Meteor smash

A Meteor Smash is an aerial move introduced in Super Smash Bros. Melee in which you can smash an opponent downwards quickly. The opponent can cancel the Meteor Smash by jumping or using an upwards third jump attack immediately after being struck. If the meteor smashed person is holding up and/or a jump button when struck by the Meteor Smash and the control stick and/or jump button goes back to their neutral position, he/she can Meteor Cancel also.

Meteor Cancels become more difficult to perform at higher damages because the character flies downwards at a higher speed as damage increases. It's possible to Meteor Cancel at any time still being in air during the character's tumbling animation, but it's obviously better to do it as soon as possible.

Any character can Meteor Cancel with their second jump (if they have not used it).

Meteor Smashing is useful against characters without effective triple jumps (i.e. Jigglypuff, Yoshi) wich have limited use for an Up+B Meteor Cancel.

List of Meteor Smashes

Not all characters have availability to a Meteor Smash. The characters that can Meteor Smash are listed here. Spikes and Semi Spikes are not listed here.

Mario

F-Air. Mario makes a large swinging motion with his fist, hitting those parallel to him downwards. This attack is Slow and hard to execute, Mario's F-Air must be timed for correct use.

Luigi

D-Air. Luigi twists in the air and those he hits with his backside are sent downwards. If the wrong part of the attack hits, it results in considerable knockback, making it a great edgeguard nonetheless.
Taunt. The only taunt in the game that can hit an opponent. Luigi kicks his foot into the ground. If you hit an opponent hanging on an edge, it will hit them with a Meteor Smash. This is one of the few Meteor Smashes which should be used on the ground.

Peach

D-Tilt. This move is one of the few Meteor Smashes which should be used on the ground. Peach swipes at the ground in front of her. Any airborne player hit on the head will fall quickly.

Yoshi

D-Air. Yoshi's classic drill-kick. Each of his kicks is a Meteor Smash, although they are considerably weak. At high percentages Yoshi will smash the enemies quicky down. Yoshi's drill Meteor Smash is the strongest drill Meteor Smash.
F-Air. This move is very similar to Mario's F-Air, but instead Yoshi uses its head to slam the opponent downward. It is quicker than Mario's though.

Donkey Kong

D-Air. A standard stomp attack with Donkey Kong.
F-Air. This is an low-accuracy move which hits only if the opponent is touched by Donkey Kong's hands at the end of the move. Donkey Kong is very vulnerable at the end of the move.
Headbutt. In the air Donkey Kong uses his head to strike down an opponent in front of him. This tactic is useful for edge guarding as DK can smash someone downards while keeping himself on the floor.

Captain Falcon

D-Air. A rather effective stomp with a decent hitbox area. It is often used because Falcon can jump off the stage, hit with it, and still recover. If Falcon hits with it's upper hitbox (the nipples) it acts as a Spike and is called Nipple Spike.
Raptor Boost-Air. Falcon rushes forward with a downwards vertical swing. This is a very risky attack because the attack is often done off-stage and once used renders him immobile.

Ganondorf

D-Air. Very similar to Captain Falcon's D-Air, a very powerful stomp. The hitbox covers nearly all of Ganondorf's body, so you can technically hit someone with it using Ganondorf's head.

Falco

Forward+B. Falco's recovery alternate, Falco Phantasm, is a Meteor Smash. If the opponent is airborne while struck with this move, they will be sent downwards. It is relatively easy to meteor-cancel. Conversely, Fox's Fox Illusion is not a Meteor Smash.
D-Throw. If Falco throws his opponent down near an edge which can't be passed through while facing away from the edge, the opponent will fall downwards at very high speeds.
D-Air. If timed correctly, this attack can be a meteor smash.

Fox

D-Air. Fox's drill has Meteor Smash properties. The speed at which the opponents fall is slow and they fall only a short distance, making it an extremely weak attack.
D-Throw. A weaker version of Falco's D-Throw. When Fox throws his opponent down at an edge which can't be passed through while facing away from the edge, the opponent will drop at considerable speed.

Ness

D-Air. Ness' stomp has quite a bit of start-up lag.

Ice Climbers

F-Air. Followed by a little start-up lag. The Ice Climbers execute this attack in the air, which is usually cancelled by Nana's hammer, and smash the opponent downwards.

Kirby

D-Air. Kirby's drill has Meteor Smash properties. The speed at which the opponents fall is slow and the distance is short, making it an weak attack but better a better drill smash than Fox's.
Final Cutter. This is a relatively weak Meteor Smash but can be used against characters which recover with some extra height to throw them down. This Meteor Smash can be used for combos.

Samus

D-Air. Samus' standard Meteor Smash where she punches downwards. It has a decent sized hitbox. A commonly used attack.

Zelda

D-Air. A very weak Meteor Smash which Zelda performs by extending her leg downwards.
D-Tilt. Zelda performs this attack by sweeping her leg. Another ground Meteor Smash which smashes the opponent downwards. This attack has extremely low range, power and priority and can only be used on the ground.

Link

D-Tilt. This is another Meteor Smash which can only be used on the ground. Link swipes the ground in front of him, smashing airborne opponents. A good edgeguarding technique. Link should use this on an enemy which is recovering from directly below.

Young Link

D-Air. If you hit the opponent with the hilt of the sword, they will be dealt fire damage and meteor smashed (sometimes reffered to as the 'Dragon D-air')
D-Tilt. Similar to Link's D-tilt though more powerful. A good edge guarding technique. Young Link should use this attack on an enemy which is recovering from directly below him. Better than Link's Meteor Smash.

Jigglypuff

D-Air. This is an extremely hard Meteor Smash to execute. Jigglypuff's lower hitbox has Meteor Smash properties it sends the enemy downwards at considerable speed and length. However if another part of Jigglypuff touches the opponent, the Meteor Smash is cancelled.

Mewtwo

D-Air. Mewtwo's D-Air is a very weak Meteor Smash. The attack's hitbox is on Mewtwo's foot, and can is difficult to time properly.

Mr. Game and Watch

D-Air. The first few frames of this move strike the opponent downwards, but only if opponent is right beside him.

Marth

Forward B. On the third hit of his Dancing Blade attack, if the "down" attack is chosen, Marth will spin and swing his sword to the ground. The movement produces a Meteor Smash. It's knockback and speed are average.
D-Air. If Marth hits with the tip of his sword, the opponent will be smashed downwards at very high speed. In the PAL version the D-Air strikes the opponent downwards in the same way as in the NTSC version although in the PAL version you can Meteor Cancel it, making it a Meteor Smash. However, in the NTSC version of the game this attack can't be Meteor Cancelled, making it a spike. If Marth hits with the wrong part Marth will jump a little bit and the opponent will move to the side slightly.

Roy

D-Air. This attack is the same as Marth's but Roy's D-Air is weaker and harder to pull off due to a smaller hitbox and is a Meteor Smash in both NTSC and PAL versions of the game.
Forward B. Similar to Marth's, except the third attack must be upwards.

It should be noted that, with the addition of the Footstool Jump , all characters can perform a Meteor Smash in Brawl.

Meteor smash

List of Meteor Smashes

See also