You see, Bowser's had it rough in the previous iteration's of smash. Bowser's a really difficult character to use in Melee and is usually a bold decision, only being used by only 2 people I know, those being DJNintendo and Gimpyfish. Then Brawl came along and, what the hell happened? Like good god Bowser went from usable to barely useable or one of the worst characters in the game.
But then Project M happened. It gave Bowser something magical to laugh menancingly at and to finally defeat Mario with. Pure power and speed to rip through the high tier characters like aMSa did to Mew2King. It gave Bowser the ability to become ridiculous.
Let's just finally get to the guide now that the silly history is over. I'd like to go over all of Bowser's long list of great utility and powerful moves first:
Neutral B - Bowser has a small flamethrower like Charizard. Only use this move on small occasions to provide unexpected defense. Also, the added um..."slobber" does some knockback to that's useful.
Neutral A - Bowser's Jab: 2 seperate claws. It's decent if you want a fast attack with decent knockback, and then you can do something afterwards.
Side Tilt - Bowser just punches like he doesn't give a s**t. I actually tend to use this move on accedent and then it still knocks away the opponent because a lot of Bowser's moves have more knockback than usual. It's good, but usually not used.
Down Tilt - Bowser crawls and claws. This move is great when Bowser is at a low percent because someone could smash you, then you counter by pressing down and then using Down tilt. You'll get hit, but you won't flinch, giving you the opportunity.
Up Tilt - Bowser's claws go upwards. When playing on a stage with platforms, most commonly Pokemon Stadium (1 and 2), this is useful. a player knocked to a platform, 1 way or another, whether they press L when they land or not, there's gonna be that 1 second where they're vulnerable and you can get them with the up-tilt. Though, predict which side of the platform they'll go to and wait until they get up before using this move that way. There's probably other uses for this move, but what I described is the main way to use it.
Side B - Koopa Klaw from Melee is back! And guess what? It has superguard. That's just hilarious. You can use this move on quite possibbly a smash attack, and then you can grab them. Don't forget you can also use the control stick to determine which direction the player will be sent. Sometimes, I leave this option alone, but when in mind, I can send opponent's flying if I use Koopa Klaw, then throw them backwards.
Down B - Bowser ground pounds. When doing it off ground, he won't stop until he hits the floor with some lag. When he does it FROM ground however.....hehehehe....alright PM, you gave him much superguard, what else have you done to him?
*He can jump-cancel his down-b from the ground.*
Hil. Air. E. Us! I'll go in depth about this move later, but this gives Bowser, one of the heaviest if not the heaviest character in the game, a jump so high it competes Falco levels. Trust me when I say it's incredibly useful.
Up B - Bowser curls up in his shell and spins, causing an immediate attack. This one, this move, right here, is Bowser's best move in my opinion. You can shield from a Smash attack, then immediatley up-b to, of course provide knockback, and an attack to punish them for hitting you in the air or ground. This move is sooo good. I will tell you right now, for nearly half of the time using Bowser, you'll want to use this move. It's an incredible defensive move that can even kill at percents like 120%. Use this move. Use this move. Did I tell you to use this move? If you don't, you're a bad Bowser.
Side Smash - Bowser's side smash: Rams his head causing....explosions. Because why not. This move is absolutley insane if you can get it off, i'd say as satisfaying as a Falcon Punch. This move has the same speed as it's always been, except it can kill at nearly 30%!! Like, what? May I also mention that this move has a tint of superguard WHEN IT'S DOING DAMAGE, not any point else. Watch for that. Use this move on occasion.
Up Smash - Bowser launches his shell up and goes back down. It's funny how you can use this move, because it has 2 hitboxes. One is obviously the one that can shoot them in the air, the other happens when Bowser goes back down, causing a downward hit. On small occasions, this can be used to meteor smash. On the middle of the stage, if the opponent gets hit by this, you can follow-up with an Up-B and possibbly kill them, which is nice.
Down Smash - Bowser's up-b in Smash form. I mean its not like this move is bad, it's just Up-B is better. The only times where you'd use this instead is on the edge when the opponent is not a fire emblem character and is approaching the edge. I'd say his Up-B is better in every other area.
N Air - Bowser curls up in his shell and falls on the opponent. This move is great actually. This move can come from above a platform and then hit it's opponent, not to mention the added superguard helps with this moves efficiency.
Up Air - Bowser launches his head upwards causing, well, upward damage. You'd want to use this move after jump-canceling your down-b, but I'll go more in depth about that. Yes, there is more to talk about when using this move.
Down Air - Bowser flips, tucks in his shell, and spins his spikes towards his opponent. When I use this move, it's usually a short hop followed by this move. It has multiple hitboxes. I mean I don't think you should use this high from the air. Otherwise, this move is a predictable mess. Can be easily shielded, and the opponent can do anything afterwards.
Side Air - Bowser claws the player in the air, simple. It's Bowser's most efficient and fastest air move, hitting at a high speed and has the potential to knock someone off the screen. I could even just run off the edge and use this move and it will still kill them just as long as they're at a good percent.
Back Air - Bowser pushes his shell towards his opponent. I'd say this has the same effect as the Side Air, but with a tint of more lag and more power.
Grabs - Koopa Klaw may have superguard for the first half of the move's frames, but it's still a good option to use Bowser's regular grabs as they are a faster answer than the Koopa Klaw, just on the offchance the opponent SHFFLCs (Short-Hop Fast Fall L-Cancel) and then grabs you, something the Koopa Klaw cannot go against. Really, any one of Bowser's grabs is good. Bowser's up grab throws you up by spinning his shell which is nice to use as a move to use before an up-tilt. His other grabs I believe have nice knockback.
Well that list took longer than I thought. -_-
Bowser's overall game is more defensive than offensive. Most of the time you'll want to Shield, then up-b, but watch out as that's easily predictable. My good battling buddy
______________ (censored for the sake of not calling anyone out) would shield as a response to my up-b, and no matter where my position is, he would grab me, esspecailly if he's playing as shiek. Up-b is a fantastic move. However, it's not your only option, and spamming that move will lead to a predictable Bowser.
Another thing, when you launch the opponent into the air somehow (either by Up-b or up smashing or something like that), you would the happen to have the opportunity to use the jump-cancel out of his ground pound and then attack from above. But WAIT! the opponent could easily predict that, therefore he will jump while launched back in order to dodge your attack. What a shame. My solution is to wait a bit more. Maybe he predicts that too easily, and ends up jumping before you even used the down-b. In Melee, I've heard using your double jump is kind of dangerous, probably from an announcer of some sort. It's also dangerus in this scenario, where as, if he jumps, he can't do much else, and is then time to down-b from the ground and strike him with your up-smash. It's hard to pull off I know, but it's all mindgames in the end. You gotta know what your opponents gonna do everytime and everywhere, and when you predict correctly, he will lose.
Just remember to play defensive with a mix of offensive (Bowser is a heavy tank after all). You also want to keep your Bowser fast as well with Wavedashing, much practing of L-canceling, and even Dashdancing. Act fast, it's always been a thing with Smash. Bowser's not that hard to pick up when it comes to Project M. He's a very destructive character when used properly.
I hope this guide has been of some help to you! Maybe I explained too much but having knowledge about every attack is most likely going to be a must. Have fun wrecking people with this explosive character. Tier List? Ignore that, Bowser's broken, period.
But then Project M happened. It gave Bowser something magical to laugh menancingly at and to finally defeat Mario with. Pure power and speed to rip through the high tier characters like aMSa did to Mew2King. It gave Bowser the ability to become ridiculous.
Let's just finally get to the guide now that the silly history is over. I'd like to go over all of Bowser's long list of great utility and powerful moves first:
Neutral B - Bowser has a small flamethrower like Charizard. Only use this move on small occasions to provide unexpected defense. Also, the added um..."slobber" does some knockback to that's useful.
Neutral A - Bowser's Jab: 2 seperate claws. It's decent if you want a fast attack with decent knockback, and then you can do something afterwards.
Side Tilt - Bowser just punches like he doesn't give a s**t. I actually tend to use this move on accedent and then it still knocks away the opponent because a lot of Bowser's moves have more knockback than usual. It's good, but usually not used.
Down Tilt - Bowser crawls and claws. This move is great when Bowser is at a low percent because someone could smash you, then you counter by pressing down and then using Down tilt. You'll get hit, but you won't flinch, giving you the opportunity.
Up Tilt - Bowser's claws go upwards. When playing on a stage with platforms, most commonly Pokemon Stadium (1 and 2), this is useful. a player knocked to a platform, 1 way or another, whether they press L when they land or not, there's gonna be that 1 second where they're vulnerable and you can get them with the up-tilt. Though, predict which side of the platform they'll go to and wait until they get up before using this move that way. There's probably other uses for this move, but what I described is the main way to use it.
Side B - Koopa Klaw from Melee is back! And guess what? It has superguard. That's just hilarious. You can use this move on quite possibbly a smash attack, and then you can grab them. Don't forget you can also use the control stick to determine which direction the player will be sent. Sometimes, I leave this option alone, but when in mind, I can send opponent's flying if I use Koopa Klaw, then throw them backwards.
Down B - Bowser ground pounds. When doing it off ground, he won't stop until he hits the floor with some lag. When he does it FROM ground however.....hehehehe....alright PM, you gave him much superguard, what else have you done to him?
*He can jump-cancel his down-b from the ground.*
Hil. Air. E. Us! I'll go in depth about this move later, but this gives Bowser, one of the heaviest if not the heaviest character in the game, a jump so high it competes Falco levels. Trust me when I say it's incredibly useful.
Up B - Bowser curls up in his shell and spins, causing an immediate attack. This one, this move, right here, is Bowser's best move in my opinion. You can shield from a Smash attack, then immediatley up-b to, of course provide knockback, and an attack to punish them for hitting you in the air or ground. This move is sooo good. I will tell you right now, for nearly half of the time using Bowser, you'll want to use this move. It's an incredible defensive move that can even kill at percents like 120%. Use this move. Use this move. Did I tell you to use this move? If you don't, you're a bad Bowser.
Side Smash - Bowser's side smash: Rams his head causing....explosions. Because why not. This move is absolutley insane if you can get it off, i'd say as satisfaying as a Falcon Punch. This move has the same speed as it's always been, except it can kill at nearly 30%!! Like, what? May I also mention that this move has a tint of superguard WHEN IT'S DOING DAMAGE, not any point else. Watch for that. Use this move on occasion.
Up Smash - Bowser launches his shell up and goes back down. It's funny how you can use this move, because it has 2 hitboxes. One is obviously the one that can shoot them in the air, the other happens when Bowser goes back down, causing a downward hit. On small occasions, this can be used to meteor smash. On the middle of the stage, if the opponent gets hit by this, you can follow-up with an Up-B and possibbly kill them, which is nice.
Down Smash - Bowser's up-b in Smash form. I mean its not like this move is bad, it's just Up-B is better. The only times where you'd use this instead is on the edge when the opponent is not a fire emblem character and is approaching the edge. I'd say his Up-B is better in every other area.
N Air - Bowser curls up in his shell and falls on the opponent. This move is great actually. This move can come from above a platform and then hit it's opponent, not to mention the added superguard helps with this moves efficiency.
Up Air - Bowser launches his head upwards causing, well, upward damage. You'd want to use this move after jump-canceling your down-b, but I'll go more in depth about that. Yes, there is more to talk about when using this move.
Down Air - Bowser flips, tucks in his shell, and spins his spikes towards his opponent. When I use this move, it's usually a short hop followed by this move. It has multiple hitboxes. I mean I don't think you should use this high from the air. Otherwise, this move is a predictable mess. Can be easily shielded, and the opponent can do anything afterwards.
Side Air - Bowser claws the player in the air, simple. It's Bowser's most efficient and fastest air move, hitting at a high speed and has the potential to knock someone off the screen. I could even just run off the edge and use this move and it will still kill them just as long as they're at a good percent.
Back Air - Bowser pushes his shell towards his opponent. I'd say this has the same effect as the Side Air, but with a tint of more lag and more power.
Grabs - Koopa Klaw may have superguard for the first half of the move's frames, but it's still a good option to use Bowser's regular grabs as they are a faster answer than the Koopa Klaw, just on the offchance the opponent SHFFLCs (Short-Hop Fast Fall L-Cancel) and then grabs you, something the Koopa Klaw cannot go against. Really, any one of Bowser's grabs is good. Bowser's up grab throws you up by spinning his shell which is nice to use as a move to use before an up-tilt. His other grabs I believe have nice knockback.
Well that list took longer than I thought. -_-
Bowser's overall game is more defensive than offensive. Most of the time you'll want to Shield, then up-b, but watch out as that's easily predictable. My good battling buddy
______________ (censored for the sake of not calling anyone out) would shield as a response to my up-b, and no matter where my position is, he would grab me, esspecailly if he's playing as shiek. Up-b is a fantastic move. However, it's not your only option, and spamming that move will lead to a predictable Bowser.
Another thing, when you launch the opponent into the air somehow (either by Up-b or up smashing or something like that), you would the happen to have the opportunity to use the jump-cancel out of his ground pound and then attack from above. But WAIT! the opponent could easily predict that, therefore he will jump while launched back in order to dodge your attack. What a shame. My solution is to wait a bit more. Maybe he predicts that too easily, and ends up jumping before you even used the down-b. In Melee, I've heard using your double jump is kind of dangerous, probably from an announcer of some sort. It's also dangerus in this scenario, where as, if he jumps, he can't do much else, and is then time to down-b from the ground and strike him with your up-smash. It's hard to pull off I know, but it's all mindgames in the end. You gotta know what your opponents gonna do everytime and everywhere, and when you predict correctly, he will lose.
Just remember to play defensive with a mix of offensive (Bowser is a heavy tank after all). You also want to keep your Bowser fast as well with Wavedashing, much practing of L-canceling, and even Dashdancing. Act fast, it's always been a thing with Smash. Bowser's not that hard to pick up when it comes to Project M. He's a very destructive character when used properly.
I hope this guide has been of some help to you! Maybe I explained too much but having knowledge about every attack is most likely going to be a must. Have fun wrecking people with this explosive character. Tier List? Ignore that, Bowser's broken, period.
