Eternal phoenix Fire
Smash Hero
While the presence, or lack thereof of essential components to increase the competitive liability and over all longevity of the game have been absent or hindered (wave dashing, L-canceling, perfect pivoting, Crouch canceling, etc.) in the Smash series following Melee, one component that many seem to over look is a character’s air speed, and how that ultimately dictates the flow of the game’s offense and defense.
In Super Smash Bros. Melee, when you run with a character and jump during the run, your characters retain the momentum from your running character in the form of increased aerial speed during a run, with the exception of some characters like Sheik, and others, but I’m not too sure, as I personally play with characters to which the change in aerial momentum is notable, such as Fox, Falco, Captain Falcon, and Mario. This physics effect was removed in Brawl, and it is noted that Melee was the only game in the series to have this effect during a running jump. It becomes obvious with characters like Sonic, who have an incredibly fast dash, but if they run then jump, their momentum comes to a screeching hault.
So why is this important? It’s what changes the viability of characters offensive and defensive capabilities. Take Fox in Melee for example, who could SHFFL (Short Hop Fast Fall L-Cancel) a Nair during a running jump, and while Fox has a huge breadth of options when approaching on shield after a Nair, like shine, let’s look at an example by the incarnations of these characters in Melee and Ultimate respectively:
Melee Fox:
-Air speed from run allows fox to cross up the opponents shield. difficult to punish
-With the exclusion of shining, the character can dash dance away from the opponent during shield stun, allowing to reposition. While still punishable, the opponent may have to wave dash out of shield and punish accordingly. The option to dash dance is still viable in ultimate.
-Can up tilt, turn around grab, SHFFL Bair all due to positive positioning.
Ultimate Fox:
-Can jab on shield, grab, or tilt, but due to the lack of aerial speed the character can easily get shield grabbed or Up-B out of shield with characters like Marth.
-Roll away assuming the opponent whiffed his punish.
I know there are many more ways to approach than with a straight up running Nair, Fox, a typically aggressive character, shouldn’t have these short comings.
In all the Smash games after Melee, characters have had Fixed air speed, meaning they can retain the same momentum in the air from a standing or running position, with the exception of just having more direction influence to space with mid air. Characters like Sheik were able to combo off their aerials continuously due to an increased fixed air speed, the same exact way a character in Melee can follow up with a short hopped aerial and chain into another attack due to your momentum and advantageous positioning. The same can be said for Mario in Smash 4 who had an insane base air speed coupled with low knockback tilts and aerials.
This is important for not only Fox, but characters in general because:
-In what we have seen in the E3 build, characters are unable to run past a shielding opponent, making only rolling or jumping over them your only option. Assuming this is not changed, characters absolutely must have a decent aerial momentum to cross up a shielding opponent.
-With the current knock back velocity changes characters will need to have high mobility to follow up with an aerial attack or potential tomohawk (empty short hop) to maintain pressure or string of attacks.
-It’s important for Fox specifically since his Illusion no longer crosses up on shield
So, how could the solution be remedied? Personally, I would like this mechanical change to return in Melee to its exact form, but it may be a difficult change for players. In Melee, if you jump without running and don’t have an already stellar air speed you may not gain much ground, making neutral jumps purely for platforming or a positioning tool. I propose that characters should maintain their base airspeed while implementing it in a way that works with the games engine.
Characters can have an increased pre-set air speed after running and then jumping. The difference doesn’t have to be huge for most characters, but for characters like Fox, Captain Falcon, and Sonic, it should be notable. It can be indicated visually, through animation or perhaps a blue cloud of dust comes of the ground when you execute a successful running jump. Hell characters like Mario could have an animated leap jump like in his games, but only because he’s Mario.
So what are your opinions on this? Would you like to see this change? How would you change it if you did? I’m going to play this game regardless, and I know I’ll love it for what it is, but this is something that I personally can’t ignore in terms of the games competitive access.
In Super Smash Bros. Melee, when you run with a character and jump during the run, your characters retain the momentum from your running character in the form of increased aerial speed during a run, with the exception of some characters like Sheik, and others, but I’m not too sure, as I personally play with characters to which the change in aerial momentum is notable, such as Fox, Falco, Captain Falcon, and Mario. This physics effect was removed in Brawl, and it is noted that Melee was the only game in the series to have this effect during a running jump. It becomes obvious with characters like Sonic, who have an incredibly fast dash, but if they run then jump, their momentum comes to a screeching hault.
So why is this important? It’s what changes the viability of characters offensive and defensive capabilities. Take Fox in Melee for example, who could SHFFL (Short Hop Fast Fall L-Cancel) a Nair during a running jump, and while Fox has a huge breadth of options when approaching on shield after a Nair, like shine, let’s look at an example by the incarnations of these characters in Melee and Ultimate respectively:
Melee Fox:
-Air speed from run allows fox to cross up the opponents shield. difficult to punish
-With the exclusion of shining, the character can dash dance away from the opponent during shield stun, allowing to reposition. While still punishable, the opponent may have to wave dash out of shield and punish accordingly. The option to dash dance is still viable in ultimate.
-Can up tilt, turn around grab, SHFFL Bair all due to positive positioning.
Ultimate Fox:
-Can jab on shield, grab, or tilt, but due to the lack of aerial speed the character can easily get shield grabbed or Up-B out of shield with characters like Marth.
-Roll away assuming the opponent whiffed his punish.
I know there are many more ways to approach than with a straight up running Nair, Fox, a typically aggressive character, shouldn’t have these short comings.
In all the Smash games after Melee, characters have had Fixed air speed, meaning they can retain the same momentum in the air from a standing or running position, with the exception of just having more direction influence to space with mid air. Characters like Sheik were able to combo off their aerials continuously due to an increased fixed air speed, the same exact way a character in Melee can follow up with a short hopped aerial and chain into another attack due to your momentum and advantageous positioning. The same can be said for Mario in Smash 4 who had an insane base air speed coupled with low knockback tilts and aerials.
This is important for not only Fox, but characters in general because:
-In what we have seen in the E3 build, characters are unable to run past a shielding opponent, making only rolling or jumping over them your only option. Assuming this is not changed, characters absolutely must have a decent aerial momentum to cross up a shielding opponent.
-With the current knock back velocity changes characters will need to have high mobility to follow up with an aerial attack or potential tomohawk (empty short hop) to maintain pressure or string of attacks.
-It’s important for Fox specifically since his Illusion no longer crosses up on shield
So, how could the solution be remedied? Personally, I would like this mechanical change to return in Melee to its exact form, but it may be a difficult change for players. In Melee, if you jump without running and don’t have an already stellar air speed you may not gain much ground, making neutral jumps purely for platforming or a positioning tool. I propose that characters should maintain their base airspeed while implementing it in a way that works with the games engine.
Characters can have an increased pre-set air speed after running and then jumping. The difference doesn’t have to be huge for most characters, but for characters like Fox, Captain Falcon, and Sonic, it should be notable. It can be indicated visually, through animation or perhaps a blue cloud of dust comes of the ground when you execute a successful running jump. Hell characters like Mario could have an animated leap jump like in his games, but only because he’s Mario.
So what are your opinions on this? Would you like to see this change? How would you change it if you did? I’m going to play this game regardless, and I know I’ll love it for what it is, but this is something that I personally can’t ignore in terms of the games competitive access.