List of flaws in artificial intelligence (SSB)

Attack pattern

As one might expect from the first Super Smash Bros. game, the AI is considered poor even with CPUs set to level nine. When fighting, their main form of attacking is to constantly use a special attack, especially if it is a projectile, along with smash attacks. For example, Mario constantly shoots Fireballs, and Jigglypuff persistently uses Pound. Other than using tilts occasionally, they tend to not use other attacks, using neutral attacks and grabs rarely, though high-leveled CPUs do combine these two for a jab grab.

When a player is at a considerable distance and airborne, CPUs attack mainly by using an aerial attack depending on their distance from the enemy, which makes their attacks very predictable. That is, they often use their up aerials after knocking opponents upwards, and commonly use their forward aerials when approaching them from the air. Specific CPUs also tend to overuse one type of aerial attack, no matter their opponents' position; these include Fox heavily spamming his up aerial against airborne enemies to juggle them, and Samus repeatedly using her down aerial. When a player stands on a platform above them, CPUs with up specials that propel them upwards may also attack with them, even if their attack trajectory causes them to self-destruct. However, CPUs still have perfect precision with aerial attacks, using them as soon as they are in range with the foe, and jump to pursue foes in midair more often than in other Smash games, giving them an exceptional combo potential considering the high hitstun in Smash 64.

Recovery

Though the AI's attack techniques in Smash 64 are not considered as flawed as in Melee, it does have poorer recovery abilities. If a CPU uses its up special to recover after jumping, but the player interrupts the attack, the CPU won't attempt to use it again. This makes CPUs extremely easy to KO with meteor smash attacks, even at very low percentages. They also underutilise the recoveries of certain characters, and, at low levels, they may not use their up special to recover at all. In addition to this, they always recover in an extremely predictable way, always using their air speed to move towards the stage before using their up special, while never attempting to fight-off edgeguarders with aerials.

Defensive play

The AI has significantly poor defensive abilities in comparison to other games: for example, when being attacked by a consecutively hitting jab (such as Kirby's), CPUs will just hold their shield while standing in place until it eventually breaks, without attempting to escape the attack by rolling, even if the shieldstun is not high enough to lock them into the attack. They do use rolls outside that situation; however, after using the technique once, they heavily spam it, which makes easy for players to punish them with attacks like down smashes (especially Mario's and Pikachu's). Outside of this, however, grounded CPUs are still generally able to defend in time against attacks, using their shields more often than in Melee, as well as being able to tech successfully in some occasions. CPU Fox and Ness are similarly able to successfully use Reflector/PSI Magnet against oncoming projectiles.

Despite this, CPUs cannot recognise when these special moves are used by other players; they may still throw items against a Fox player with an active Reflector, as well as shoot absorbable projectiles against a Ness with an active PSI Magnet. In addition, a CPU Ness will still attempt to use this move against a non-absorbable projectile, such as a Boomerang. CPUs also have almost non-existent edge guarding abilities: when knocking a foe offstage, they just stand on the ledge and throw off their usual attacks whenever the foe comes near. If a foe grabs a ledge when a CPU jumps in an attempt to attack, they will mostly decide to fast fall and attack with a down aerial offstage, which often causes self-destructs depending on the character.

Behavior with items

CPUs in Smash 64 are also well known for their tendency to use items excessively. Regardless of the CPU level and item, when an item appears, CPUs will completely ignore foes and go for the item, often putting themselves in harm's way while doing so, especially because of the incapability to grab items in midair in Smash 64. The only exceptions are wandering Bob-ombs, and Starmen in some occasions. They also fail to recognize certain items when they are active, often walking into their own Bumpers or Motion-Sensor Bombs, resulting in self-destructs.

Additionally, when using a Fire Flower or Ray Gun, CPUs persistently shoot with them even if the foe isn't in front of them, causing them to quickly waste the items. The only exception is when they are battling against Fox or Ness: Level 5 and above CPUs only throw the item against them, never shooting, since they can reflect/absorb the projectiles. In Fox's case, however, his Reflector can still reflect the thrown item. Moreover, when using a Star Rod, CPUs still shoot stars against these characters. When a foe picks up a Hammer or Starman, CPUs stay away from them, but are still very easy to hit as they will not actually shield or dodge when getting near the player. When a CPU uses a Hammer and a foe is far away, it will jump towards them even if there is a wide pit between the foe and the CPU, resulting in self-destructs.

Stage behaviors

While the AI's behaviour seems normal on simple stages like Congo Jungle and Dream Land, they often exhibit several flaws in others. For example, CPUs on the Yoshi's Island stage won't recognise items dropped on the clouds, and they have difficulty recognising walls on stages like Peach's Castle and Saffron City, not jumping over them unless an enemy provokes them to. They also don't recognise hazards such as the tornadoes on Hyrule Castle, and walk directly into them, and don't try to dodge the acid on Planet Zebes, being easily KO'd by it. On Mushroom Kingdom, CPUs often get KO'd in an attempt to attack or dodge opponents near the walk-off blast lines.

Comparison with other games

It is a common misconception among Smashers who have not played Smash 64 that the AI in this game is better at KOing than in the later Smash games. However, this is just because of the CPUs' higher tendency to use smash attacks than in the subsequent games, such as Donkey Kong and Captain Falcon frequently using their down smashes, as well as their perfect precision with aerial attacks that allows for unexpected combos, plus their ability to easily use techniques such as jab grab; compared to in other Smash games, players find it difficult to avoid these instances due to the high hitstun in the game and the lack of directional influence.

This, exacerbated by Smash 64's powerful aerials and the incapability of air dodging, along with the much more powerful throws in the game, tends to cause speculations that the AI in this game is better at comboing and KOing, and therefore it is more powerful than in the other games. This is arguably not true, however, as CPUs in this game have poor understandings of numerous attacks, as well as exhibiting strange behaviours in complex situations, poor defensive play that involves spamming rolls and not attempting to get away from attacks when airborne, and an easily gimpable recovery that allows them to be easily KO'd. These flaws therefore make even level nine CPUs easily beatable by any experienced players, and even casual ones if they are able to exploit their flaws effectively.

Because of these numerous flaws, the AI in Smash 64 is often considered along with that of Melee to be the worst in the Smash series.

Specific examples

Examples of flawed AI in Super Smash Bros. include:

General

Category	Description	Character
Recovery	CPUs always aim their recoveries towards the center of the stage; so, if meteor smashed on stages such as Dream Land and Peach's Castle, no matter the strength of the attack, they will go underneath the stage and fail to recover. Similarly, in Sector Z, they may aim recovery towards the Great Fox's cannons, which cannot be stepped on.	All
	After a CPU Captain Falcon grabs someone with his Falcon Dive during recovery, he won't attempt to use the move again.
	CPU Mario and Luigi never use Mario Tornado and Luigi Cyclone (respectively) to recover.
	CPU Kirby and Jigglypuff immediately use up all their jumps after getting knocked off the stage. CPU Jigglypuff additionally never uses Pound to recover, only using the move to attack foes on the edge after reaching it.
	A CPU Ness always aims his PK Thunder as a recovery in an horizontal, barely upwards angle, even if the stage is above him.
Taunting	High-level CPUs usually taunt when they hit an opponent with a high knockback attack, even if it doesn't KO them. This means they can taunt even if there are traps or other players nearby, and even if the attack is a meteor smash that leaves the foe at a short distance from the CPU. This makes it easy to punish characters with long taunts, such as Mario.	All
Other	When getting close to their opponent in a single battle, high-level CPUs always use either a forward smash or down smash (if not a special move), being easily predictable. If the player is not hit by it, they may use that same move continuously while moving a very short distance forward each time.	All
	When returning on a revival platform, CPUs always reenter the fight instantly regardless of what is happening on the stage.	All
	When invincible, such as by the effect of a Star of when dropping out of a revival platform, CPUs still shield and dodge attacks thrown against them. Additionally, when a player comes out of a revival platform, they still attack them during the invincibility period.	All
	When a player has not been damaged for a considerable amount of time, CPUs will start to track and try to damage said player, ignoring other players completely. In this instance, they will also even go offstage to attack the player, which can cause them to self-destruct. They will only fight as they normally do until the player is damaged or loses a stock.	All

Character Specific

Character	Description
Captain Falcon	CPU Captain Falcon often uses Falcon Kick when jumping over the player, even when platforms are below him. He often misses the move by a short distance, leaving him open to powerful attacks. If the player stays above him during the jumping phase, CPU Captain Falcon will use Falcon Dive instead, falling helpless and becoming extremely vulnerable.
Donkey Kong	CPU Donkey Kong almost always charges up Giant Punch and cancels it when the player comes near, not approaching the player until the punch is fully charged.
Donkey Kong	When the player comes near, CPU Donkey Kong almost always uses Spinning Kong to "repel" them, instead of other attacks, and also chases the player after the attack is executed, even if this results in the CPU falling off an edge and self-destructing. This is more noticeable with Giant Donkey Kong: he tends to use Spinning Kong when the player's teammates approach him.
Fox	As mentioned above, CPU Fox spams his up aerial to attack foes in midair.
	CPU Fox persistently uses Blaster against players at a distance from him, even if the player can reflect/absorb the lasers or is on a platform at a higher level.
	CPU Fox tends to aim Fire Fox against players as one of his main attacks. As a result, if a human player runs to the edge of a stage such as Dream Land, Fox will follow them and aim his Fire Fox off of the stage, resulting in a self-destruct.^[1]
Jigglypuff	CPU Jigglypuff tends to make constant use of Pound to attack players, especially in midair.
Kirby	A CPU Kirby using Inhale onlys spit out the opponent if it is another Kirby, and will always do in this case, meaning that no attempt to steal copy abilities from opposing Kirbys are made.
	A CPU Kirby using Stone tends to not end the transformation early. As a result, when the attack is used on a slope like that of the leftmost part of Hyrule Castle or at the far right side of Sector Z, he will hold the move in place, falling down and self-destructing.
	Despite making moderate use of his attacks, CPU Kirby still spams copied attacks such as Fireball, PK Fire, and Thunder Jolt.
Link	CPU Link often uses Spin Attack when the player approaches him (similar to CPU Donkey Kong with Spinning Kong), leaving him vulnerable if the player shields the attack.
Link	CPU Link almost always uses Boomerang as his first attack, as well as mostly using it when the foe is at a considerable distance. He also uses the move even if the boomerang was already thrown.
Mario Luigi	CPU Mario and Luigi never rise when using Mario Tornado and Luigi Cyclone (respectively).
Mario Luigi	CPU Mario and Luigi persistently use Fireballs against players at a distance from them.
Ness	CPU Ness persistently uses PK Fire against players at a distance from him.
Pikachu	CPU Pikachu persistently uses Thunder Jolt against players at a distance from him.
Samus	As mentioned above, CPU Samus spams her down aerial to attack foes in midair.
Samus	CPU Samus almost always charges up a Charge Shot and cancels it when the player comes near, not approaching until she fully charges it.
Yoshi	CPU Yoshi often uses Yoshi Bomb when jumping over the player, even when platforms are below him. He often misses the move by a short distance, leaving him open to powerful attacks.

Item Related

Item	Description
Any	A CPU player who picks up a throwing item when another player is below its platform will repeatedly throw the item to the ground until it disappears - even if the item is a Bob-omb, which often leads to the CPU self-destructing.
Link's Bomb	Other than regular items, CPUs will also attempt to go for Link's Bombs. Not only they will cease fighting for this, but they may pick up the bomb even if it's about to explode.
Bumper	When a Bumper is set, a CPU Fox or Ness may hold their Reflector/PSI Magnet near it until it vanishes, they get hit, or another item appears. During this period they will ignore other players, becoming extremely vulnerable.
Fire Flower Ray Gun	When a CPU uses a Fire Flower or Ray Gun, they will often use it even if the opponent is out of range.

Stage Related

Stage	Description
	When standing on moving platforms, CPUs usually won't be conscious about the danger and will stay there like on a normal terrain, which mostly results on them not jumping off and going offstage with the plaftorm, guaranteeing a self-destruct. This can happen, for example, when a CPU comes to attack a foe on the balancing plaftorms at Mushroom Kingdom, or when landing on an Arwing during recovery at Sector Z. Additionally, on Mushroom Kingdom, if a Crate or Barrel falls on one of the balancing platforms, CPUs will still attempt to pick it up, falling down with it and SDing.
	As mentioned above, CPUs have difficulty recognising walls. If there is a player on the right side of the Saffron City stage, CPUs will walk into the doors of the Pokémon trap. Similarly, on Peach's Castle, if a human player stands on the bottom platform, a CPU on one of the moving platforms will run into the wall repeatedly.
	On Mushroom Kingdom, CPUs will never attempt to intentionally use the POW Block nor the Warp Pipes.
	On Saffron City, if a level nine Pikachu is set to Player 2, and the player stands on the left edge of the rightmost building after Pikachu is KO'd, it will jump off the revival platform to the right and then approach with Quick Attack, crossing-up the building and self-destructing. Pikachu will continue this indefinitely as long as it is not interrupted by something.
	On Dream Land, if a player stands below a CPU Donkey Kong on a platform, it will continuously use Hand Slap until the player gets out of there, leaving it easily open for aerial attacks. ^[2] In a similar scenario, standing on a Dream Land platform above a CPU Yoshi will cause it to use Egg Throw, which (when shielded) will be inevitably followed by an infinite stream of double jump canceled up aerials that are nowhere near hitting the player.
	On Sector Z, CPUs that are on the Arwing loading area behind the tail wing of the Great Fox will never use their up special to get onto the tail, causing them to get stuck there if their midair jumps do not grant enough distance/height.