Grab release glitch

King Dedede performing the glitch on Snake. The button inputs shown in the top-left corner shows that the Snake player is pressing up + B, yet nothing happens.

The grab release glitch is a glitch in Super Smash Bros. Brawl that deprives certain characters of their recovery move if they have used it and are released from a grab without touching the ground or flinching. As a result, grabbing and releasing the character without pummelling or throwing will leave them with no recovery move, effectively guaranteeing a KO if they've already used their double jump.

The glitch occurs because of the behaviour of each character's up special move. Most characters regain their up special move when they exit their helpless state in any way. But for characters that do not become helpless upon using their up special move, the restoration has to be done in a more case-by-case way. The glitch is a result of the situation "grabbed and released without being pummeled, being thrown, or landing" not being recognized as a way to interrupt recoveries, and so was not coded to restore recoveries in such situations.

In competitive play, the grab release glitch is a viable edge-guarding tactic against these characters, most notably against Snake, who must use C4 as a bomb recovery after being grabbed out of Cypher. As a result these characters must be very careful when recovering low or aiming for the edge, as a single grab against an intelligent opponent will instantly gimp them.

Affected characters

• Diddy Kong - loses his Monkey Flip
• Lucario - loses its ExtremeSpeed
• Mr. Game & Watch - loses his Fire
• Pit - loses his Wings of Icarus (may be intentional, as Pit normally cannot reuse the move even if he is hit)
• Snake - loses his Cypher
• Sonic - loses his Spring Jump
• Zero Suit Samus - loses her Flip Jump