Mario (SSB)

Mario in Super Smash Bros.
Universe	Mario
Other playable appearances	in Melee in Brawl in SSB4 in Ultimate
Availability	Starter
Tier	B (7) (North America) ? (5) (Japan)

“	The internationally-famous, mustachioed superstar. Mario's jumping ability is the key to his success.	”
—Super Smash Bros.'s instruction manual

Mario (マリオ, Mario) appears as a starter character in Super Smash Bros. He is considered an "all-around" character (like in most games) due to none of his attributes being higher than the other, a trait that has carried on with him in subsequent games.

Like in his appearances before the game, Mario is voiced by Charles Martinet, albeit via recycled voice clips from Super Mario 64.

Mario ranks 7th on the tier list, in the B tier. As an all-rounder character, Mario generally has a great balance of offensive and defensive capabilities. He has a strong combo game, including a versatile down aerial (that can easily lead into an up aerial to continue the combo, an up smash as a finisher, or itself offstage to drag opponents down) and his up tilt (which can chain into itself at moderately low to moderate percentages), as well as among the best edgeguarding abilities, with powerful forward and back aerials that can also space against opponents easily, down aerial meteor smash with extremely low set knockback, and a powerful down smash that can easily cover edge options and rolls. To further compliment his offstage game, he also has one of the few good recoveries in the game; despite a moderate falling speed and low air speed, his Super Jump Punch gains some good distance while being relatively quick, and he also has an additional option in his Mario Tornado, which can even meteor smash a careless edgeguarder on the last hit. Mario has numerous additional tools, including a projectile in his Fireball, a very powerful finisher in his up smash, and useful throws, with his back throw being especially powerful.

Mario, however, has limited range compared to characters tiered higher than him, with issues in the hitboxes of his tilts and aerials. He also has poor mobility, with subpar walking and dashing speeds, and a low air speed, also slightly limiting his combo ability. In addition to this, his recovery, despite being good, is on the more predictable side against most characters, with his Super Jump Punch and Mario Tornado traveling in a linear way that isn't too difficult to attack out of. Overall, however, Mario has the tools to take on any character. He is also considered to be slightly better in the Japanese version due to the changes to SDI.

Attributes

Mario's ending picture in Super Smash Bros.

Mario is considered to be the balanced character. His stats are overall average to slightly subpar, with average weight, size, falling speed, and traction and below average walking, dashing, and air speeds as well as a subpar jump. He overall has a good combination of low power and high power attacks, giving him a pretty strong combo ability with many options, yet a variety of KO moves and options. He also has a projectile in his Fireball, that is a decent way to prevent opponent approaches due to falling downward while moving forward if used in the air. On the ground, it travels too slowly (along with the move's ending lag) to be effective however.

Mario's down aerial, a drill kick, is an excellent damage racker, being able to combo straight into an up aerial or itself (if offstage or high enough). It, being a meteor smash with consistently low knockback, is a rather effective way to gimp opponent's recoveries, and isn't of very high risk to use offstage due to Mario's good recovery. Mario's short hopped down aerial to up aerial combos are usually considered the best way to rack damage at base to low percentages, when his up tilt has too much ending lag to combo efficiently. His up tilt can chain into itself easily at moderate or close to moderate percentages, can combo into aerials, and is an effective move to use for juggling along with his up aerial. Mario's up smash and back throw are very powerful KO moves, with the former being able to KO on Dream Land as low as 73%, and being able to be combo'd into with a short hopped Z-cancelled down aerial, and the latter easily being able to garner KOs or at least set up edgeguards when used near the edge. His down smash is also a powerful move, with its two hits being spread out over a somewhat long duration, allowing it to easily read defensive options such as rolls, and also being able to hit characters on the edge. Even his forward throw and forward smash, weaker than his main KO moves, are strong enough to be able to KO near the edge.

Mario also has one of the best offstage games. His forward aerial consists of multiple hitboxes, with the last few being able to semi-spike, while it and his back aerial are solid KO moves due to their speed, range, and power. Both can also be used for spacing efficiently. His down aerial can drag opponents down if used repeatedly, as it is a meteor smash with extremely low set knockback, though it isn't very fast, meaning characters with better recoveries (mostly Pikachu, other Marios to a lesser extent) are able to escape. His neutral aerial, while inferior to back and forward aerials in terms of power, may be used to edgeguard whenever Mario is in the situational position to use it after a combo. Fireball, his neutral special, can also be used to gimp opponents with linear recoveries. Super Jump Punch and Mario Tornado also grant Mario a good recovery (though the latter requires quick button mashing), especially vertically, and while both moves travel in a linear way, Mario Tornado can be used at different times to mix up his options and make his recovery less predictable. It can also add to Mario's incredible edgeguarding prowess, being capable of very powerfully meteor smashing, which can be used effectively against foes recovering high.

Despite his advantages which compensate for his disadvantages, Mario still has some weaknesses that prevent him from being in the higher tiers. His attacks generally have short range, allowing many characters to outspace and outcamp him easily, particularly ones with some disjointed moves (most notably Kirby, Pikachu, and maybe Fox). He also lacks a reliable way to deal with projectiles, which combined with his poor mobility, gives him difficulty approaching characters such as Fox. Mario's attacks also aren't very fast, with his best finisher (up smash) having major ending lag, and only very few of his moves (such as up aerial) having notably fast startup. Mario also isn't too good at dealing with pressure due to his poor mobility, though he has good OoS options.

Mario, overall, has above average matchups. His only disadvantageous matchup is Pikachu on Dream Land, with a handful of his matchups being even.

Differences between game versions

In his transition to the NTSC version, Mario got a mix of buffs and nerfs, but was slightly nerfed overall due to the higher SDI presence. However, he is still considered to be somewhat viable in competitive play.

Attributes

• Mario is very slightly bigger (1.0x → 1.12x).
• Mario's head hurtbox dimensions are very slightly smaller ({148,160,138} → {148,140,138}).
• Rolls travel farther.

Special attacks

• Fireballs do more damage (6% → 7%).
• Fireballs have lower knockback (22 base/50 scaling → 10/25) and travel a shorter distance.
• Super Jump Punch covers more distance.

Moveset

Mario's aerial attacks.

Mario in the Smash 64 instruction booklet.

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			2%	Two quick jabs followed by a kick. Leads to the easiest jab grab in the game in terms of how early it can be cancelled and how much range it has. This combo is taken directly from Super Mario 64.
			2%
			4%
Forward tilt	↗		14%	Kick straight forward. Can be used for spacing but rarely used due to Mario having better options. Comes out fast with decent range.
	→		13%
	↘		12%
Up tilt			10%	Spinning uppercut. Mario twirls and punches upwards. Above average knockback scaling for a tilt attack, can KO at extremely high percentages. It does have low base knockback, meaning it can easily chain into itself at around moderate percentages, though its ending lag is usually too much at base to low percentages for this to be performed efficiently. Can also combo into aerials.
Down tilt			12%	Sweep kick forward. Not many uses in general outside of gimping recoveries in very specific situations.
Dash attack			12% (clean), 10% (late)	Does a sliding tackle, taken from Super Mario 64. Above average ending lag and not many followup options.
Forward smash	↗		18%	Punches in front of him, his fist enlarging as he does so. Medium speed and good power, though inferior to his up and down smashes and back throw in terms of KO power.
	→		17%
	↘		16%
Up smash		Lead Headbutt	19%	Headbutts upwards. His whole head becomes a very large disjointed hitbox, and it's a very powerful vertical finisher, being the strongest up smash in the game (tied with Luigi's and Jigglypuff's). Its ending lag and somewhat short range horizontally limits its effectiveness however.
Down smash			17%	Twirls around while breakdancing on both sides. A good KO/edgeguard move, also a decent way to space. Usually used to punish techs/rolls.
Neutral aerial			14% (clean), 11% (late)	A sex kick. It gets weaker the longer it's out, though when it first comes out it's a good finisher (though inferior to back aerial). One of the better neutral aerials overall in the game.
Forward aerial			16% (clean), 10% (late)	Forwards spin kick. Last few hitboxes can semi-spike, so it can be used for a gimp. Highly useful against the majority of recoveries in the game. Can combo easily at moderate percentages.
Back aerial			16% (clean), 10% (late)	Backwards kick. Good for edgeguarding, and has good power.
Up aerial			12% (clean), 9% (late)	Flip kick. Knockback direction depends on which angle the foe was hit on. Lower power than most of his moves, but an effective juggling and combo move.
Down aerial			3% per hit; 24% if all hits connect	Downward spin kick, 3%/hit, up to 8 hits. A useful meteor smash; Similar to Kirby's down aerial, it can be used multiple times to ensure that the foe is unable to recover. Can combo into itself and up aerial easily. Like other drills, it is heavily SDIable however.
Grab			—
Forward throw			12%	Spin throw forward. He quickly swings the foe once and tosses them in front of him. A good throw in terms of power, though back throw is better for KOs. Can easily get opponents offstage. Also usable to chaingrab in the "tent" portion of Hyrule Castle.
Back throw		Airplane Swing	16% (throw), 10% (collateral)	Super Mario 64 throw; grabs opponent by the legs and swings them until release. One of the most powerful back throws in the game, a very reliable finisher.
Floor attack (front)			6%	Gets up and spins.
Floor attack (back)			6%	Gets up and spins.
Edge attack (fast)			6%	Gets up and flips.
Edge attack (slow)			6%	Slowly gets up and punches.
Neutral special		Fire Ball	7%	Throws a fireball, which travels forward and loses momentum with each bounce. Because of this, they are best used in the air, and at higher locations. They can be spammed, though with some difficulty (and at a slower rate of fire than Luigi's), and are a decent approaching tactic. The move can be more efficient when used in the air, falling to meet the enemy at ground level, while still moving, and negating lag.
Up special		Super Jump Punch	5% (hit 1), 1% (hits 2-8), 3% (hit 9); 15% if all hits connect	Does a jumping uppercut, which causes damage and makes coins fly out of the opponent. Can rack up damage. Mainly used for recovery, with great vertical range and decent horizontal range if aimed forward.
Down special		Mario Tornado	1% per hit, 14% if all hits connect	Does a spinning tornado attack, resembling the Spin Jump from Super Mario World. Has set knockback. If the lower segment of the final hitbox lands successfully, the move is a meteor smash. If the B button is pressed repeatedly in midair, Mario will rise upwards.

On-screen appearance

• Jumps out of a Warp Pipe, similar to his entrance from the beginning of Super Mario 64.

Taunt

• Puts his arms by his sides and grows, as if receiving a Super Mushroom. He shrinks shortly after. A very long taunt, so it is often used sparingly. Mario's taunt can be immediately canceled when he starts to shrink by using the Z button.

Crowd cheer

	English	Japanese
Cheer
Description	Mar-io *claps three times*	*clap* Mari- *clap* -o
Pitch	Group chant	Group chant

Victory poses

A cover of the iconic "Level Completed" music from Super Mario Bros.

• Jumps and turns around simultaneously with one arm in the air (also his character selection animation).
• Spins one arm and punches the screen, saying "Here we go!".
• Hops thrice to the right then stops in front of the screen.

In Competitive play

Matchups

International versions

Super Smash Bros. (N64) Character Matchups

Avg.

Mario has one of the better matchup spreads in the game, being above average overall. His only disadvantageous matchup is Pikachu. Mario's up smash and aerial combos enable him to do well against Kirby, despite his short range. Mario also has an even matchup against Captain Falcon, largely due to his ability to edgeguard him. Mario's all-use combos and KO moves in general give him 60-40 matchups against all characters below him on the tier list. Mario's matchups are largely similar on Dream Land and Hyrule Castle, with the better stage of those two for him being debatable, though his matchup spread is a bit better on Dream Land due to his edgeguarding and gimping abilities.

However, as of the current meta, it is unknown how well Mario does against the characters who are higher tiered then he is. In the years of the advancing meta, Mario has seen a decline of tournament representation and notable Mario player, Nintendude, has dropped him in favor of Fox while other notable Mario players either aren't placing well or just not showing up to tournaments. This results in Mario's current matchups in the meta currently unknown.

Japanese version

Super Smash Bros. (N64) Character Matchups (JPN Version)

Avg.

Notable players

See also: Category:Mario professionals (SSB)

Numbers in brackets indicate position in 64 League Rankings 2017

•  Alvin (#2) Pikachu main
•  Czar (#37)
•  FAUST - Japan's best Mario, 4th at Kanto 2016 and Kanto 2018
•  Fireblaster - (#32) mainly plays Yoshi.
•  Fruity - 7th at B.E.A.S.T 7
•  Hydra (#59) - Kimimarus twin brother and doubles partner
•  Isai (#11) 2nd at Apex 2013 with Mario.
•  Kimimaru (#41)
•  Noriaki - 7th at Kanto 2016
•  NTA (#40 (2016)) mainly plays Captain Falcon

Inactive

•  Nintendude (#37 (2016)) now mains Fox.
•  Red One of the best Japanese players in the early meta.

Tier placement and history

Mario was originally seen as a decent character in the early metagame, where he was ranked at 7th of middle tier on the first list. However, as the metagame progressed, Mario's strengths and how well he was doing in matchups was called into question where he was seen to do well against higher tiered characters. He was seen as being able to go even with Kirby and Captain Falcon, two strong high tier characters who were used in tournaments frequently. He would rise up to 5th of A tier on the second tier list, where he was seen as a high tier character. On the third list, he would remain as 5th but would move to B tier along with Falcon.

In the years since the third tier list, Mario's presence in tournaments would start to drop. This would be due to players either not showing up as much as in the case of Czar, use him as a secondary as in the case of Alvin and Fireblaster or drop him completely as in the case of Nintendude, who dropped him for Fox. This was not helped by the growing presence of Yoshi and Jigglypuff players who were showing how well their characters were against the higher tiered characters, even having better matchups against them then Mario. This would result in Mario dropping back down to 7th, a spot he has not been in since the first tier list, of B tier where he is seen as a mid tier again. Though Mario still has presence in tournaments so it not known how well he will do in the future.

Techniques

Tornado recovery

Mario can gain vertical distance during the Mario Tornado if the B button is mashed often enough during the attack animation, similarly to the Luigi Cyclone. However, the button must be mashed much faster than with Luigi due to Mario's faster falling speed and slightly lower maximum height that can be reached from his Down B.

Mario Bros. "pseudo-spike"

Both Mario and Luigi can "spike" an opponent by repeatedly using their down aerials on the opponent when off the edge and then taking advantage of their huge vertical recoveries to get back to the stage. This does not work against Pikachu, who has a much longer and faster vertical recovery than either Mario or Luigi.

Jab grab

Mario is one of four characters (along with Pikachu, Ness, and Luigi) that can perform the jab grab, an exploit that allows increased shield pressure. Mario can exploit the high shield stun by jabbing, then immediately jab cancelling using a grab.

In 1P Game

In the game's single-player mode, a player and a randomly chosen ally fight against Mario and Luigi in a team battle on Peach's Castle. Later on in the single-player mode, Metal Mario, a metallic incarnation of Mario (introduced in Super Mario 64), is featured as a "boss character" in Meta Crystal. He is not merely a heavier texture-swap of Mario; his weight is drastically higher than Mario's, and his attacks deal much more knockback as well. He can take many, many hits before being KO'd.

Description

From the Game

Although best known as the mustachioed plumber who battles the Turtle Tribe with his distinct jumping action, this internationally famous hero has also acted as a referee, a driver, and even a doctor! He's been linked to Princess Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom for years, but to this day their true relationship remains a mystery.

Works:

• Super Mario Bros. (NES)
• Super Mario Kart (SNES)
• Mario Kart 64 (N64)

Alternate costumes

Trivia

• Mario's artwork pose has him holding up a V sign, as he did in several older games such as Super Mario World; the pose very nearly matches a piece of official artwork from Super Mario Bros. 2.
• Mario's portrait on the character selection screen greatly resembles an official artwork from Super Mario 64.
• Mario is the only character who speaks in one of his victory poses (the line being "Here we go!").