Bidou

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A common controller configuration for performing Bidou.

Bidou refers to an advanced technique exclusively in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. By moving a joystick while holding down corresponding button inputs, it is possible to register a control stick input for only one frame. This makes many advanced techniques much more accessible to consistently input, and allows certain techs that would not be otherwise possible to be performed easily.

Bidou requires a particular input scheme consisting of a second control stick and shoulder buttons, so it has varying levels of compatibility with controllers:

• The Wii U Pro Controller, GamePad, and Classic Controller each have four shoulder buttons and a fully configurable second stick, making them ideal for Bidou.
• The Gamecube controller has a configurable C-stick, but only three shoulder buttons, so one button input must be sacrificed. The most common solution is to set the three shoulder buttons to Special, Shield, and Attack, and turn on tap jump.
• The Wii Remote only has control stick functions on the D-Pad and one shoulder button, making it impossible to perform Bidou with. The Nunchuk supplies two more shoulder buttons, but not a second control stick.
• The original 3DS has only one control stick and two shoulder buttons, making it impossible to perform Bidou with. The new 3DS has a second control stick and two additional shoulder buttons, but these cannot be configured, making it essentially impossible to perform Bidou in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS at all.

This article uses terms that pertain to Gamecube controller inputs for convenience.

There are three known C-stick configurations that allow for Bidou, all of which require a button and the C stick to be set to the same input.

• special move Bidou, the most well-known variation, requires the C stick and a button to be set to special move and A+B for smash attack to be turned off. Special Bidou inputs are performed by holding down the special move button and moving the C stick.
• smash attack Bidou requires the C stick to be set to smash attack, two different buttons to be set to attack and special move, and A+B for smash attack to be turned on. Smash Bidou inputs are performed by holding down the attack and special move buttons and moving the C stick.
• tilt attack Bidou, commonly known as Ghetto Bidou because of the popularity of controller configurations that set the C stick to Attack, requires the C stick and a button to be set to attack. Tilt Bidou inputs are performed by holding down the attack button and moving the C stick. Unlike the other two variations, Tilt Bidou only yields tilt inputs, making it less useful.

Because Bidou involves the use of both control sticks at the same time, it is common to set the shoulder buttons to shield, attack, and special move, and either turn on tap jump, or assign jump to a fourth shoulder button if using a different controller. For simplicity, the article will refer to the the layout with the C stick set to specials only.

History

Bidou was brought into the spotlight by My Smash Corner from a video previously uploaded by a Japanese smasher, and is believed to have the potential to possibly affect the metagame sometime in the future if a player masters its capabilities. The application of this tech requires the usage of other techniques, such as perfect pivoting, dash dancing, and fox troting. Unlike other advanced techniques, Bidou is not so much a technique as a method of playing Smash, as it requires a dedicated control scheme, and involves holding down buttons for extended periods of time, an input that is otherwise unheard of in Smash. It currently is unpopular in terms of usage among most players attending tournaments due to the difficulty and dedication in having to adapt to the unique control scheme into muscle memory, but has gained a lot of attention nevertheless.

Technical Details

Bidou takes advantage of the way inputs are handled in Smash 4. Normally, a C-stick input is treated as a 1-frame simultaneous input of a directional input of the appropriate strength and either attack or special move, depending on what the C-stick is set to. If the corresponding button input is held down, however, the additional attack or special move C-stick input is ignored, and only the 1-frame directional input is handled by the game. By holding down the buttons when they will not result in an action, the C-stick can then be used as a special directional stick that registers 1-frame inputs only.

Video

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