What to choose?

[Cavaliere1]

Hi there,I play SSBM since when it came out,and at that time I only was a child.
Now,after some year of distance from the the game,I decided to play it again,but a pretty strange thing happened to me.
I always used Fox,because he's fast and deadly (the tier lists and evo tournamente I just discovered to exist confirm it),but, a bit beacause I was curious about it,a bit for fun,when I restarted to play the game I picked Bowser,and mastered it very well (I never lost to any of my friends which are all pretty experienced,but I have something they don't in timing and spacing).
The big problem is:at high level of playing (of which I am now starting to think about) Bowser is considered pretty weak due to his slow movements,poor recovery,bad comboing and HUGE hurtbox.
Do you think is possible to play at high levels mastering Bowser?
I see someone is able to do so (DJnintendo for example),but against some strong opponents he's forced to pick someone else.
Thank you all and sorry for my barbarian english

 

[Cressel]

Don't worry too much about your character if you still haven't gone to any event. Start going to locals and see how your Bowser does. Your struggle with the character will depend on the level of your scene too. You should be able to tell if you are losing because of your character or just the opponent blatantly outplaying you. You'll come to a decision after some time playing in local tournaments.

 

[Stride]

Most people who start out playing bad characters get bored or frustrated or whatever and switch once they get better and the character's limitations become more apparent. It's not just because they want to perform better, but also because playing a bad character gives you limited options and having lots of good options is fun. Fox having so many options in so many situations and a great freedom of playstyle is part of the reason he's so widely represented.

Play whomever you want. You can always switch later if you don't like it, and you'll still have gained something from it even if much of it will be inapplicable to other characters. You'll do fine for a while with Bowser, but the better you get the more of your bad performance is going to be based on your character than on your skill, and the harder you'll have to work to get the same improvement in results, so don't expect it to last forever. You can do pretty well with Bowser, but it's a huge handicap, and you're certainly never going to win a major tournament with him ever.

 

[Cavaliere1]

Yeah,thank you all for the messages.
I think I'll focus on Bowser now and try to develop my skills with him.
If I see I lose too many games in local tournamenst due to bad matchups I change charachter (thinking about Ganondorf as second charachter).

 

[Synnett]

C Cavaliere1 Hey

Bowser is definitely a fun character to play and he's not as hopeless as let's say Roy or Ness. But of course, you need to work much harder than anyone else to get better at the game, and I think that's why he's ranked so low on the tier list. He has great tools in the neutral, great edgeguard and a bunch of options - but those options are so hard to use! You'll see that you'll improve with your character and as a player, but the results simply won't come. Your opponents are going to abuse of busted options against you and it'll be hard to even move. To get decent results with Bowser you need a great knowledge of your character and game mechanics, lots of experience and near flawless movement with Bowser, which is pretty hard. In short it's not Peach's Dsmash, you won't be able to win with gimmicks.

As a Bowser main myself, I encourage you with taking this path, but it's not the easy one.

Start off with this:

I suggest you ignore the tutorials about how to play Bowser, explore the options by yourself and try stuff.

Good luck!

 

[iAmMatt]

I knew it was only a matter of time before Synnett replied to this thread lol

OP, bowser is a very underrated character imo. Learning bowser's unique tech would be a good place to start, i.e., down b ledge stall, up b oos, and even relearning basic tech like wavedash and l canceling to compensate for bowser's laggy jumpsquat and aerials.

 

[-ACE-]

A guy in my region, stockholm syndrome, has a pretty good bowser. I'd recommend checking him out in addition to dj Nintendo and warriorknight.