So, looking at the E3 footage to now, I can compile a few things that have happened to Link within the evolution of Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS. Now hear me out on this, and note that you may already know some of this information.
First off, I'd like to state something about his Spin Attack. From what we've seen, it looks like it has had an extreme buff from Brawl, as it not only increased in its own size, but also stopped functioning like it did in Brawl. As well, I've noticed that it looks like it wobbles, similarly to what it did in the initial versions of Brawl. This could indicate that, since Link's a realistic character and that his spin attack cannot be perfect like in previous games, Link's edgeguarding capabilities will be much better than before, because of the reach and power. Its semi-spike properties still remain a mystery until E3 at June 10.
Now for its recovery, it seems as if it also received a boost, too, as Link seems to have had a vertical height buff. However, not much information about that has been confirmed. Whether it will function like Melee or Brawl's will be a complete mystery until again, at E3.
Now for the Boomerang, it seems it also got a buff. From what we know, the Gale Boomerang has possibly lost its wind properties or got a better hitbox, though I'm leaning more toward the latter. Now, with the GIF we see of him hitting Marth, this can indicate that the Boomerang has knockback like it did back in the original game, if not better. This could be a useful tool for Link, now that the Gale Boomerang is no longer a weak item, and can propel opponents rather high this time. I will be talking more about techniques in a bit with it.
We have no distinct evidence on how the Bombs or the Bow will work yet, so we are onto his Clawshot. Boy, this is probably Link's ace-in-the-hole. Now, even though it applies to the ledge rules Sakurai stated, if someone were fast enough, they could be able to get Link to a safe distance where, if another character tries to edgeguard, he could still recover with his recovery move. If it functions like it did in Melee, we could expect Link to be able to jump right out of it the instant he can, though that might not happen.
Now, we've seen it in the Sonic trailer on how it may work on the ground, but here are some possibilities; it may be able to grab in mid-air once again like it did in the original and Melee (albeit in Melee, the grab range is closer to Link), though this is a Longshot. However, hopefully it functions like it does in Project M, since we know Sakurai is basing some of SSB4 off of it anyways, where it comes back fast, even faster after dashing.
Now that we have all the specials out of the way, let me talk about the significant changes in his normal attacks, and boy, there's a lot.
First, his dash attack, which is his biggest change of his ground moveset. The dash attack, as we've seen, is Link's famous Jumping Attack. What you probably didn't notice, however, was that it was a
two hit attack. As we see in Wii Fit Trainer's special attack montage, you can notice that, when she shields during Link's dash attack, that Link's dash attack hits twice. This could indicate either that Link's dash is a horizontal-knockback dash attack or that the attack may hit twice and send the opponent upwards still. What this means on Link's combo ability is unknown. Back to the Gale Boomerang. Since Link has this new dash attack, this means Link has a less likely chance of getting hit if the opponent is pulled back, since Link's dash propels him forward much more than his previous.
With this, let's go to his aerials, and boy, I'm not the first to say it, but his Up aerial just looks stupid. But it can have rather beneficial perks, as this is a huge buff. Why? Well, in past Smash Bros. games, Link had a huge hitbox when he used this attack. But here in the game, we don't see that anymore. In fact, the hitbox, being much smaller, could benefit Link like it couldn't in the past games. Also, as we've seen, the attack also ends faster than before and comes out almost-instantaneously, indicating possibly better combo games.
Now is the infamous Down Aerial. Hopefully it keeps the meteor smashing component, as Link definitely needs it so. If the meteors work like they did in Brawl (where they act almost like spikes), then this could really help Link out a lot, seeing as, if he uses it at the right time, it could spell disaster for his opponent. Since the attack works similarly to Marth's, but better since it's in a controlled hitbox, it could be devastating at the least. Now, if it retains its property from Brawl, we could be seeing that it could lend Link a hand when airborne. We've seen that if he fast-falls in Brawl with the D-air, Link will be able to go through the opponent. This could lend Link a hand in this new game for many reasons. Now one thing I hope: It ends fast.
Nothing else interesting to say about his attacks, so I am going onto aesthetic changes to Link.
His backwards dodge is clearly a huge buff in his arsenal, as it's dodge speed is like Meta Knight's from Brawl: extremely fast. Link could cover a lot of distance while dodging, and fast. Link will definitely be able to dodge faster attacks now, if the player can perform it fast enough. This could lead to some really great punishing on opponents and cover camping space.
Now for his most important factor: speed. His falling speed has definitely been redone to where it looks as if he falls much more slowly than he did in any previous game. To go along with this, his air speed also has had an increase in speed, giving him some better results in the air. Again, as we saw in the Wii Fit Trainer special move montage on the Direct, we could see that Link, while using his F-air, moved much faster than he did in Brawl, a good buff, I should say. But the most important thing for Link is his running speed, which also seemed to have a possible increase. Though I am not 100% certain on this, I can say that, by reviewing the footage, Link's running speed is about 1.225x the amount it used to be; not a whole lot, but when you think about it, Falco is about that speed.
Overall, I think Link may have been buffed to a whole new extent in this game, and seems to probably be not good or decent character, but a great character overall. His buffs may land him in high tier this time now.
#LinkatE3
Some Final smashes are way more op.
