Mario
Page 2
Characteristics
-Shield
-Running
-Roll
-Jump
-Flight Path and Falling
Cpu Tendencies
Strategies
-Simple Mario
-Close Combat
-Fireball Them to Death
Versus
-Luigi
-Mario
-DK
-Link
-Samus
-Captain Falcon
-Ness
-Yoshi
-Kirby
-Fox
-Pikachu
-Jigglypuff
Pros/Cons list
Final Verdict
Characteristics
Shield
Buttons: Z or hold R while on the ground.
Description: Mario has a regular shield like most characters. It looks
like a translucent sphere that shrinks with every hit delivered on to
it. Mario's shield is of medium size. It's not big like DK's but not
so small like Kirby's.
Running
Buttons: Tap control stick sideways while on the ground.
Description: Mario runs. Nothing special about this run. Mario is not
a fast runner, but he isn't too slow either.
Rolling
Buttons: Z or hold R + push stick sideways
Description: For both forward and backward roll, Mario rolls on his
back then gets up on his feet. The rolls are pretty quick.
Jump
Buttons: Tap stick upwards or press any C buttons
Description: Mario jumps straight up for his first jump, or he will
flip backwards if you push jump and back and the same time. He does
a corkscrew and somersaults at the same time for his second jump if
he move forward or straight up or he sometimes (not all the time) somersaults
backwards several times if he goes backwards while yelling "Whoa-Hoo!"
Mario is an above average jumper.
Flight Path and Falling
Mario is at the middle of the pack when it comes to flight path. He doesn get sent very high like Samus or Jigglypuff, but he doesn't fly low like Link. Mario falls relatively slowly when compared to others
Cpu Tendencies
The cpu Mario will use all the moves available to him. He will use his smashes, throws, air moves, and specials on you. He likes his down smash a lot, so down try rolling into him. Also watch for the headbutt, because it can come out of nowhere and cause your character some extreme pain. If you block his fireballs, he'll just keep fireballing you. Don't try running straight at him when he does this because you'll just get hit a few more times. In the air Mario will use all of his aerial arsenal to get you. Cpu Mario also likes to use his tornado move when people get too close, although the tornado is more annoying then dangerous. I've seen cpu Mario spike people down with the tornado, but that happens extremely rarely. He'll do this on the ground and in the air. Cpu Mario will use his jump punch to attack you. The jump punch won't kill you but might screw up your attack. Overall, cpu Mario is not the best cpu out there because he doesn't have any special strategies that he relies on to make your life harder.
Strategies
Simple Mario
Mario is a good character for beginners. I think I explained this on page one already, but what makes him a good beginners' character is that Mario has got little bit of everything and also he's very easy to control. He isn't like Falcon who might run off the edge in inexperienced hands or DK whose running is about the same as other character's walking speed. Mario is at the middle for every attribute and has a long range projectile to go along with his other attacks. It's harder to self destruct as Mario than some other characters (cough... Ness... cough). Once you are good at Mario, then you can probably use other characters without screwing up badly.
Close Combat
Mario is good at brawling because he has good smash attacks that aren't slow. He also has a pretty quick grab and throws that will clear other people out of the way. Mario can get into a brawl by using his running attack or his aerial kicks to get on the offensive. He might not be as good a brawler as say Kirby but in close situations Mario should be able to out fight most characters.
Fireball Them to Death
This works especially well in free for alls, but works in other battles too. If people aren't paying close attention to Mario, just keep using the fireballs to raise the opponents' damage. They'll eventually get pissed off enough to run after Mario. If they try to run straight at Mario, gives them a few more fireballs to deal more damage and piss them off even more. Fireballs are a great tool to piss off your opponents which means they are more likely to make mistakes that you can capitalize on.
Mario vs...
Luigi
Mario and Luigi are very similar to each other, but Luigi has some different moves. Anyways, watch out for his smashes and the fire punch that will usually come in the form of a combo with the drill kick. His forward throw is also strong so watch for that as well. Otherwise, this is a close matchup and the better skilled player will probably win.
Mario
This is a mirror match. The both of you are the same. Just dodge his attacks and look for opportunities. The better Mario will this match.
Donkey Kong
DK is a lot more powerful than Mario, but he's also a lot slower. Most
of DK's power moves are pretty slow and you should be able to dodge
them and counter attack. You should avoid his smashes and especially
the giant punch, which will KO almost anyone at about 60%. Beware of
DK's back throw, because unlike his other power moves, this one is pretty
fast and no less powerful. Most people aren't stupid enought to do the
kamikaze thing with DK's forward throw, but you never know. You shouldn't
be too concerned about DK spiking Mario down since Mario has a high
priority vertical recovery move in his jump punch. Just make Mario fall
down a bit faster and jump for the edge.
Because DK is so heavy and therefore hard to launch off the stage, you
should raise his damage up, namely by using Mario's fireballs, which
DK can't counter since he has no projectiles. After DK has sustained
significant damage, hit him off the stage and fireball when he tries
to come back. Chances are that Mario's fireball will screw DK's recovery
some of the time. You can also use Mario's headbutt to star finish DK
when he has loads of damage. DK is not too hard for Mario to beat unless
of course the other player is very skilled at DK.
Link
Link is another powerhouse like DK. Mario will want to avoid Link's powerful sword attacks, especially his down and forward smash, spin slash, and forward and down air attacks. The boomerang is annoying too, but Mario can counter with his fireballs. When Link is above Mario, don't try to headbutt Link because his downward sword stab has a lot of priority and getting poked in the head isn't fun. If Link tries the down A, dodge it and hit Link while he's recovering. Another opportunity is if Link tries to grab with his hookshot. Dodge the hookshot and Mario gets a free hit. Since Link is quite heavy and hard to kill outright, it'll take more work to star finish him. It's much easier to kill link over the sides since Link falls fast and is bad at jumping back. Throw a few fireballs at him for good measure. Mario can out throw Link easily so turning the battle into a throwing contest isn't a bad idea. Link doesn't adjust too well to cheap plays so playing cheap will help you win. Edge guard him just once and he'll probably die.
Samus
Samus is more of a calculating type that prefers a ranged fight rather than close combat. Well, deny her the advantage of her charge shot by keeping the fight close. Mario's smashes are more powerful than Samus' and he has a faster grab. Try to trick Samus into use her grab. If you succeed in avoiding the beam, you get a free hit. Things to watch out for are of course Samus' charge shot, her fast forward smash, the ever so annoying screw attack and her aerial back kick. The charge shot and aerial back kick will send Mario flying very far and you don't want that to happen. Samus is an avid spiker so make Mario come back from below if you can. Try not to be directly above Samus because she'll probably screw attack Mario. Screw attack has insane priority and none of Mario's moves will go through it. And also do not run straight at Samus (that goes almost for every character, but especially Samu) because she'll probably peg Mario with a charge shot. Anyways, keep the fight close, build her damage up, then finish her off with a power move. Samus isn't too heavy so it isn't too difficult to kill her with Mario's power moves. She does tend to come back from hard hits so edge guarding is a must to keep her off the stage.
Captain Falcon
Falcon is another powerhouse character and he can run really fast. However,
most of this KO moves leaves him open for a long time, especially the
falcon punch. Of course, experienced Falcon players will seldom use
that move, but you still need to watch out for it. The punch will send
Mario pretty damned far if you don't watch Falcon carefully. Mario needs
to beware of the fire kick smash, which comes out faster than you think
and is pretty powerful. The falcon kick can also come out of nowhere
to hit you, but there's considerable recovery time for the kick, so
if Mario dodges it, then he can counter attack. Falcon excels in the
air, so it's better for Mario to keep it on the ground. The up A juggle
is especially annoying and is quite powerful. Falcon is capable of spiking
but he's not a very good at send downs because of his poor jumping,
but you be aware of his ability nonetheless.
Like Link, Falcon is hard to KO outright because his weight but is easy
to hitting him off the sides of the stage due to his poor recovery capabilities.
When Edge guarding Falcon, watch out for the falcon dive recovery move
that can deal 20% of damage and send Mario flying away. Mario has a
better grab than Falcon so feel free to turn it into a throwing contest.
Ness
Ness players either suck very bad or are very very annoying.Nesses like
throw, spike and juggle. Good Ness players will also use their step
kick to combo, so avoid that as well. The PK fire can also cause headaches.
When coming back against Ness, you better cross your fingers and aim
for the edge. Ness' down smash yo-yo is a potent edge guarding tool
and also coming back by floating will surely get the attention of Ness'
foot in the form of a step kick send down.
My advice is to use fireballs at close range. If Ness tries to absorb
them, then Mario can run and throw Ness when he's recovery from the
PK shield. Ness has very powerful throws so Mario should avoid those
as well, but it's easier said then done. Basically Mario has nothing
on Ness so in order to win, you have to dodge a lot and out hit Ness
to win. Good thing Ness is quite light, so it wouldn't be too hard to
kill him with Mario's power hits. Edge guarding Ness isn't easy because
of his powerful PK cannonball comeback move. You should make Mario wait
around the edge and hit Ness back out when he is still trying to land
on the ground after the comeback move. Jumping out to attempt a kick
may lead to an awful amount of pain for Mario. Nesses can be real easy
to beat (they tend to self destruct a lot, especially on certain stages)
or they can be quite a challenge under the control of skilled Ness players.
Yoshi
Yoshi is quite different from any other characters out there, and beating him requires a different strategy. Anyways as Mario, you have the advantage of the fast grab over Yoshi, so chuck him whenever you get a chance. Even so Yoshi is pretty heavy, he is quite easy to kill. Get his damage up then knock him off the stage. When he tries to jump back with his second jump and he's starting to fall downwards, jump out and kick him back out. Since Yoshi has no third jump, he's basically screwed. Do not try to hit Yoshi during the rising part of the jump because Mario's kick is not strong enough to cancel out the jump's momentum and Yoshi could in fact spike Mario down with his tomahawk headbutt in mid air. You don't want to get smashed by Yoshi, especially the up smash which is the most powerful smash attack for sending people over the side boundaries. Good Yoshi players will combo with the flurry kick (air down A) withe the up smash and that could do some tremendous damage. The ground pound is dangerous as well but it is easy to avoid and its slow recovery gives Mario the chance to hit back. Mario shouldn't be too worried about Yoshi spiking him down if you always aim for the edge with the jump punch. Some Yoshi players will try to egg you over the side. If you get turned into an egg near the edge, use the analog stick to control where the egg lands and mash the buttons to get out faster.
Kirby
Kirby is the cheapest character of all and in the hands of a skilled
player can be quite a challenge for any opponent. Kirby can out run,
out grab and out smash Mario. Kirby's most dangerous weapon is his forward
smash lunge kick, which happens to be the most powerful forward smash
in the game and is quick and combos very nicely. Kirby's running combo
consisting of lunge kicks and tackles are very effective and hard to
escape if your damage is low. Do not get trapped between Kirby and a
wall, because Kirby will bounce Mario against the wall like a pinball
or trap him there with his infinite combo. Kirby can also spike very
well and the lunge kick is a good edge guard so comebacks will be difficult.
Kirby's air moves are also formidable with an array of power moves and
drill kicks. The stone also hurts a lot, but you should be able to dodge
it if you pay attention and get Mario to hit back when Kirby transforms
back.
To win agains Kirby, Mario needs to roll a lot, get behind Kirby, and
get some hits in. Kirby is quite light so Mario's smashes (especially
the headbutt) should make short work of Kirby. The easiest way to headbutt
is to get under Kirby during a final cutter attack. Use Mario's fireballs
against Kirby and don't let him steal Mario's power. Beating a skilled
Kirby is not easy with any character.
Fox
Fox is fast and nimble, and he juggles real well. Don't try to be above Fox because his juggle kick and up smash are very powerful and will kill Mario quite easily. Fox also has his annoying blaster that he likes to peg people with. Avoid getting hit by the blaster and never run straight at Fox because he'll peg you like crazy. Mario's fireballs can't do much since Fox can reflect them, but you can use them at close range when Fox can't react fast enough. There isn't any special trick to beat Fox. If you got more skill than the Fox player then you'll win. Mario should be able to out smash Fox so use that to your advantage.
Pikachu
Pikachu is pretty fast and nimble also, but he doesn't juggle like Fox. Pikachu players like to throw a lot and for good reason. Pikachu has one of the fastest grabs in the game and has a very strong back throw. Pikachu is also good in the air with his electric drills and kicks. As Mario, you should try and keep the fight on the ground where Mario's smashes have an advantage. Pikachu's forward smash is great for edge guarding, but too slow for hand to hand combat, so make him pay by dodging the hit and then pay him back with a power move. Pikachu is pretty light, which means it's easy to star finish him using Mario's headbutt. Pikachu will usually recover from attempts to knock him out of the stage sideways, unless of course you send him over the boundary outright. Use Mario's fireballs against Pikachu because his thunder jolt is a much slower move. Try to avoid being straight above Pikachu because he'll probably thunder Mario.
Jigglypuff
Jigglypuff is an easy opponent unless the player is extremely skilled. Jiggly is basically a weakened and lightened version of Kirby with less jumping ability. Jigglypuff is simply too light to do much. He'll get killed at absurdly low percentages, so Mario should be able to kill him easily. The two things you should watch out for against Jiggly is the up smash, which isn't any weaker than Mario's headbutt and the drill kick/rest combo which can kill at really low damages. If Jiggly tries to drill kick Mario when he's on the ground, teach Jiggly a lesson and give him the old headbutt, or you can dodge and counter attack. Jiggly also has a pretty good back throw, and the pound move can become annoying over time. Anyways, Jiggly shouldn't be too hard for a good Mario player. Any of Mario's power moves will send the pokemon flying.
Pros and Cons List
Pros:
-above average jumper
-well rounded (pun intended) with a short game and a long (well, not
very long) game with the fireball
-easy to use
Cons:
-not particularly good at anything
Final
Verdict
Mario is an easy character to use and master so if you are choosing
someone to begin with, Mario is a good choice. He's not particularly
strong at any aspect but he can do a lot of things.
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