Little Mac (SSB4)

Little Mac in Super Smash Bros. 4
Universe	Punch-Out!!
Availability	Starter
Final Smash	Giga Mac

“	Little Mac Punches In!	”
—Introduction Tagline

Little Mac (リトル・マック, Little Mac) is a newcomer in Super Smash Bros. 4. He was revealed on February 13th, 2014 during a Nintendo Direct, commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Punch Out!! franchise, which had debuted in Japan in 1983, but later debuted in North America and Europe in 1984.

Little Mac is voiced by Kosuke Toriumi in all versions of SSB4. His design is primarily based off his appearance in Punch Out!! for the Wii, and has alternate costumes in the form of "Wireframe Mac" based on the protagonist from the original arcade version of Punch-Out!!, whom the player saw from a first person perspective. When in wireframe form, Little Mac's voice clips are replaced by 8-bit noises.

Attributes

As advertised in his trailer, Little Mac is a wildly polarized character. With blinding speed in both movement and ground attacks that are equally difficult to interrupt and have high KO potential, he possesses a powerful ground game. This is counteracted by Little Mac's air game, which is unarguably the worst in the game. Due to this, he has a high learning curve, being extremely difficult to play correctly even when used by an experienced player, as one wrong move in the air can cost him his stock.

Little Mac's grounded game is one to be feared; he plays as a brute-force fighter unlike most of the cast, who depend on combos to rack up damage. Although his ground moves are largely lagless, they possess some of the highest knockback scalings in the game (many hitting as hard as Ganondorf's smash attacks) and most can KO as early as 80%, making his moves absurdly powerful for their speed-- his smash attacks also gain super armor powerful enough to plow through even a reversed Warlock Punch during startup, making his attacks incredibly difficult to prevent and dodge at close range. His special attacks include one that gives him resistance to weak attacks (Straight Lunge), a window of intangibility (Jolt Haymaker), along with a counter (Slip Counter), giving him options to keep in control of the ground-- especially since he also has his Power Meter, which can turn the tides of battle almost instantly once he gains his KO Uppercut, even if he's taken a lot of damage. He can be equally difficult to hit as well, as Little Mac has a fittingly small frame, terrific dash speed and possesses long-ranged dodges that are one of the fastest in Smash 4, making him one of the slipperiest grounded fighters in the series. Little Mac's speed and power allow him to close in on opponents quickly, sock them with a damaging attack, then retreat or dodge all in a matter of seconds, making his fighting style one of the simplest, yet most rewarding out of many fighters in Smash 4. If those perks weren't already impressive, Little Mac has several grounded combos that can guarantee KOs due to the impressive speed of his jab and down tilt, not limited to down tilt to Jolt Haymaker (KOs as early as 105%), jab cancel to Rising Uppercut (KOs around 115%), or a jab/down tilt to KO Uppercut (guaranteed to KO as low as 24%). This gives Little Mac an arguably dominating control of the ground when used competently, as one wrong move on the opponent's part can be the end of their stock.

Unfortunately, to compensate for his dominance on the ground, Little Mac has two glaring flaws-- of the two, perhaps the most infamous weakness of Little Mac is his almost nonexistent survivability once he is sent offstage. His recovery is severely hampered as he has low jumps, poor aerial physics, and perhaps the worst recovery moves in the entire Smash series; his specials become considerably less effective when used in midair, and gives him terrible vulnerability to gimping due to both move's lack of invincibility, terrible distance, and extreme predictability, which make matchups against opponents that can juggle easily in the air (such as Sheik) extremely difficult to beat. Surprisingly, he is blessed with the ability to wall jump, but even with this it is possible for Mac to be unable to recover once he's sent a moderate distance off the stage. His second flaw is his horridly pathetic air game: Little Mac's aerials are all extraordinarily weak with wretchedly short reach and KO potential, (even being told in his release trailer by Doc Louis that he "ain't no air fighter", and Sakurai later stating such on Miiverse), making him easy to juggle as he has no options to protect himself while in the air. Surprisingly, however, almost all of Little Mac's aerials auto-cancel out of a short hop, the only exception being his up aerial, making true combos with his aerials actually possible, although it takes a lot of skill to do so. Because of Mac's inability to hold a dogfight, his moveset is cut by half as his only reliable attacks are grounded, and as Little Mac cannot hold back spacing and camping options in the air, it gives him a predictable approach. Even his grounded game has flaws: his ground-to-aerial combos are almost impossible to do consistently on a competent opponent, while his grab has mediocre reach and speed, additionally not sending opponents at angles that allow followups. Despite his strength, Little Mac does not do much shield damage either, making it simple for opponents to shield grab Mac once he starts attacking; he is noticeably susceptible to said grabs, which are easy to land on a fighter that must always stay in melee range, and can send him into the air where he is powerless to prevent every followup imaginable. Tether grabs, in specific, can be very deadly. Finally, Little Mac is infamous for accidental self-destructs, due to Jolt Haymaker not stopping at a ledge.

In essence, Little Mac can be fear-inducing when handled properly - his extreme power, speed and KO setups can end a careless opponent's stock in seconds; however, he is a glass cannon that is not to be used recklessly, as although his immense strength and KO setups can end an opponent's stock in a blink, one wrong move on his part can end his own stock quickly as well due to his helplessness in the air and almost nonexistent recovery. So long as Little Mac watches out for grabs (as they can send him into the air where he becomes a laughable opponent), keeps his two feet on the ground with his plethora of moves that let him plow through attacks, and uses his speed to be a tricky fighter to hit while commanding control of the stage without straying to the sides, he can be one of the most formidable, albeit highest learning-curve, fighters in the game.

Moveset

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			2%	Two jabs, followed by either a single upwards jab (if the attack button is pressed slowly) or a series of rapid punches ending with a high knockback uppercut (if the attack button is held down). The first hit can be held down indefinitely, while having only one frame of activation and high priority, allowing Little Mac to mash it out while getting him by opponent's moves. Combos into many of his default attack setups due to its speed, including Rising Uppercut and KO Uppercut.
			2%
			7%
			1% (loop), 3% (last)
Forward tilt			4% (hit 1), 8% (hit 2)	Two jabs, the second of which has moderate knockback and good range. Hitbox starts after 4 frames, and a dependable KO move with the most range out of Mac's tilts.
Up tilt			9%	Swipes his fist above his head. Covers Mac's entire body and hits on both sides, allowing him to use this tilt as a weaker and faster down smash to cover his attacks.
Down tilt			8%	Punches along the ground. This move pops opponents up into the air and is Little Mac's best combo starter, being able to lead into almost all his attacks, not limited to his side aerials, Jolt Haymaker, a forward smash (aimed down, this can break shields extremely reliably) or a KO Uppercut.
Dash attack			10%	A swinging overhead punch. Fast and one of Mac's only approach options, but highly recommended not to be used as such due to its predictability which is easy to punish with a shield grab; done near a ledge, Little Mac is almost guaranteed to lose a stock against a competent opponent even at 0%.
Forward smash	↗		19% (hand), 17% (arm)	Steps forward and deals a straight punch. Because it moves Little Mac forward, the attack can miss opponents that are close or touching Little Mac's body. When angled, produces significantly different attacks: angling up is an uppercut with vertical knockback (useful for KOing light opponents), while angling down is a body hook that does more damage but much less knockback-- the body hook does enough shield damage to break shields more reliably that any of Little Mac's other attacks. All three variants, along with his two other smash attacks, have super armor powerful enough to shrug off four Blast Box explosions at the same time. This makes the move good for plowing through other opponent's attacks, making it a unique punish.
	→		19% (hand), 17% (arm)
	↘		22%
Up smash			20% (clean), 15% (late)	Punches above himself with an upwards swing. The first frame of the attack has a powerful sweetspot that deals Flame damage. Great for aerial protection or chasing down an opponent who bounces off the ground as they are almost guaranteed to be hit by the sweetspot of the move.
Down smash			12%	Punches in front of and behind himself along the ground. Weak compared to his other smashes, but is a semi-spike, making it useful for edgeguarding. The move can hit opponents hanging on the ledge too, making it useful for hitting opponents who exhaust their ledge invincibility.
Neutral aerial			2%	A short jab angled downwards. A very weak attack that can be used to edgeguard off stage with limited efficacy. However, its incredible speed allows it to drag aerial opponents back onto the ground with its quick hits and follow up with a footstool jump; with practice and luck, this can be done twice before finishing with a Rising Uppercut, almost guaranteeing a KO.
Forward aerial			5% (hand), 4% (arm)	A swinging punch forwards. Slight startup lag, and extremely weak with bad reach. It is a great combo attack with his downtilt at low percentages however, and depending on the character it can lead into a forward smash once they land. If a short-hopped forward aerial lands on a grounded opponent and they do not tech the blow, the player can quickly chain a down aerial onto the floored opponent to jab reset them to guarantee a followup; this however requires almost frame-perfect accuracy and some luck.
Back aerial			6% (hand), 4% (arm)	A swinging backhand punch behind himself. Similar to forward air, though will less startup lag. Because it comes out incredibly quickly, skilled players can use it as an edgeguard or get-off-me option, although the miniscule hitbox makes it difficult to do reliably.
Up aerial			5% (hand), 4% (arm)	A sweeping punch upwards. Hitbox starts on the first frame, making it a somewhat useful aerial combo move, but has terrible ending and landing lag.
Down aerial			5% (hand), 4% (arm)	Quickly punches downwards. The middle hitbox is a meteor smash, though it is the most ineffective Meteor Smash in the game, and possibly the entire series. However, it has incredible speed, and an experienced player can use this move as a jab reset by short hopping and hitting a floored opponent, trapping them into using their standard stand up option, and then finishing them off with any of Little Mac's smash attacks or a KO Uppercut.
Grab			—
Pummel			2.1%	A body shot.
Forward throw			4% (hit 1), 4% (throw)	Punches the opponent forwards.
Back throw			4% (hit 1), 5% (throw)	Turns around with the opponent and uppercuts them.
Up throw			4% (hit 1), 3% (throw)	Quickly uppercuts the opponent.
Down throw			4% (hit 1), 5% (throw)	Smashes the opponent's head with both fists. With luck, can combo into a Rising Uppercut.
Floor attack (front)			7%
Floor attack (back)			7%
Floor attack (trip)			5%
Edge attack			7%
Neutral special	Default	Straight Lunge	14%/12%/9% (uncharged ground), 25%/20% (fully charged ground), 10%/7% (uncharged air), 15% (fully charged air), 35% (KO ground), 13% (KO air)	A chargeable, dashing punch which distance increases as it charges. If the Power Meter is fully charged, turns into the KO Uppercut instead. This attack has powerful super armor and high endlag when fully charged, but is one of the strongest moves in Smash 4 if fully charged.
	Custom 1	Flaming Straight Lunge	1.5%/3% (uncharged ground loop/last), 1.8%/6% (fully charged ground loop/last), 1.2%/3% (uncharged air loop/last), 1.4%/5% (fully charged air loop/last), 35% (KO ground), 13% (KO air)	Charges faster and deals multiple hits. It also inflicts fire damage.
	Custom 2	Stunning Straight Lunge	10%/7% (uncharged ground), 20%/18% (fully charged ground), 8%/5% (uncharged air), 12% (fully charged air), 35% (KO ground), 13% (KO air)	Travels farther and faster, and stuns targets when fully charged before knockback kicks in.
Side special	Default	Jolt Haymaker	14%	A lunging overhand punch similar in appearance to a Superman punch. It propels Mac quite a distance and can dodge any projectile while he is in the air. When used in the air, its distance and speed are much shorter and slower, respectively. Both versions have good KO potential. It is advised not to use this attack around the edge of a stage, since it sends him into helplessness. Can be executed early by pressing the button again.
	Custom 1	Grounding Blow	9%	Has a much higher leap compared to the Jolt Haymaker and buries opponents into the ground if done on land. While in air, it will result in a meteor smash if it connects with an opponent. It has great vertical height that is compensated by its lack of horizontal movement, making it a better recovery somewhat. It is also much safer to use near the edge due to the movement.
	Custom 2	Guard Breaker	18%	Distance and speed are much shorter and slower, respectively. However, it is unblockable and powerful. Does not give Mac any distance if used immediately out of hitstun.
Up special	Default	Rising Uppercut	1% (loop), 3% (last)	A corkscrewing vertical punch. When used on the ground, it goes much higher, moves more horizontally and deals more damage. Conversely, it is worse overall when used in the air. Deceptively powerful and Little Mac's only reliable aerial finisher.
	Custom 1	Tornado Uppercut	3%/4%	Travels farther, but does less damage and knockback. A gust of wind shoves back opponents on the ground. The aerial version's distance is comparable to the Rising Uppercut's ground distance.
	Custom 2	Rising Smash	16% (hit 1), 4% (hit 2)	Does much more damage and knockback, but travels even less far and has a lot of start up and ending lag.
Down special	Default	Slip Counter	1.3x (min 10%)	Dodges backward to avoid a hit, then counterattacks with an invincible uppercut. In the air, this can be used to either give him a better recovery or hinder him due to its slide and the direction his opponent is at.
	Custom 1	Compact Counter	1.3x (min 4%)	Less damage and knockback, but is faster overall and also provides him with a faster recovery overall as well. Can be used to initiate follow-ups.
	Custom 2	Dash Counter	1.3x (min 7%)	Dashes forwards upon countering, giving him a far better recovery than before if used in the air.
Final Smash		Giga Mac	—	Transforms Little Mac into Giga Mac, which is even more powerful than his normal form. Some attacks with Giga Mac can One-Hit KO opponents at full charge (Namely his fully charged forward smash angled up and a fully charged Straight Lunge).

Power Meter

As stated in the introduction, Little Mac has a Power Meter, that when fully charged, replaces his neutral special with a new, one-shot attack.

• Neutral Special: KO Uppercut; an extremely powerful uppercut that can KO opponents at low damages, though the higher the weight, the more damage is needed to KO them (characters can be KO'd as low as 12%). The attack has drastically lower knockback and damage when used in the air, and it cannot kill unless the opponent has at least around 150% damage. It was claimed by Masahiro Sakurai to have the power to OHKO opponents.
• The meter charges both by hitting enemies with Mac's attacks and getting hit by their attacks. When Little Mac is attacked, it is double to quadruple the amount he would if he would hit an opponent, his meter goes to maximum if taken damage from exactly 100% damage.

Taunts

• Up taunt: Turns his back to the screen, bends down, then raises his fist triumphantly. Doc Louis may say "Hit 'em, baby!".
• Side taunt: Adjusts his boxing gloves while crossing his fists and scoffing. Doc Louis may say "Let 'em have it, Mac!".
• Down taunt: Performs a series of punches while facing the screen. Doc Louis may say "Show 'em what you've got, Mac, baby!".

In competitive play

Official Custom Moveset Project

Character	Custom sets available
Little Mac	2111	2113	2112	2211	2213
	2212	2311	2313	2312	2121

Update history

1.0.4

• Neutral attack 2 damage: 3% → 2%
• Neutral attack 3 damage: 8% → 7%
• Forward tilt hit 1 hitbox 2 x-offset: -5.0 → -3.8
• Forward tilt hit 2 hitbox 1 x-offset: -5.0 → -3.8
• Neutral aerial SDI multiplier: 1.0 → 2.0
• Distance of aerial Jolt Haymaker has been reduced by 10% and travels at a slower speed​

1.0.6

• Jolt Haymaker deals more knockback.

Trophies

Little Mac

This little boxer from the Punch-Out!! series makes up in heart what he lacks in height. He wasn't afraid to take on the boxing champs, and he's not afraid of the Nintendo stars. In Smash Bros., he packs a serious punch. When his KO Meter fills up, wade in and trigger a devastating uppercut.

The little guy from Punch-Out!! has come a long way since his humble beginnings fighting the almost literal boxing giants. Above his damage display, you'll notice he has a little meter that fills up as he fights. When it's full, you'll see a flashing "KO" there. That means you can unleash a devastating uppercut!

: Punch-Out!! (10/1987)

: Punch-Out!! (05/2009)

Little Mac (Alt.)

No matter his opponent, Little Mac always puts his best fist forward. He enters a charge state before unleashing his Straight Lunge special and can unleash it while charging by pressing the button again. He won't flinch while charging. At max charge, the launching power of this move is scary!

Little Mac always puts his best fist forward, especially when you use Straight Lunge! You start by charging, then unleash the punch whenever you press the button again. Charge it to the max and its launching power is formidable! Also, attacks won't make you flinch while you're charging or once you've fully charged the move.

: Punch-Out!! (10/1987)

: Punch-Out!! (05/2009)

Giga Mac

This Final Smash turns Little Mac into a hulking monster of a man. In Punch-Out!! for Wii, Little Mac could take this form by building up the gauge with some well-timed blows. In this game, it seriously powers up his attacks and makes him even faster. He'll completely dominate on the ground, but air battles are outside his weight class.

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  Classic (3DS)

• LittleMacAllStarTrophy3DS.png

  Alt. (3DS)

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  Classic (Wii U)

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  Alt. (Wii U)

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  Giga Mac

Gameplay Trailer

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In Event Matches

Solo Events

• Below the Belt: The player, as Mario, must protect a damaged Little Mac from a giant Little Mac.
• New Challengers 1: Little Mac is one of the seven opponents fought in this event, alongside Villager, Wii Fit Trainer, Rosalina & Luma, Lucina, Bowser Jr., and Duck Hunt.
• No Mere Sparring Match: The player controls a Little Mac with boosted damage, and must defeat 3 other Little Macs in a stock battle.

Co-op Events

• Getting Healthy: Wii Fit Trainer and Little Mac must defeat Kirby and Pac-Man.
• The Ultimate Battle: Two players select a character and must defeat the entire roster.

Alternate costumes

Gallery

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  Artwork of Little Mac used on the website.

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  Little Mac's introduction picture.

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  Artwork of Little Mac from the 3DS version's boxart.

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  Wireframe Little Mac alternate costume.

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  Little Mac's amiibo.

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  The pic of the day shown during Little Mac's reveal.

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  Sweatshirt Little Mac alternate costume.

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  A second pic posted on the initial Miiverse post pointing out what happens when his Power Meter gets fully charged up.

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  Little Mac in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS

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  Wireframe Little Mac punching Link.

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  Little Mac's charging punch attack.

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  Little Mac's special move Uppercut.

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  Using the uppercut on Sonic.

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  Little Mac begins to spin...

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  ...and finishes with an uppercut.

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  However, the move does not offer very strong recovery.

• Little Mac Counter.png

  His counterattack.

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  About to transform into Giga Mac.

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  His Final Smash, Giga Mac.

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  A jab.

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  His forward smash angled downward.

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  Dash attack.

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  Little Mac tumbling.

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  Little Mac facing the screen.

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  Punching with Villager.

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  A size comparison.

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  "Little Mac can deliver some solid punches while fighting on the ground."

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  "...However, he's not the strongest fighter while airborne."

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  Side by side with Samus.

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  With Diddy Kong.

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  The three different variations of Little Mac's forward smash.

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  A trophy depicting Little Mac in Captain Rainbow.

Trivia

• Little Mac's promotional poster image is a reference to both the arcade Punch-Out!!, and Punch-Out!! Wii, where Donkey Kong appeared as a hidden fighter. Coincidentally, he was revealed on the same day that Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze was released in Japan.
• Samus's appearance in Little Mac's introduction trailer is a reference to an image of her and Little Mac on his Assist Trophy Character profile, with her questioning his ability to fight due to his small size (in the trailer, she pats his head and examines him from an angle, seeming to pose a similar question).
  • This was even further referenced in a picture that Sakurai posted on Miiverse.
• According to Masahiro Sakurai, Little Mac has the lowest online win ratio of all characters as of November 2014.
• Although being "no air fighter", Little Mac's neutral air is surprisingly fast, and skilled players can actually use it to perform intricate combos, as publicized by some montages.
• In past versions of SSB4, whenever Little Mac grabs a Hammer, he will not properly hold the hammer as it will be on the side of him instead of between his hands. This was fixed in the 1.0.5 patch in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and in the 1.0.6 patch in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.
• Oddly, Little Mac shares a few animations with Captain Falcon. This includes some of his poses when knocked back with a weak attack, swing animations for battering items such as the Beam Sword and Home Run Bat, being buried and while stunned.
• Upon closer inspection of Wireframe Mac's model in the Wii U version, it can be seen that he has a "mouth" of sorts.
• Little Mac has the most Alternate Costumes out of any fighter, with 16 instead of the standard 8 per character.
• Little Mac is the only character in Smash 4 to get visual "battle damage" as he gets damaged and KO'd: bandages and bruises appear on his head the more he gets hit. This is a reference to the Wii version of Punch-Out!!, where Little Mac will gradually begin getting bruised and battered if he fights against an opponent and gets hit too many times.