I attended Otakon this year, and as one might expect, I came across an awful lot of scrubs. And there's nothing wrong with this, it was at an anime convention with 17,000 attendants, and you can't expect them all to play Smash at a competetive level. It did mean that I had to wait in line for my turn a lot, and while waiting in line, I tried to educate my fellow line-standers about the game, offering commentary, describing how certain moves work, that sort of thing.
I got to hear a lot of comments from the scrubs too. About how they don't use the C-Stick because it's too hard to reach, or how they just can't seem to train themselves to roll or use the shield. The didn't know what wavedashing was, or L-Canceling, or teching, or anything really at all. Button mashers to the extreme.
This guide is dedicated to those scrubs at Otakon. Here's the basics... here's how to teach yourself how to play Peach well. All the playing in the world won't help you if you keep practising the wrong things.
This guide is not complete, and I welcome comments and suggestions.
This guide is not a "move guide". I assume you've picked Peach up once or twice and know what the buttons do. I will name each of the moves, so you know what I'm talking about, just in case.
B: Toad
Down+B: Turnip
Up+B: Parasol
Left/Right+B: Peach Bomber
Smash Left/Right+B: Smash Peach Bomber
Then there are Dash Attacks (Dash+A), Tilts (Walk+A or slight up/down+A), and Air attacks (Direction+A while in the air). Smashes are produced either by using the C-Stick or by hitting a direction fast and then hitting A.
To Jump, use either the X or Y button. I know that you can jump by pressing up, but trust me: use the X or Y button. Later on you'll save yourself a lot of headache and heartache if you do it right to begin with. There are all kinds of neat tricks you can do if you use X or Y that you simply cannot do if you use up. The only time you should press up on the directional stick is to use an up-tilt attack, charge an up-smash, or use the parasol. No other time.
This guide is meant to improve your Peach. I am assuming from the get go that you suck at smash brothers and barely know the controls. You are pounded on constantly. You die a lot. The other smash players take your lunch money. This guide should help you. Think of it less as a reference manual, and more as a step-by-step howto guide for your training regimen.
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=Peach Lesson #1 =
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=Downsmash: Your Friend=
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The Downsmash is Peach's all purpose move. It has the potential to hit the enemy as many as five times and can deal as much as 88% damage, AND can knock opponents a sizable distance, making it useful also as a K.O. move. It interrupts rolls and breaks through shields. This move is considered by many to be the best smash move in the game. When you are first learning how to use Peach, you must spam this move as much as possible. This will make your opponents hate you. They will call you "cheap" and "cheezy" and make claims about the sexual promiscuity of your mother and the species of your probable descendants. Ignore them. Soon enough, they will learn that although the Downsmash is a killer move, it can't win the game for you. They CAN defeat someone who does nothing but downsmash... and easily, once they figure out how.
I will not be going over counters to the downsmash at this point in the guide. That comes later. It will suffice for now to say "Use the Downsmash as much as possible. Get used to using it at every opportunity."
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=Peach Lesson #1.5 =
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=The C-Stick: Your BEST Friend=
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If you are a Peach player, you must use the C-Stick. You will not be able to play Peach without it. Other characters benefit from the C-Stick, but few rely on it to the extent that Peach does. You will find players out there who will disparage you for using the C-Stick, and even some who think it is cheating since the C-Stick is disabled for the single player game. Ignore them. Super Smash Brothers Melee is not a single player game.
More often though, I come across players who don't use the C-Stick because they find it physically difficult to do. All I have to say to this is: practice. Plug in a second controller and start a vs. match, but don't have anyone play player 2. Just let it sit there. Now, use the C-Stick to downsmash, then swap back to the A button and do a normal attack. The forward smash, and back to the A button. Up smash, back to the A button. Keep doing this until your thumb knows where the C-Stick is, and where the A button is, and you can switch between them without thought.
Now that you can downsmash at a moment's notice, and thus use Lesson #1 as indicated above, take note of the C-Stick's OTHER use. Pull out a turnip, and now press the C-Stick backwards. Pull out another turnip and press C-Stick up. Pull out another turnip, jump into the air, and press C-Stick down. The C-Stick is the key to proper turnip usage. Use it to throw in the direction you want, ALWAYS. No more misses.
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=Peach Lesson #2 =
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=Ground Attacking=
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Peach can be a wicked brawler in the right hands. On the ground, you will mostly be using one of three different attacks: The Downsmash, The Dash Attack, and the Turnip. The biggest key thing to remember though, is that while your best attacks are close quarters, other characters have great close quarter attacks as well. After every hit, unless you're about to do a combo (see later), make sure that the enemy is NO LONGER NEXT TO YOU. In most cases, this means that after every hit you make, you'll want to run away. Start doing this. In situations where running away is not an option, keep pounding the C-Stick down until the problem goes away. This will solve most situations.
To improve your game though, you are going to need to learn how to roll. Rolling is simple: just hold down L or R and press left or right. Now that you know HOW to roll, know WHEN to roll. When you are trying to train yourself to roll, do this as an exercise in your next match: instead of RUNNING away from your opponent, ROLL away. Soon, you'll be rolling when you see the opponent attack you, by instinct-- and this is vital. When the enemy attacks you, and misses because you've rolled away, there is a brief moment in which they can't move, respond, or do anything at all. It is at this moment that you need to run in with a dash attack.
When your foe is at a distance, pull out a turnip. Wait for him to come at you (if he lacks projectiles) and throw it at him. As soon as you've tossed it in his face, dash into him. If you are playing with more than one other person, hitting someone in the back of the head while they are otherwise occupied is very worthwhile. The turnip isn't there to do damage, although that is an added bonus. Tossing the turnip will stun them briefly, making your dash more likely to have priority over whatever it is they planned to do.
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=Peach Lesson #2.5=
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=Ground vs. Air =
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If your opponent is in the air, then there are three options you have. If you have a turnip in your hand, this is the moment you need to use the C-Stick to toss it straight upwards... but stay on your guard, because sometimes your turnip can be deflected, in which case he probably used up their one air attack, but you'll still need to deal with him when he comes down. The second option is to use your Up Smash. Peach's upsmash has insane priority over most characters' dangerous aerial moves as long as you perfect the timing. Done properly, it can even protect you against Link's "Downthrust" aka "Sword Plant".
The third option is to go air to air, which I will cover in the Ground Floating section.
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=Peach Lesson #3=
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=Shield Grabbing=
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If you're a complete newbie to the game following this guide, you probably don't use your shield much, or perhaps learning how and when to roll has gotten you into the habit of using the shield as it was meant to be used: in quick bursts to stop projectiles and simple attacks. Either way though, the following trick will ingrain the use of the shield into you forever.
You probably know the single-button method of grabbing: press Z. Z is the only way to "dash-grab". However, most people prefer to "Shield Grab" and for good reason. Shield grabbing is simple: while you have your shield up (press L or R), hit A. Now then, next time you have a match, just stand still and let the enemy come at you, hopefully with a melee attack. Before the attack lands, put up your shield. Wait for the attack to bounce off the shield, and then hit a. You have now grabbed your opponent instead of getting hit.
Don't think of this as a counter, so much as a powerful move you'll want to use from time to time. Because Peach has one of the better (distance-wise) throws in the game. Unless your opponent knows how to use Directional Influence to his advantage, you can K.O. anyone over 120% (sometimes less) instantly with the grab. Just throw FOREWARDS (not backwards). Even someone who does D.I. well, this throw will be a very useful way to kill.
The more you use the shield grab, the more you will just find yourself shielding correctly. It starts to come naturally after a while. Before I learned how to shield grab, I almost never used the shield at all. Afterwards, it became so easy.
When you grab someone with Peach, pay close attention to that person's percentage. Learn how many smacks you can give them before you need to throw, since at lower percentages they'll escape faster. If they are below 100%, try throwing them downwards and then downsmashing immediately...this sometimes works as a combo (but isn't guaranteed).
Alternatively, you can throw them backwards and dash after them, or toss them into the air and either jump after them with a Neutral Air+A, forward Air+A, or stay on the ground and try to hit them with either a dash or an upsmash when they come down (very risky). If they are above 100%, throw forwards. At the very least, they'll be out of your hair since they'll be flying quite a ways. It may not knock them out, but it should put them over the edge, and now you can edge guard (see later section).
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=Peach Lesson #4=
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=Ground Floating=
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Whenever you jump you should ground float. Ground floating is done by jumping with X or Y, and then hitting down on the directional stick where you want you altitude to be. Make certain you hold X or Y down for as long as you wish to float. This can be done immediately, making you float at ground level. The most obvious use of this is to perform Peach's very very nice aerial attacks on the ground, but it also offers you more control over where you are at all times, and allows you to perform a trick called Float Canceling, which I will describe later.
One of the better positions to ground float at is just high enough that Peach's feet are on level with your opponent's face. At this height, most ground attacks your opponent will make against you will miss, forcing him to jump after you. A Neutral A air attack will take care of the faster characters, but if you have some wind-up time, try giving the forwards A air attack a try-- it requires some timing, but it's a powerful and deadly move.
If your opponent DOESN'T jump after you at this height, even better, because now he is in the perfect position for you to use your Aerial Down attack, which most players call the "Bicycle Kick". Each kick doesn't do very much, but it will quickly raise his percentage, stun him, and better yet, you can use Float Canceling to combo it directly into a smash... the downsmash by preference, of course. What is this Float Canceling, you ask?
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=Peach Lesson #5=
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=Float Canceling=
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Most other characters have to make due with L-Canceling, which I'll cover in the next section. But Peach players get something better: Float Canceling.
The theory of canceling is this-- Take any character, jump into the air, and do any air attack such that you are still in the attack animation when you touch the ground. When you land in this fashion, there will be a brief pause before you can perform any action, and during which time you are vulnerable to the enemy attack; besides which, if you're in this pause animation, you can't perform combos. However, you can cancel this delay, making it possible to attack right away, without any delay at all.
Peach can do this VERY easily. If Peach starts an aerial attack while floating, but then starts to fall in the middle of the attack, when she lands her recovery is automatically cancelled, and it's cancelled faster and better then L-Cancelling can possibly help you. The easiest combo to perform with this is the Bicycle Kick into a Downsmash. Ground float so that your feet come into contact with his head, Bicycle Kick, drop while still kicking, and downsmash. You've just made an awesome move (the downsmash) even more awesome.
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=Peach Lesson #5.5=
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=L-Canceling =
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Sometimes you goof and mess up though. Sometimes you are forced into a situation when float canceling isn't an option. Never fear! You can still L-Cancel just like every other character in the game! When you hit the ground in the middle of an attack animation you did NOT start in a float, press L immediately, and most of the delay is gone. In order to practice your timing, use Link instead of Peach, and try L-Canceling his Downthrust/Sword Plant. You should notice a RAPID decrease in recovery time. It works the same way with any attack. Use this when you have no other choice.
Related to L-Canceling is "Teching". Teching removes recovery time when you fall on the ground after being hit. The moment you touch the ground, either hit L to stand up immediately where you are, or press left or right, which will cause you to roll out of the way.
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=Peach Lesson #6 =
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=When to use the Parasol=
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Newbies to Peach will find themselves using the parasol to attack those above them far, far to often. Don't worry about it too much, I did it too at one time. But you're going to have to wean yourself off it when you want to improve your game even more. The reason is simple: after you've used the parasol, you are mostly helpless. You have to touch the ground before you can float again, use a second jump, air dodge, or even attack! Once you've used the parasol, that's it. You're first priority is to touch the ground again immediately, and all too often, you just can't do it fast enough. Other attacks are almost always better.
At high percentages, instead of using the parasol to attack characters on a higher level than you, try using Peach's Aerial Up+A attack. This kick is quite effective, much more so than the parasol. It will send your opponent flying, which the parasol can never do, and it can be done from a float, meaning you can continue to attack or you can cancel it on the ground or you can jump or air dodge or whatever you want to do.
The following situations are the only times you are justified in using the parasol:
A) When the other player is standing on a ledge high enough above you that when you use the parasol, you will not also be standing on the ledge. Obviously, you're going to have to practice enough so that you know how high the parasol will take you. If you do this right, you will do some fair amount of damage to the opponent, and he won't be able to retaliate until you've touched the ground once more.
Only do this if you NEED to make this hit NOW. If you have the time, set up your Aerial Up+A instead. It's not as fast, but it does so much more. The parasol's advantage here is that it takes you upwards faster than you can jump.
B) When someone is attempting to spike you off the edge. The parasol is able to protect you from most spikes if you time it correctly. When the parasol is deployed, and you are floating to the ground, you are invulnerable to attacks from above, and if you use the parasol correctly, you can hit the person trying to spike you with it. Careful though, the wrong timing means that the spike will go off, and you'll die.
C) When you are flying off the screen, and need to make a rapid air recovery.
Basically, when it looks like the end is near, sometimes you can just barely save yourself at the nick of time. Just mashing the jump button will sometimes work, but then, sometimes the forwards momentum your character has will still propel you out of bounds. Other attacks likewise, and will often cause you to plummet to your doom even if they do save you from the edge. The parasol will interrupt your momentum and send you straight up immediately, and allow you to glide back to the stage. Watch out though, because your foe WILL be waiting for you there.
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=Peach Lesson #7=
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=Air Dodging =
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There is another situation in which it isn't BAD to use the parasol, but there is something better. And that's to avoid an attack while in the air. The parasol WILL get you out of the way of this situation, but it has all those negative downsides I talked about earlier. Instead, you should learn to air dodge. Air dodging is performed simply by pressing the shield button while in the air. Simple, no? Peach has a great air dodge, keeping her in the "invincible" state for much longer than most other characters. Use this to your advantage. Just think of it as shielding in the air and you'll be all covered.
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=Peach Lesson #8=
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=Edge Guarding =
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So you've used the above advice to great effect, and your foe is now off the edge of the stage. But he's not dead yet! He's coming back! What can you do to make him have an early demise?
While he's still far away, you're going to want to throw turnips at him. This will screw with his recovery, and will sometimes knock him off completely, but probably not if he's good. The best thing about this though is that it's free percentage.
When he starts getting closer, you have some options. One choice is to ground float after him and use some nice air attacks to knock him down. The bicycle kick works well for this, as does your forward aerial, if you've mastered the timing... but don't neglect that neutral aerial either. Basically, have a field day and do what you like.
If the guy is either lower than the stage level right now, or if he's coming in at such an angle that you suspect he'll need to grab the edge in order to come back, then you can Edge Hog. Only one character can hold onto the ledge at one time, so if you've put yourself there, he can't hold on. Do this by facing away from the edge you want to hog, ground floating, and then dropping down onto the edge.
Be careful, you only have a moment of invincibility when you do this. To be careful, when he comes close, press the direction towards the stage to crawl up. While you're crawling up, the edge is still hogged, but you've regained invincibility. Otherwise, he's going to hit you off the edge and hog it himself, and that's no good at all.
The final option is tricky, and won't always work. Peach's down-tilt attack is technically a spike, but only at the edge here. So what you can do is duck by the edge, and -right before he grabs it-, thus gaining invincibility, slap him down. There is very little chance he can recover from this, but then, you're at risk from doing it. Marth and Roy, just as an example, have an Up+B attack they can use to hit you instead, which while it won't kill you, will hurt, and will let them recover. Which is bad.
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=Peach Lesson #9 =
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=Using the Terrain=
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There are certain features in a level that Peach loves to take advantage of. If you play on a stage that has any of these, know how to abuse them!
Any Vertical Wall: With a wall, Peach can combo with the downsmash. Just sit by the wall, and spam C-Stick down repeatedly after you get the first hit. They will bounce into the wall, and then back into you over and over again. Eventually they'll go free, but you've already done a MASSIVE amount of damage! If you have two vertical walls, you can keep them in this combo for a considerably longer period of time. Places to note: Hyrule Temple, Pokemon Stadium Fire Form.
Any Feature that Divides the Level into Two or More Parts: With a dividing feature, you usually have a vertical wall, which you can abuse as I just described. However, if you sit on the side opposite of your opponent, and hold a turnip, you can force him to come to you, peg him when he does, and while he's stunned by the turnip, nail him with whatever you've got lined up for him. With effective rolling, shielding, and shield grabbing, you can keep your opponent perpetually away from you. Then you can run away to the other side of the barrier again, and repeat the situation. This will often get you called a coward, of course, but which is better: To be a brave loser or a coward winner? If you're playing at tournaments, with prizes in the hundreds of dollars range, I'd rather win then be called brave.
Further features that favor Peach include stages with very large recovery areas, giving your float a big advantage, and also stages that have some height variation while still having open air above the "ground level" (meaning, not battlefield). You want variety in height because other characters often have better straight projectiles, but you want the ground floor open in case the other guy starts camping the ground (which is the best place to be)... you can toss down turnips if it's open air and at least stun them to let you land. Battlefield doesn't let you do this.
Peach has a slight advantage on moving stages due to her float, just make sure you're careful.
Additionally, stages that allow you to use the "Peach Bomber Trick" are wonderful.
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=Peach Lesson #10 =
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=The Peach Bomber Trick=
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After you've hit someone, or something, with the Peach Bomber, you are allowed to attack again, even if you haven't yet touched the ground. You can even use the Peach Bomber again.
On some stages, there are holes leading down that are very small. Fourside is the best example of this. Drop down into the space between two skyscrapers, and use the Peach Bomber against one of the walls. Now do it again. And again. Because the other skyscraper keeps you from flying back too far, you can keep this up forever. If you do it rapidly, you can climb all the way back to the top. Slow down a little, and you'll drop down at a controlled rate. Vary your timing, and you can stay right where you are for as long as you want.
If you are a stock ahead, and it's a timed match, all you need to do on Fourside is to stay in this hole all game, as low as possible. If items are turned off, they can't throw stuff down at you to interfere, and sometimes you can even keep going if they do. Some characters are able to follow you down the pit and spike you, but then they have to worry about getting up themselves... sometimes they can, most often they can't. You'll stay a stock ahead, and win the match in a very lame way. It is for this reason that Fourside is banned from most tournament games.
However, if you're up for a REAL challenge, it is theoretically possible to do this trick without having a back wall to support you. If instead of using the regular Peach Bomber, you SMASH the Peach Bomber, you'll get more distance. Indeed, you'll get just enough distance that you can hit a vertical wall, every time. The timing is VERY DIFFICULT though, I warn you. It's all too easy to miss a smash or smash slightly too late, or even too early because there IS a period of time after each hit that you can't do anything.
-------To Be Written: Anti-Character Guides, and Specifically, the Peach Duel Guide. Also: Comboing. I really need help with combos myself... and I know some nice long complicated ones exist, because I've seen others use them (at Game Over, specifically) but I haven't gotten quite to the point where I can use them yet...
