Ness
Page 2
Characteristics
-Shield
-Running
-Roll
-Jump
-Flight Path and Falling
Cpu Tendencies
Strategies
-Throw Like Crazy
-Step Kick and Send Downs
-Edge Guarding with Ness
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: Ness has a regular shield like most characters. It looks
like a translucent sphere that shrinks with every hit delivered on to
it. Ness' shield is of average size.
Running
Buttons: Tap control stick sideways while on the ground.
Description: For such a short guy with stubby little legs, Ness can
run pretty quickly, but his speed is average compared to other characters.
Ness runs without swinging his arms but rather extends
them out behind him.
Rolling
Buttons: Z or hold R + push stick sideways
Description: Ness rolls for both forward and backward rolls. His rolls
are pretty quick, like most people's rolls.
Jump
Buttons: Tap stick upwards or press any C buttons
Description: Ness has a weird jump. All other characters in the game
uses their physical power (Samus might get a boost from her suit) to
jump. Ness, however, uses his psychokinetic powers to assist himself,
as seem by the glow near his feet. Ness straight up for his first jump.
He actually somersaults backwards (foot rises in front first) if he
jumps forward or straight and somersaults forward if he jumps back for
his second jump. Ness' jumps are a bit hard to control if you are new
to him, and his jumps aren't very fast.
Flight Path and Falling
Ness is about average when it comes to flight paths. He doesn't fly real high, but he doesn't fly low either. Ness has a very slow falling speed that assists him during comebacks since he has more time to float down and also makes him a very dangerous spiker.
Cpu Tendencies
The cpu Ness can get pretty annoying sometimes. He really likes his PK Fire attack use to stun enemies and set up for a harder hit. He also likes to throw people and use his yo-yo smashes. In the air, Ness will use all his air moves, but especially his juggle and step kick, which makes Ness quite formidable in the air. Ness will also use his PK shield to try and absorb any projectile attack going towards him. Note the word "any," since the dumb cpu will try to absorb solid projectiles that he can't absorb. Ness will almost never use his PK Thunder itself as an attack, and he also won't attack on purpose with the PK cannonball. However, he does know how to come back to the stage with the cannonball move. Ness is a pretty good cpu, but on certain stages he will self destruct a lot. These are the stages with those narrow gaps.
Strategies
Throw Like Crazy
Ness has the most powerful set of throws in the game, so why not take advantage of them. The throws will send victims further than any of his smash attacks could. The throws basically replace Ness' baseball bat smash as the primary way of killing people sideways on the ground. There are some occasions where the yo-yo smashes would be more useful, but most of the time, the throws will get Ness better results.
Step Kick and Send Downs
Ness has the most powerful stomp move in the game of smash. This, along
with his good recovery ability and slow falling speed, makes Ness a
very dangerous spiker indeed. Ness can be quite flexible when it comes
to spiking, since his recovery move can carry him very far, if done
correctly. Before you try spiking with Ness, you need to practice the
PK cannonball a lot since there's a very good chance that it will screw
up. Ness has the most difficult recovery move in the game, so you better
practice, practice, practice to get the hang of it. Spiking with Ness
is quite simple. Just jump to somewhere close and above your target
and press down A. Don't hold the stick down, since this will make Ness
fall faster. It's usually recommended to only use one jump to go out
and the other two to get back, but you can use two jumps to jump out
and still make it back to the stage if you are very familiar with the
cannonball technique.
Other than its use as a send down move, the step kick can be used to
combo. The step kick combo sounds very simple, but it can be very effective
in trapping people and raising their damage. The step kick combo mostly
involve just one move, and that of course is the step kick. It sounds
too simple to be true, but you'll need some practice to get the timings
right and you need to always Z-Cancel the recovery when landing on the
ground. This combo works best when your opponent is at medium-low damage.
Anyways, you start off with a step kick. If the opponent is on the ground,
he/she will fly up. If the opponent is in the air, he/she will fall
straight down. Go after the opponent by falling down very fast or jumping
up, depending on the situation, and step kick them again. Just keep
repeating the step kick until the opponent escapes, or they have enough
damage. If you want to hit the victim away, pop the person into the
air and use any or your other air moves (back kick and up juggle are
the better choices) to send the victim away. The step kick combo can
be very cheap and hard to get out of, if the player knows how to do
it right.
Edge Guarding with Ness
Ness is a pretty good edge guarder. His primary edge guarding weapon is the horizontal yo-yo smash attack, which can easily reach off the edge to hit people before they can grab the edge. To make timings simpler, have Ness' back face the edge since the yo-yo goes backwards first. Other than the yo-yo, Ness can also jump out and send people down or kick them away, and he can also use the PK Fire to screw people up. The column of fire created will drag victims downward and make them lose altitude. Use only if the opponent is doing the second jump, since hitting the person during the third jump will enable them to third jump again.
Ness vs...
Luigi
Throw Luigi whenever you get a chance. Feel free to juggle Luigi since he doesn't have a high priority stomp move to counter Ness' juggles. Use the PK Fire to stop Luigi in his tracks and set up smashes or throws. Avoid Luigi's smashes and the drill kick/ fire punch combo, which will kill Ness pretty quickly. If Luigi chucks a fireball at Ness, either absorb it with the PK Shield or if you feel like being creative, homerun it back to Luigi. Don't use the PK Shield if Luigi is up very close since he can grab Ness before the shield goes down. Throw or hit Luigi out and then edge guard or go out and spike him down.
Mario
Mario is about the same as Luigi, but he has no fire punch but a better running move and fireball. Watch out for the fireballs. Absorb them if you can react. Use the same strategy as the one used for Luigi to beat Mario.
Donkey Kong
DK's big size makes him a perfect target for the PK Fire. Since DK is really heavy, Ness needs to raise his damage up a bit before sending him off stage. Ness can throw DK but he can throw Ness away as well. Don't let DK's smashes get Ness. The giant punch is also very lethal to Ness, so avoid it by all means possible. Hit DK off the stage. DK is an easy spike target, so just jump over DK and step kick him down to the abyss.
Link
Link is another powerhouse like DK. Ness 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 so get out of the way or block if you see it coming. 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 Ness 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. Edge guard him or spike him down and he should die easily. Don't use the PK Shield against Link since both of his projectiles are solid. Juggle Link if you can, but it may not be a great idea since Link's downward sword stab is powerful and has a lot of priority. Use PK Fire to raise damage and stop Link's attacks, and then knock him off the stage.
Samus
The key to beating Samus is to stay close to her, since Ness has a faster grab and better smashes. Staying close also prevents Samus from charging her charge shot, but Ness can always absorb the charge shot to heal himself. Always watch out for the screw attack that might come from nowhere. Burn Samus a few times with the PK Fire and when her damage is high, hit her off the stage. Ness can then edge guard or spike Samus. Watch for Samus' forward smash and her aerial back kick. The charge shot also shouldn't be ignored, since Ness may not be able to react when the shot is used up close.
Captain Falcon
Slow Falcon down with Ness PK Fire attack and hit him with smashes or throw him. Ness can juggle Falcon, but Falcon can juggle Ness back. Watch for Falcon's forward smash, and his special moves. The Falcon punch may be slow, but a hit will send Ness to kingdom come. Ness can out grab Falcon. Falcon is hard to star finish but easy to kill over the sides since he can't recovery all that well. Edge guard him to make sure he dies.
Ness
Ness vs. Ness. Use all of Ness' cheap combos and power moves against the other Ness. Remember that everything you can do, the other Ness can do it too. The more skilled Ness should win, but of course one or both of you might self destruct, hahaha.
Yoshi
Even though 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 hit him back out. Since Yoshi has no third jump, he's basically screwed. If Yoshi is in the rising part of the jump, none of Ness' attacks will stop his momentum. 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 Ness the chance to hit back. Ness has better grab and throw than Yoshi, so feel free to use the PK throws. 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 very cheap. Kirby has faster power moves than Ness. 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 Ness
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, but Ness' comback move will go through any edge guard that Kirby
has. Kirby's air moves are also formidable with an array of power moves
and drill kicks, but Ness' air moves aren't too shabby either. The stone
also hurts a lot, but you should be able to dodge it if you pay attention
and get Ness to hit back when Kirby transforms back.
To win agains Kirby, Ness needs to run a lot. Ness should smash and
throw Kirby whenever there's an opening. Hit Kirby into the air and
juggle him. Kirby is pretty light so it wouldn't be too hard to kill
Kirby. Don't let Kirby steal the PK Fire because he'll be more annoying
than before.
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. You can teach Fox a lesson by juggling him with Ness. 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. If Fox wants to do the run straight at Ness, give him the PK Fire. Don't bother using the PK Fire in other situations since Fox and reflect them back at Ness. Use Ness' power moves to knock Fox off the stage and then edge guard or spike Fox down.
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, but Ness can counter with his own set of powerful throw. If Pikachu charges at Ness, stop him with the PK Fire. 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. His other smashes are pretty quick, so some quick dodging and blocking are needed. Do not block for too long or Pikachu will throw Ness. Pikachu is pretty light, which means he'll get killed pretty easily. Pikachu will usually recover from attempts to knock him out of the stage sideways, unless of course you send him over the boundary outright. Watch out for Pikachu's thunder jolts because Ness can absorb them for healing and try to avoid being straight above Pikachu because he'll probably thunder Ness.
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 you shouldn't have too hard of a time killing Jiggly. 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. Don't get hit by his other smashes as well since they still hurt pretty bad. Avoid the drill kick by dodging or using the yo-yo to counter. 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 anyone. Just hit Jiggly off the stage. Just juggle him into the sky or smash him over the sides. Ness can probably throw Jiggly off, and then spike him for an early send down.
Pros and Cons List
Pros:
-good spiker
-self heal ability
-good recovery ability
-powerful throws
Cons:
-recovery move hard to use
-light weight = easy to kill
-jumps are a bit awkward
-can self destruct easily on certain stages
Final Verdict
Ness is a weird character to use. Ness players are either suck very badly or are quite hard to beat. Ness has a combinations of attacks that makes him pretty powerful, but he is harder to control than almost all other characters. Definitely not a character for beginners, Ness is for those who wants to use someone with an unique fighting style.
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