Turn

Turning around is a universal animation that allows characters to change their direction. All characters have at least two kinds of turning animations: regular turnaround (called Turn in Melee's debug mode) and run turnaround (called TurnRun in Melee's debug mode).

In Melee

Normal turn

Turning around can be triggered at the end of all grounded moves, during neutral stand and during dash. The turn animation has a total length of 11 frames for all characters. Most moves are available during all 11 frames, but there are a few exceptions:

• Dashing is only possible after frame 1 (for dash turns) / frame 5 (for tilt turns). This fact makes dash-dancing possible.
• Neutral special moves cannot be used at all.

Dash turn

A dash turn is a turn that is triggered by holding strong backward (referred to as a smash input from now on). For turns to the left, the control stick x value range (y is assumed to be neutral at 128, minor variations don't make a difference) is 0-64. For turns to the right, it is 192-256. If the smash input is still present after the first frame of Turn, a Dash is triggered. If the x value changes to the middle section (65-191), the Turn animation will continue without another opportunity to dash until its 11 frames have passed. Dash turns turn the character around on frame 1. For example, if a player controlling Fox makes him stand in his Wait animation facing right, holds strong left (smash input to the left) for 1 frame and then presses a jump button on the next frame, Fox will jump facing left.

Tilt turn

A tilt turn is a turn that is triggered by holding weak backward (referred to as a tilt input from now on). For turns to the left, the control stick x value range (y is assumed to be neutral at 128, minor variations don't make a difference) is 65-105. For turns to the right, it is 151-191. After Turn 5, the control stick is read. If a smash input in the turn direction is active, Dash is triggered. Because smash inputs buffer for 4 frames, it is possible to trigger a tilt turn and hold strong backward on the frame after (Turn 2) until Turn 5 and interrupt Turn with Dash. Tilt turns turn the character around on frame 5. For example, if a Fox player stands in his Wait animation facing right, holds weak left (tilt input to the left) for 1-4 frames and then presses a jump button on the frame afterwards, he will jump facing right. If he holds weak left for 5 frames and then presses a jump button on the frame afterwards, he will jump facing left.

Run turn

Turning around during the running animation is laggy and avoided in competitive play. Instead, dash-canceling and wavedash are used to regain movement options quickly.