Bowser should've had...

[S_B]

After playing Bowser for a while, I think he should've had one of the following two:

1. Super armor

From all accounts I've seen and heard, Bowser has no super armor. Despite being the heaviest character in the game and being covered in a spiny, armored carapace, Bowser doesn't have even a single move during which he can be hit and not flinch as a result (the other shell-wearer in this game, Squirtle, DOES have SA during his smash attack. Figure that one out).

If you watch videos of any decent Bowser players, you'll notice that there are certain basic moves they absolutely never use due to how punishable they are.

Topping this list are down+B, dair and down smash. All of these moves are generally easy to avoid and very easy to punish. If they had SA, it would at least ensure that they can't easily be countered via disjointed hitboxes.

2. A throw that can kill

His back throw doesn't start killing until around 300%. It'd have been nice if being shield grabbed by Bowser was something light, fast characters actually feared. As it stands, Diddy's throws send opponents farther than Bowser's.

For the record, I win the majority of my Bowser matches, but I can see where Bowser's weaknesses lie and it's my opinion that he was made too weak when it comes to being punished for trying certain moves. At the very least, opponents should've had to wait until the completion of these moves to punish Bowser instead of being able to knock him out of the move without much trouble.

It's such a shame, too, because when I first heard about super armor, I had high hopes for what it could do to finally level the playing field between heavies and light, quick characters. As it stands, Brawl tiers will once again be dominated by the light and quick.

 

[R i p]

I think dsmash works well when you are sure someone going to try to dodge behind you. High risk, but high reward.

But yeah, Super Armor. I can't agree with you more.

Especially on his Up+B when recovering. It's really silly that Ike(better recovery), King Dedede(better recovery), and Donkey Kong(again, better recovery) all get a safe and much superior Up+B in the air while Bowser is a big meteor target if put into a bad place.

As for throws, at least there's Koopa Klaw right?

 

[S_B]

The claw is nice, but I find myself shieldgrabbing a lot more than landing the claw on opponents.

I agree that the dsmash is a good move if it lands, just that I've noticed skilled Bowser players (like Gimpy) never seem to use it, ever.

 

[kingofwaddles]

bowser should have had a visible scr0tum & peenus included on the bottom of his torso, but i guess BRWALS JUZT A DISERPPOINTEMENT

 

[KevinM]

I would plus rep that statement if that was still around

 

[S_B]

bowser should have had a visible scr0tum & peenus included on the bottom of his torso, but i guess BRWALS JUZT A DISERPPOINTEMENT

Turtles don't work that way. It's internal unless they plan to be using it.

But at least this was more original than an average "STFU john" post...

And truth be told, I find the lack of SA on all heavies disappointing, not just Bowser. Already Space Furries and other small quick things are winning tournaments. I was hoping that a true heavyweight would have a chance this time around of rising above middle tier.

It was obvious to everyone in my circle, even in Melee, that heavy characters would be always be trounced by fast characters without some kind of change in gameplay mechanics.

We had discussed it and thought the solution was that heavies shouldn't flinch under certain conditions, mainly that they shouldn't flinch when struck by weak attacks which fell below a certain power threshold or that they shouldn't start flinching from these attacks until after a certain damage percentage.

This wouldn't be a trait exclusive to heavy characters: every character would have a damage threshold which would need to be crossed before attacks of a certain level would cause them to flinch.

This way, in a match between Fox and Bowser, for example, Fox would need to use smash attacks to cause Bowser to flinch from 0-50%, then tilts would work from 50-100%, and Bowser would flinch with even the weakest of attacks after 100%.

It would force light characters to use slower attacks if they want to interrupt the actions of heavier characters.

 

[DiasFlac]

yeah it sucks that Bowser has no super armor moves. I've tried them all and nothing. I've seen Yoshi's Down B special super armor. Don't know if ppl know of that yet but I've had seen it when my older bro used it on me and I fair him his Yoshi didn't flinch.

I almost never use Down smash with Bowser. It has suck little range and it is indeed very punishable. A lot of the moves I want to use I can only use on players who aren't very good but when it comes to skilled players. Its pretty much Standard A,Tilt A, Shield Grab, Fair and Bair.

Even his flamethrower can be punished even after it hits the oppoent. Have you ever been at high damage with Bowser and caught someone in the flamethrower and instead of them backing out of it they go in it to close in on your Bowser while he's doing it then punish you?

Its really annoying.

I do love how Perfect shielding is with Bowser tho and love that range.

 

[Hyrus]

Even his flamethrower can be punished even after it hits the oppoent. Have you ever been at high damage with Bowser and caught someone in the flamethrower and instead of them backing out of it they go in it to close in on your Bowser while he's doing it then punish you?

Actually, if you aim your fire they can close ground with Bowser but won't escape it (aim high if they DI up, aim low if they DI down), and they continue to get hitstunned even with the flame nearly out. Even if they do manage to hit you at that point, you've racked up an immense amount of damage.