ImpactAR
Smash Ace
IMPRESSION
All his A ground moves have been a big plus in my book. All his attacks swipes a good range. Up Smash has been given a better stickiness and range which makes all the swings a threat. It's doesn't recovery almost instantly as it did in Melee, but it's still very fast making it a very good defensive move. Forward Smash has good range and knock back. Down Smash good as always. And it seems all Link's Smashes comes out fast and I've found you can Smash out of the shield pretty easy and effective. Up tilt covers a very good range and pretty fast. Forward tilt covers good bit and has some good knock back, but I prefer to do one Forward Smash. Down Tilt is a bit faster and still not that useful, but it is "better." Everyone jabs are better...Link has range jabs. Only bad thing is they took away the Sword Illusion.
Link's disappointment comes more from the air. His sex kick is more of a quick in and out kick now. In Melee it made Link a body of priority until he is not in any part of the move. In the beginning of Brawl, when it didn't come out in the US yet, I heard people say that it's still good and it's longer because Link is taller. But it seems that's all looks. I find that does not hit where would be in Melee. When I tested the sex kick, I could not drop onto Kirby with the end (soles) of my boots. Kirby had to be where the ankle is. I think Link's whole body isn't the attack anymore. The priority is still there, but how it hits isn't as good anymore. It's also very had to spam back to back.
Forward Air had some good praise. I find it "okay." The swings seem to be short if you compare it to Link's other sword attacks. seems like it should be longer. I rather it hit the way it did in Melee where they had one very strong initial swing than the two good swings in Brawl. Loses it's effectiveness against short characters. Good nonetheless.
Back air had some bad praise. Probably because people wanted to be able to combo with it. I personally like it for the way Link plays now. It hits hard enough for Link to get some space so he can spam and it seems to be easier to connect with. Seems you can spam this move. Also loses some effectiveness against short characters.
Up air the same, but has tad more range. Without L-cancel makes it an once in a while occurance.
Down air seems to be a bit stronger. Without L-cancel makes it a RARE occurance. I find that you should use it if you get knock very high in the air where you have time to finish the animation so that you discourage any follow up from below.
Arrows...fast and has range even if there is the lack of charge. A lot more effective now.
Bombs are better. But all items are easier to catch. WTF, Nintendo. That's so stupid and it makes no sense for people to catch it in mid attack.
Gale boomerang... It has it moments. I rather have it original since the whirlwind only seems to be useful at random and once in a while times. You really have to keep track of where it is now. Be prepared to throw out some jabs or something when it catches your opponent.
Hookshot... Shorter? In the games he shots across rooms! Why? WHY?! Using to recovery is limited an situational now... Most of the time better to Spin Attack to recover.
Spin Attack nerfed...bad. Only hits on the side and it's does have that much range. It only has only slightly more range on the sides that is than the Up Smash. I'd even dare say Up Tilt has more side range than the Spin Attack now. Up Smash has probably a bit more speed on start up and a lot less recovery time making it a better choice to do out of the shield than the Spin Attack. If the opponent try to DI out of Up Smash side range than Forward Smash the his/her direction. Nearly no reason to use it on the ground now.
Link's recovery is actually okay. But when you compared it to other characters you realize it's bad. And he's easy to screw over when recovering.
Link is looking mid tier in my book. He may even be low since it looks like he has to play a more defensive game. We all should know it's easier to attack than it is to defend, right? The game is looking more "balance" so don't let that discourage you from playing Link.
PLAY STYLE
This is my opinion about Link. Please note that I said "my opinion." The more I play Link the more I feel like he was designed to be a "spamming tank." He doesn't seem to have a solid approach however his projectiles are very useful and seem to be the best choice for building up damage. Gale Boomerang...well it has it moments. His sword properties, actually all of his moves, seems to be designed to push back hard and the range on them are very good for spacing. He can cover a wide arch with his sword swings to cover himself yet he can't really follow up any where with the exception of maybe three Up Tilts. All this gives him a good motivation to be a tank. His bad recovery gives him real reason to be a tank.
There are a few people who seem to be about combo-ing with Link. I'm not saying that you're wrong, but IMO Link could never really combo. Even in Melee his solid combos were still short, but they do hit fairly hard. For the most parts all Brawl characters can't combo as well when compared to Melee so wouldn't a character with already short combos in Melee be reduce to even less combo ability compared to others? In Melee, when I played Link I was focus in spamming (disappointed in easy to catch items in Brawl) and interrupting (disappointed in the sex kick a bit in Brawl) and combo-ing when I can.
This time around Link damages come from his projectiles and any damage he racks on by being defensive.
BOMB TACTICS/TRICKS
One trick I found was you can drop a bomb with Z and IMMEDIATELY do any A aerial attack can catch the when you execute your move.
This does apply to every item. I'll refer to it as ZAC for Z drop, A Attack, Catch when I speak of it. If it sticks, it sticks. If people
decide it's not worthy enough for a name then so be it. It's faster for me to type ZAC then to explain it every time.
With the typical competitive rules, Link, Toon Link, and Peach will be able to pull out their own items and have access to ZAC.
ZAC can be done with C-Stick. You just need to make sure that the bomb and Link are together when you execute an A move.
I'm having trouble finding a practical use for ZAC when playing Link. If you plan to ZAC, I find that you need to spam bombs in other
directions to create randomness otherwise you'll be predicable when you pull out a bomb. Also, ZAC requires you to get close and I find that playing a spamming tank most effective as Link so it creates a conflict in style.
The problem I found with ZAC and Link is that if the does drop on the opponent it will explode and interrupt any follows the opponent and you had planned.
On the plus side, there are times when I play and my opponent accidentally grab the bomb when I was crossing over with it which cause him to do a catching animation while I perform an attack. This only works if he's on the ground and trying to counter attack, though. Another plus if there have been times where both my opponent and I were in the air and I perform ZAC and he perform and attack at the same time. I lost the clash, but he also hit the bomb which cause lost in the momentum of his attack and interrupted any follow ups.
I explored ZAC because I was hoping that I would help Link's offensive approach. However, ZAC is turning out to be more of a mind game option and more of an interrupter.
Toon Link has very floaty physics which I found made it hard to do this trick. Although I haven't messed with Peach, from what I can get Peach will probably be able to use this trick more effectively since she won't have to worry about explosions.
Apparently some people seen and done this before and decide not to share or discuss this for whatever reason. Some even come and post some criticism. I'm guessing it's because I said I want "credit." Let me clear it up. I want some acknowledgment as a good contributor to the forums. That's the credit I'm looking for. If you want to go out of your way to post irrelevant info or just to state that you knew it already and that's it than that's how you choose to waste your time, I guess.
OTHER TACTICS/TRICKS
Link seem to have all fast smashes now. I found that Link can smash out of his shield in any direction. Follow your opponent's movements as you shield his attacks and be prepared to counter attack.
Just Down Air when you're knock high into the air. This discourage any follow up attacks. And if your opponent risks attacking Link he'll be at risk at trading blows with a high vertical knock back move in the air which can kill light characters at low percentages.
All his A ground moves have been a big plus in my book. All his attacks swipes a good range. Up Smash has been given a better stickiness and range which makes all the swings a threat. It's doesn't recovery almost instantly as it did in Melee, but it's still very fast making it a very good defensive move. Forward Smash has good range and knock back. Down Smash good as always. And it seems all Link's Smashes comes out fast and I've found you can Smash out of the shield pretty easy and effective. Up tilt covers a very good range and pretty fast. Forward tilt covers good bit and has some good knock back, but I prefer to do one Forward Smash. Down Tilt is a bit faster and still not that useful, but it is "better." Everyone jabs are better...Link has range jabs. Only bad thing is they took away the Sword Illusion.
Link's disappointment comes more from the air. His sex kick is more of a quick in and out kick now. In Melee it made Link a body of priority until he is not in any part of the move. In the beginning of Brawl, when it didn't come out in the US yet, I heard people say that it's still good and it's longer because Link is taller. But it seems that's all looks. I find that does not hit where would be in Melee. When I tested the sex kick, I could not drop onto Kirby with the end (soles) of my boots. Kirby had to be where the ankle is. I think Link's whole body isn't the attack anymore. The priority is still there, but how it hits isn't as good anymore. It's also very had to spam back to back.
Forward Air had some good praise. I find it "okay." The swings seem to be short if you compare it to Link's other sword attacks. seems like it should be longer. I rather it hit the way it did in Melee where they had one very strong initial swing than the two good swings in Brawl. Loses it's effectiveness against short characters. Good nonetheless.
Back air had some bad praise. Probably because people wanted to be able to combo with it. I personally like it for the way Link plays now. It hits hard enough for Link to get some space so he can spam and it seems to be easier to connect with. Seems you can spam this move. Also loses some effectiveness against short characters.
Up air the same, but has tad more range. Without L-cancel makes it an once in a while occurance.
Down air seems to be a bit stronger. Without L-cancel makes it a RARE occurance. I find that you should use it if you get knock very high in the air where you have time to finish the animation so that you discourage any follow up from below.
Arrows...fast and has range even if there is the lack of charge. A lot more effective now.
Bombs are better. But all items are easier to catch. WTF, Nintendo. That's so stupid and it makes no sense for people to catch it in mid attack.
Gale boomerang... It has it moments. I rather have it original since the whirlwind only seems to be useful at random and once in a while times. You really have to keep track of where it is now. Be prepared to throw out some jabs or something when it catches your opponent.
Hookshot... Shorter? In the games he shots across rooms! Why? WHY?! Using to recovery is limited an situational now... Most of the time better to Spin Attack to recover.
Spin Attack nerfed...bad. Only hits on the side and it's does have that much range. It only has only slightly more range on the sides that is than the Up Smash. I'd even dare say Up Tilt has more side range than the Spin Attack now. Up Smash has probably a bit more speed on start up and a lot less recovery time making it a better choice to do out of the shield than the Spin Attack. If the opponent try to DI out of Up Smash side range than Forward Smash the his/her direction. Nearly no reason to use it on the ground now.
Link's recovery is actually okay. But when you compared it to other characters you realize it's bad. And he's easy to screw over when recovering.
Link is looking mid tier in my book. He may even be low since it looks like he has to play a more defensive game. We all should know it's easier to attack than it is to defend, right? The game is looking more "balance" so don't let that discourage you from playing Link.
PLAY STYLE
This is my opinion about Link. Please note that I said "my opinion." The more I play Link the more I feel like he was designed to be a "spamming tank." He doesn't seem to have a solid approach however his projectiles are very useful and seem to be the best choice for building up damage. Gale Boomerang...well it has it moments. His sword properties, actually all of his moves, seems to be designed to push back hard and the range on them are very good for spacing. He can cover a wide arch with his sword swings to cover himself yet he can't really follow up any where with the exception of maybe three Up Tilts. All this gives him a good motivation to be a tank. His bad recovery gives him real reason to be a tank.
There are a few people who seem to be about combo-ing with Link. I'm not saying that you're wrong, but IMO Link could never really combo. Even in Melee his solid combos were still short, but they do hit fairly hard. For the most parts all Brawl characters can't combo as well when compared to Melee so wouldn't a character with already short combos in Melee be reduce to even less combo ability compared to others? In Melee, when I played Link I was focus in spamming (disappointed in easy to catch items in Brawl) and interrupting (disappointed in the sex kick a bit in Brawl) and combo-ing when I can.
This time around Link damages come from his projectiles and any damage he racks on by being defensive.
BOMB TACTICS/TRICKS
One trick I found was you can drop a bomb with Z and IMMEDIATELY do any A aerial attack can catch the when you execute your move.
This does apply to every item. I'll refer to it as ZAC for Z drop, A Attack, Catch when I speak of it. If it sticks, it sticks. If people
decide it's not worthy enough for a name then so be it. It's faster for me to type ZAC then to explain it every time.
With the typical competitive rules, Link, Toon Link, and Peach will be able to pull out their own items and have access to ZAC.
ZAC can be done with C-Stick. You just need to make sure that the bomb and Link are together when you execute an A move.
I'm having trouble finding a practical use for ZAC when playing Link. If you plan to ZAC, I find that you need to spam bombs in other
directions to create randomness otherwise you'll be predicable when you pull out a bomb. Also, ZAC requires you to get close and I find that playing a spamming tank most effective as Link so it creates a conflict in style.
The problem I found with ZAC and Link is that if the does drop on the opponent it will explode and interrupt any follows the opponent and you had planned.
On the plus side, there are times when I play and my opponent accidentally grab the bomb when I was crossing over with it which cause him to do a catching animation while I perform an attack. This only works if he's on the ground and trying to counter attack, though. Another plus if there have been times where both my opponent and I were in the air and I perform ZAC and he perform and attack at the same time. I lost the clash, but he also hit the bomb which cause lost in the momentum of his attack and interrupted any follow ups.
I explored ZAC because I was hoping that I would help Link's offensive approach. However, ZAC is turning out to be more of a mind game option and more of an interrupter.
Toon Link has very floaty physics which I found made it hard to do this trick. Although I haven't messed with Peach, from what I can get Peach will probably be able to use this trick more effectively since she won't have to worry about explosions.
Apparently some people seen and done this before and decide not to share or discuss this for whatever reason. Some even come and post some criticism. I'm guessing it's because I said I want "credit." Let me clear it up. I want some acknowledgment as a good contributor to the forums. That's the credit I'm looking for. If you want to go out of your way to post irrelevant info or just to state that you knew it already and that's it than that's how you choose to waste your time, I guess.
OTHER TACTICS/TRICKS
Link seem to have all fast smashes now. I found that Link can smash out of his shield in any direction. Follow your opponent's movements as you shield his attacks and be prepared to counter attack.
Just Down Air when you're knock high into the air. This discourage any follow up attacks. And if your opponent risks attacking Link he'll be at risk at trading blows with a high vertical knock back move in the air which can kill light characters at low percentages.
