily Quick Attack into the ground, double jump (although this is optional) and Quick Attack again (where the Pikachu player can repeat the process). This is commonly known as Quick Attack Canceling and it is one of the most useful techniques in Pikachu's arsenal. The main thing which separates Piakchu's Quick Attack Cancel from a tradition SJR is that Pikachu can set it up anywhere (as long as the player is close enough to the ground) without having to worry about precise timing or spacing which along with the move having a useful hitbox makes it far more potent than any traditional SJR.
With Bowser, if he lands at any point during his aerial Flying Slam, he will go into the transition animation frame before landing. This gives Bowser his double jump back and allows him to repeat the technique. This is commonly known as Koopa Hopping and while not quite as potent as Quick Attack Canceling, it is still far more useful and practical than any traditional SJR for the same reasons as Quick Attack Canceling.
In Super Smash Bros. 4 and Ultimate
In Super Smash Bros 4, the transition animation frame was altered. The player is now considered to be in a completely grounded state so if they use a ground attack or dodge, they will perform one of those actions. More importantly though, if the player jumps, they will perform their normal ground jump. This removes the player's ability to perform an SJR and it removes all SJR related techniques that existed in Brawl (including Quick Attack Canceling, Koopa Hopping and Flight of Ganon). This animation frame can still be abused to allow the player to perform a completely lagless landing but the ability to perform a lagless jump has been removed. The buffer system was also altered to remove the ability to perform aerials/air dodges during a double jump's first frame. This was restored in Ultimate although it became a default feature for double jumps rather than a quirk with the buffer system.
Despite this, there are still a few special moves which do have ending frames which function like the previous transition animation frame, allowing characters with these specials moves to perform an SJR. A couple of examples include Corrin with Dragon Lunge and Wolf with his Reflector. In these instances, the technique retains its rather high difficulty from Brawl and it overall still remains a situational and not highly useful or practical technique.
