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Originally posted on
Berathen.com - Go there for better formatting and pictures.
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You may have seen my
previous Smash post about my extensive playtime of the Smash 4 demo at Oz Comic Con. In that I focused on the mechanics of the game itself, but here I'd like to talk about the character I've currently played more than anyone in the world outside Nintendo. Little Mac.
This guy has so much going for him and so much going against him. I find Little Mac's play style to be more extreme than any other Smash character. This guy feels like the Incredible Hulk while on the ground, his attacks have marvellous levels of strength and go through almost everything. But Little Mac also feels like a Magikarp splashing back and forth when ever he gets into the air. Let's focus on the details and see why this is the case.
Ground Mobility
Little Mac looks to have the second fastest dash in the game, second only to Sonic the Hedgehog. This great speed makes it very easy for our favorite boxer to get in on opponents. Little Mac also goes very low to the ground when dashing thus allowing him to avoid some of the attacks from taller characters.
I feel Little Mac has three good options after dashing in on his opponent.
The first one would have to be up smash. This attack comes out incredibly fast, like most of Little Mac's attacks, and has super armor. If your opponent is slow with their shield or doesn't use a fast enough attack then you will easily connect with up smash. This attack has really good range in front of and slightly above Little Mac.
Though from my own experience, I noticed most players react to Little Mac's dash the same way they do with Sonic's dash. Many players I faced as Little Mac would go straight for their shield as I made my way towards them. That's why my favorite option out of dash would have to be grab. Little Mac doesn't have the greatest grab range, but his extreme speed makes it very easy to get in and scare your opponent into shielding. Who can say no to free body blows?
Of course dashing in and shielding is still a very good option. It was a good option in Brawl and continues to be one in Smash 4. Though in Little Mac's case you wouldn't normally go into shield in order to go for a guard grab. With a good number of Little Mac's attacks being super armored it makes more sense to use those to counter tilts and other attacks.
Dashing into shield is more for respecting attacks like Zero Suit Samus's side special which she's keen to throw out as you approach. Then out of shield you can go for an armored side smash if your opponent tries the same move again.
It's also worth noting that Little Mac has really good mobility with his rolls. The boxing champion travels very far and very fast in a very short amount of time. I really enjoyed using Little Mac's back dash and found myself avoiding a lot of quick attacks with it. That said dodge rolling is still very punishable so it's not something you should be spamming.
Aerial Mobility
Little Mac's first jump off the ground is respectable and what you would expect from most of the cast. However, Little Mac's second jump barely pushes the boxer any further into the air. To me it felt like a small breeze blew by when I pressed the jump button.
This second jump reminds me a lot of Link's up special in 64. It technically makes Little Mac rise, but honestly it just slows down your falling speed as you attempt to recover.
I still don't think you understand how bad this jump is. Little Mac's boxing ring stage has a light platform at the very top. Try as I might, no amount of jumping and up special usage would allow Little Mac to get onto that platform. Unlike many other characters, he has to completely rely on the boxing ring ropes to get boosted that high.
This lack of vertical ascension is not unique to his second jump. Little Mac's up special, Rising Uppercut, doesn't travel as far when used in the air compared to its use on the ground. This makes recovering from under the stage a daunting task for Little Mac. Thankfully his range to grab the ledge isn't as bad as Wolf in Brawl, so the positioning of his up special doesn't have to be exact.
The much better recovery option for Little Mac is his side special Jolt Haymaker. Again this move doesn't travel as far when executing it in the air, but it is his only hope when knocked horizontally off of the stage. Little Mac is obviously a light character and finds himself getting knocked up into the air quite easily. This is much better then being knocked only slightly away from the stage. He completely lacks a way to recover diagonally and his recovery path is easily predicted. Little Mac can be gimped rather easily at low percents.
Combo Potential
Now let's talk about combos. The very first thing I did when I got my hands on this game was grab my nearest opponent. I pummelled my opponent twice and then tossed them into the ground with my down throw. A small quick dash and I connect with an up smash.
This isn't a true combo in terms of hit stun. The opponent can aerial dodge, but they are pretty close to the ground and can be punished for doing so. This was my go to tactic for starting several of my rounds. These small amount of hits are enough to fill a third of Little Mac's KO meter.
Now for true hit stun combos we gotta talk about Little Mac's down tilt. This move comes out crazy fast and has decent hit stun. At lower percents the move looks to true combo into itself, forward tilt, up tilt, or up smash. It's a really easy way to rack up damage and doesn't require any huge commitment due to the speed of the move. Up tilt also looks like it might combo into itself, but I didn't test this enough to 100% confirm it.
Now the thing that's important to note is that these combos are completely character weight and percentage dependent. That said it is still the most reliable way to land the KO Punch as you can combo into it from down tilt around 10~20%. It's a very easy way to make someone very sad.
Outside of Little Mac's down tilt he has very little combo potential. A lot of Little Mac's attacks and throws have pretty good knock back on them and thus create a lot of distance between him and his opponent.
This is unfortunate as it forces him to continually approach his opponent and doesn't really allow him to capitalize on reaching his opponent as much as say Fox, Mario, Marth, or Kirby who can tack on a lot of damage with their tilts and/or aerials in one combo.
But that doesn't exactly mean Little Mac is at a drastic disadvantage when it comes to dealing damage. This boxing champion really packs a punch and deals significant damage with a lot his attacks.
A single
uncharged side smash deals
20% damage. His up smash deals different damage depending on where it connects. Landing the attack anywhere but where the attack starts looks to deal 21% while the sweet spot on the move deals 25% and has increased knock back. You can tell when you've landed the sweet spot because there's a small delay to the animation and the opponent bursts into flames.
I also need to point out that not all of Little Mac's smashes launch his opponents into the air. He has three versions to his side smash and the down-tilted version has a strange effect. Landing this move causes the opponent to flinch back and shudder, but they don't actually move very far from Little Mac. This is a great way to tack on damage without knocking the opponent away and requiring more effort from Little Mac to get back in. This still needs more testing as their could be more going on with this move then I was able to ascertain during four person FFAs.
Super Armor
Little Mac's side smash has super armor on all three of its variations. Because these attacks move forward like Wolf's side smash in Brawl they are somewhat deceiving in their range. I personally found all of these side smashes as a great way to punish an opponent who was nearby throwing out tilts or attempting to use a dash attack. With careful timing Little Mac can take damage without flinching and punch his opponent in the middle of their attack. This is a great way to build Little Mac's KO meter as it builds off of damage dealt and damage received.
Little Mac still needs to be careful when throwing out his side smash though. The attack in punishable on block and has a bit of animation lag after its execution. The move does push Little Mac forward, but it isn't so significant as to make for a good approach. Zero Suit Samus can easily out range this attack with her whip so you need to be careful. You don't want to take the damage from the whip, but fall just short of reaching her with your side smash.
The boxing champion's side tilt one-two punch attack also has super armor. This move sees Little Mac lean forward and really stretch his arms to deliver his punches, but it does still fall short of the effective range his side smash has.
Of course this attack is faster and and much safer. This side tilt has plenty of KO power and I was able to use it to KO players mid stage on Skyloft around 90%. This attack deals 12% damage if you connect with both hits.
I found myself using side tilt in approximately all the same places I would use Little Mac's side smash. I'd usually choose to use the one two punch when ever I wasn't sure if my opponent would be attacking or not. If they do attack then I'd absorb the blow and deal my damage, if not then I'd brush up against their shield and still be safe. While this was my least used armored move I still found it useful now and then.
The armored move I used the most was easily Little Mac's up smash. The attack is just too good. For starters Little Mac can go directly into the move out of his dash. Having the second fastest dash in the game makes Little Mac's up smash a pretty good option. The move itself is also incredibly fast to come out and has little ending lag. The attack has respectable range in front of Little Mac and above him.
Little Mac's up smash is an easy way to punish unsafe attacks simply due to how fast his dash is. However, my primary use of this attack would have to be as an anti-air.
A lot of players are accustomed to using aerials for their approaches and they tend to be incredibly easy for Little Mac to deal with. This reason being two-fold. One being that using this move brings our boxing champion incredibly low to the ground. This allows Little Mac to completely duck under a lot of attacks.
Secondly the super armor, damage output, and range all combine to make it perfect for trades. A lot of characters will hit Little Mac for 2~8% while he comes back with a solid 20%.
Last on my list we have the Straight Lunge neutral special. This move took me some time to understand. It doesn't have super armor immediately on start up, but after a second it has super armor during the entire charge. Once the super armor kicks in you can't be hit out the attack by smash attacks or explosions. It appears the only way to stop Little Mac from charging this move is to hit him right when he starts it or to grab him during it.
Now the Straight Lunge obviously has different levels of strength. The longer you charge the more damage you do (maxing at 20%).
By tapping the special button once you start the charge and by pressing it again you send Little Mac forward. If the move is barely charged then Little Mac will only move slightly farther then his side smash, but he is completely covered in super armor until the animation finishes.
If you let the move charge for its full duration then Little Mac will travel about half the length of Battlefield. This version of the move obviously deals the most damage and has very, very long ending lag. Honestly I don't think there's ever a real reason to fully charge this move. But perhaps I just haven't experimented with it enough.
The best way to use the Straight Lunge, I found, was to activate it just before completing the charge. When used like this the move actually sends Little Mac the FULL distance of Battlefield. The move has very minuscule landing lag and is an amazing way to force your way across the screen. This is an easy way to demand your opponent to stop spamming projectiles unless they want a right hook in the mouth.
By carefully using Little Mac's super armor he can turn out to be a surprisingly resilient character. I've gone a few matches without losing a stock and being above 150%. If you continually trade blows with opponents using your super armor then you can live a lot longer than a light weight character should. Not to mention this keeps filling your KO meter.
Knock Out Punch
The KO Punch meter is raised both my damage dealt and damage received.
Little Mac can get this really late into his stock by just being punched around or he can get it with barely a scratch on him. The thing is though that the KO Punch is not the 'one hit wonder' Sakurai makes it out to be. It's a great move, but a difficult one to use.
The KO meter starts off blue then changes to green, yellow, orange, and finally red. But you don't have the KO Punch just yet, even with a full red bar Little Mac still needs more damage before it becomes the KO Punch.
Once the meter starts blinking "K.O." you have around 13 seconds to land the move. If you don't get the move off in that time then the bar returns to empty and you can no longer KO Punch. The same thing also happens if Little Mac loses a stock.
What this means is that Little Mac has a very hard time controlling when he obtains the KO Punch. For example, if Little Mac has a full red bar and then gets launched far to the top left of the screen then he'll be far from his opponent when the KO timer starts. Little Mac has to make his way back to the stage and make sure not to be gimped on the way back. Once back onto the sage Little Mac needs to get incredibly close to his opponent in order to pull off the move as it actually has exceptionally small range compared to his other attacks. If Little Mac's opponent rolls or jumps away then he's obviously going to miss the attack. Little Mac can also lose the attack if he uses it and gets hit at the same time.
In order to increase Little Mac's odds of landing the KO punch it is imperative that he lands the final hit while having the full red bar rather than his opponent. Comboing into it is percentage and character dependent so that isn't always a viable option.
The move also doesn't KO at 0%. The lowest percentage I was ever able to KO with the KO Punch was 12%. The move itself deals 38% and has incredibly vertical knock back. However, the knock back can be cancelled out with another hit. If say Link is holding a bomb when he gets hit by the KO Punch then he can survive the ordeal if his bomb explodes before he reaches the blast zone.
The KO Punch is a rather fast move though. If your opponent isn't already moving away when you use it then they will be enjoying a close up from the game's camera. During the close up the victim of the punch can't do anything and just shakes in place before flying off into the air. Due to how early this move can KO it is definitely a match changer for Little Mac if it is executed correctly.
Weaknesses
Little Mac has some huge weaknesses. He is very easy to stall out if he's losing in percent. If an opponent jumps onto a platform then Little Mac doesn't really have a good approach.
On Battlefield he can just barely reach players on the side platforms with the highest point of his up smash. This is really easy to shield or avoid.
Jumping in Little Mac has nothing to really throw out. His aerials all lack hit stun, damage, and range. Using his standard aerials doesn't accomplish much besides leaving Little Mac vulnerable.
I'd say Little Mac's best attack in the air would have to be his side special. It's not as good as its grounded variant, but it still goes through projectiles and deals decent damage and knock back. The move has decent range and can be ended early by pressing the special button a second time. But to be honest this isn't the fastest attack and should be an easy block for most opponents.
Due to not having solid aerials Little Mac has a very terrible time when knocked into the air. It is very easy to follow up with additional attacks because Little Mac lacks ranged aerials to defend himself with. The boxer's best choices in the air would be his aerial dodge and his Slip Counter down special. Though you have to be careful with the counter because Little Mac can only hit his opponent if they are in the direction he is facing.
Summary
All of this said I think Little Mac is still balanced out really well. He doesn't need to get too many hits in to be able to knock his opponent out of the ring. His super armor and high mobility are amazing tools that force opponents to change their normal styles of play. With a full KO meter he can knock opponents out as early as 12%.
His lack of options in the air do make certain match ups more difficult then others. He should have a great time on Final Destination and the new Animal Crossing stage, but other stages like Battlefield do not look to be good for him.
Honestly I feel the best Little Mac players will all be people who can quickly assess whether to go for a grab or super armored normal. I'm really excited for this new character and am looking forward to how he pans out in competitive play.
