Who has the best Spike/Meteor smash in SSB4?

[Kung Fu Treachery]

Ganon has already gotten his (deserved) acclaim in this thread, but in terms of practicality for gimping, I've had good times recently with Mewtwo. He has a decent jump, great airdodge, and perhaps most importantly, can get back to the stage pretty well, even if he misses. His recovery can't really be intercepted, so if you fail to dumpster your opponent, you don't get punished in the way that, say, Falcon does for going deep (this is also true of Zelda). Don't forget that if you don't have your second jump, Mewtwo's Shadow Ball recoil can send you far enough back towards the stage for Teleport to do the rest of the work.

Mewtwo can't mess around too much in neutral since he's so light. Once you have advantage, use it. Go deep, since the character might actually be able to afford it (I could be wrong? More experienced Mewtwo players should chime in.).

 

[Tito Maas]

You have to try really hard to miss the spike on Yoshi's FAir

 

[Masonomace]

This is interesting. I dig the thread, but I wanna help remind the slight importance of the meteor smashes that have gotten any sort of buff throughout the patches. I'll try to go over them in the spoiler below:

Spoiler: Meteor smash patch buffs

• Ness got a hitbox size increase to his Down Air meteor smash in v1.1.0
• Luigi got a hitbox size increase to his Down Air meteor smash in v1.1.1
• Diddy Kong's Monkey Flip command grab & then pressing the jump button meteors the opponent downward, & it used to deal 10% but since v1.0.6 it was changed to 8% thus it's not as strong
• In v1.0.8, Falco's Down Air meteor sweetspot lasts 1 frame longer & the sourspots grew larger, which can make the succession of the sweetspot harder
• Ike's Down Air got a hitbox increase in v1.0.4
• Toon Link's Down Air meteor smash got a damage increase going from 14% to 16% in v1.0.4
• Wii Fit Trainer got a knockback growth increase to her Header hitboxes by 1, & she also got a knockback growth increase to all of her Forward Air hitboxes including the meteor smash hitbox by 2
• Shulk's Down Air meteor smash got damage differences which overall affects the knockback formula. The first hit of Down Air used to deal 4% to airborne opponents & 6% to grounded opponents before v1.0.4, but now it's 5% to airborne opponents & 7% to grounded opponents ever since v1.0.4. The second hit of Down Air used to deal 10% with the meteor sweetspot & 9% with the sourspot before v1.0.4, but now it's 11% with the meteor sweetspot & 10% with the sourspot ever since v1.0.4

If I missed some or I'm incorrect anywhere then apologies in advance. I feel that some questions could be answered gradually to help find the ideal best spike / meteor smash in Smash 4. Things to know:

• Meteor smash's frame data
  -Startup & hitbox activity
  -Hitbox size
  -First Actionable Frame, Total Frames, the amount of endlag
  -Damage
  -Knockback angle
  Base knockback & Knockback growth
  
  
• Proper positioning to place said meteor smash
  -Which characters have the ideal drift speed, fall speed, & jump height to help place their move well
  -Whether or not said character has an attack string or a true combo leading into said meteor smash
  -Is the meteor disjointed, or does it possess a unique quality like Super Armor or Invincibility at any point
  -How effective a character's edge-guarding is by using said meteor smash
  -Who is the character chosen to be the victim doing their best to avoid being meteor smashed
  -Is connecting with the meteor smash easy & effective, or does it require precision & is hard to connect
  
  
• Bonus factors
  -Any stat-changing differences like Olimar's pikmin colors or Shulk's Monado arts are brought into thought
  -Is Rage effect applied at all or is it set to maximum to find the highest kill potential for said meteor smash
  -Who is the character chosen to be the victim getting meteor smashed, since a character's statistics matter
  -Do custom specials come into play

EDIT: As far as gimping goes, that relies more on a more broad topic that ultimately comes down to a character having superior recovery to remain off-stage the longest with moves capable of edge-guarding for long droughts without the need for re-grabbing the ledge unless needed to ledge-trump or something of the like. Multi-jumping characters like Kirby, Meta Knight, & Jigglypuff are huge contenders that gimp extremely well, especially Jigglypuff. It also varies on the character getting edge-guarded because some characters are extremely easy to edge-guard while others are near impossible.

 

[MarioMeteor]

Luigi probably has the best spike, with Falcon close behind.

 

[Rizen]

Adding to the Ganon Dair praise: it can ceiling kill by bouncing characters off the floor at 120%ish. The sour non-spike is still a powerful side launch.
If Ganon had better mobility and recovery his Dair would be absurdly OP.

 

[Masonomace]

Just gonna throw down a spoiler here. The testing was inspired after reading Meta_X 's post.

Note: WIP
Also, when it says buffering said option, that means that Bowser meteor'd from hanging on the ledge could not live at the listed percent. So if it says, "Kills a Bowser hanging on the ledge at 21% when buffering doublejumping", that means Bowser outright was KO'd before he could try doublejumping to live at 21%, aka true kill percentage.

Spoiler: Meteor smash kill percents on Bowser ledge-hanging

Down air
Hitbox is active from 17 - 24. Deals 16%. Has a 275° knockback angle. 30 BKB. 100 KBG.
Kills a Bowser hanging on the ledge at 21% when buffering doublejump. Kills at 22% even when Bowser's buffering Up B
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Up tilt
Hitbox is active from frame 17 - 20. Deals 11%. Has a 275° knockback angle. 22 BKB. 100 KBG.
Kills a Bowser hanging on the ledge at 49% when buffering doublejump. Kills at 51% even when Bowser's buffering Up B

Down air
Hitbox is active from frame 16 - 18. Deals 14%. Has a 270° knockback angle. 10 BKB. 100 KBG.
Kills a Bowser hanging on the ledge at 47% when buffering doublejump. Kills at 49% even when Bowser's buffering Up B

Raptor Boost (aerial attack)
Hitbox is active from frame 5 - 6. Deals 8%. Has a 275° knockback angle. 60 BKB. 70 KBG.
Kills a Bowser hanging on the ledge at 28% when buffering doublejump. Kills at 31% even when Bowser's buffering Up B
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Down air
Hitbox is active from frame 18 - 20. Deals 14%. Has a 270° knockback angle. 20 BKB. 100 KBG.
Kills a Bowser hanging on the ledge at 37% when buffering doublejump. Kills at 38% even when Bowser's buffering Up B
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Down air
Hitbox is active for just frame 10. Deals 10%. Has a 270° knockback angle. 0 BKB. 80 KBG.
Kills a Bowser hanging on the ledge at 115% when buffering doublejump & even when buffering Up B
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Down air
Hitbox is active for just frame 17. Deals 13%. Has a 270° knockback angle. 30 BKB & 102 KBG.
Kills a Bowser hanging on the ledge at 30% when buffering doublejump. Kills at 31% when Bowser's buffering Up B
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Forward air
Hitbox is active from frame 21 - 22. Deals 15%. Has a 270° knockback angle. 30 KBG & 100 KBG.
Kills a Bowser hanging on the ledge at 24% when buffering doublejump. Kills at 25% when Bowser's buffering Up B

Down air
Hitbox is active from frame 14 - 16. Deals 16%. Has a 270° knockback angle. 30 BKB & 90 KBG.
Kills a Bowser hanging on the ledge at 26% when buffering doublejump & even when buffering Up B

Headbutt (Air)
Hitbox is active from frame 20 - 21. Deals 10%. Has a 270° knockback angle. 30 BKB & 40 KBG.

Hand Slap (Hit 2, Aerial)
Hitbox is active from frame 28 - 31. Deals 6%. Has a 270° knockback angle. 30 BKB & 100 KBG.
Kills a Bowser hanging on the ledge at 75% when buffering doublejump & even when buffering Up B
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Down air (Hit 2)
Hitbox is active for just frame 20. Deals 10%. Has a 270° knockback angle. 10 BKB & 80 KBG.
Kills a Bowser hanging on the ledge at 98% when buffering doublejump & even when buffering Up B
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Down air
Hitbox is active from frame 16 - 19. Deals 13%. Has a 285° knockback angle. 10 BKB & 80 KBG.
Kills a Bowser hanging on the ledge at 76% when buffering doublejump. Kills at 77% when Bowser's buffering Up B

Falco Phantasm (Aerial)
Hitbox is active from frame 18-. Deals 7%. Has a 270° knockback angle. 40 BKB & 50 KBG.
Kills a Bowser hanging on the ledge at 152% when buffering doublejump & even when Bowser's buffering Up B


Down air
Hitbox is active from frame 16 - 18. Deals 19%. Has a 270° knockback angle. 20 BKB & 100 KBG.
Kills a Bowser hanging on the ledge at 20% when buffering doublejump. Kills at 19% even when Bowser's buffering Up B

Flame Choke
Kills at 0% if Ganoncide succeeds.

Wizard's Foot (Aerial)
Hitbox is active from frame 16 - 18. Deals 15%. Has a 290° knockback angle. 50 BKB & 100 KBG.
Kills a Bowser hanging on the ledge at 7% when buffering doublejump. Kills at 6% even when Bowser's buffering Up B
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Down air
Hitbox is active from frame 17 - 19. Deals 8%. Has a 270° knockback angle. 60 BKB & 100 KBG.
Kills a Bowser hanging on the ledge at 79% when buffering doubeljump & even when Bowser's buffering Up B

Substitute (Attack, Down)
Hitbox is active from frame 41 - 55. Deals 14%. Has a 270° knockback angle. 50 BKB & 100 KBG.
Kills a Bowser hanging on the ledge at 7% when buffering doublejump & even when Bowser's buffering Up B
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Down air
Hitbox is active from frame 16 - 17. Deals 15%. Has a 270° knockback angle. 20 BKB & 90 KBG.
Kills a Bowser hanging on the ledge at 40% when buffering doublejump & even when Bowser's buffering Up B


═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Down air
Hitbox is active from frame 22 - 23. Deals 15%. Has a 270° knockback angle. 20 BKB & 90 KBG.
Kills a Bowser hanging on the ledge at 40% when buffering doublejump & even when Bowser's buffering Up B

Super Dedede Jump
Hitbox is active from frame 52-. Deals 15%. Has a 270° knockback angle. 60 BKB 80 KBG
Kills a Bowser hanging on the ledge at 1% when buffering doublejump & even when Bowser's buffering Up B
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Down air (Hit 6)
Hitbox is active for only frame 34. Deals 2%. Has a 270° knockback angle. 20 BKB & 110 KBG.
Kills a Bowser hanging on the ledge at 176% when buffering doublejump & even when Bowser's buffering Up B

Final Cutter (Hit 2, Early)
Hitbox is active from frame 41 - 49. Deals 2%. Has a 275° knockback angle. 100 WBKB & 100 KBG.
Doesn't kill a Bowser outright at 999% when buffering doublejump & recovering with Up B, but he can't recover back to the ledge anyhow.
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Down air (Meteor)
Hitbox is active from frame 14 - 17. Deals 15%. Has a 270° knockback angle. 30 BKB & 80 KBG.
Kills a Bowser hanging on the ledge at 37% when buffering doublejump & even when Bowser's buffering Up B
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Down air
Hitbox is active from frame 7 - 10. Deals 4%. Has a 270° knockback angle. 0 KBG & 80 KBG.
Kills a Bowser hanging on the ledge at 245% when buffering doublejump & even when Bowser's buffering Up B
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Back air
Hitbox is active from frame 15 - 20. Deals 12%. Has a 280° knockback angle. 30 BKB & 90 KBG.
Kills a Bowser hanging on the ledge at

Down air (Hit 4)
Hitbox is active from frame 34 - 35. Deals 5%. Has a 270° knockback angle. 10 BKB & 110 KBG.
Kills a Bowser hanging on the ledge at
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Dair (Meteor)
Hitbox is only active for frame 11. Deals 13.3%. Has a 270° knockback angle. 20 BKB & 80 KBG.
Kills a Bowser hanging on the ledge at
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Down air
Hitbox is only active on frame 10. Deals 10%. Has a 270° knockback angle. 20 BKB & 80 KBG.
Kills a Bowser hanging on the ledge at

Down Taunt
Hitbox is active ???. Deals 2%. Has a ???.
Kills a Bowser hanging on the ledge 0% when buffering doublejump & even when Bowser's buffering Up B
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Forward air
Hitbox is active from frame 17-19. Deals 14%. Has a 280° knockback angle. 32 BKB & 78 KBG.
Kills a Bowser hanging on the ledge at
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Down air
Hitbox is only active on frame 11. Deals 14%. Has a 270° knockback angle. 20 BKB & 80 KBG.
Kills a Bowser hanging on the ledge at
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Down air (Late)
Hitbox is active from frame 25 - 33. Deals 12%. Has a 270° knockback angle. 5 BKB & 90 KBG.
Kills a Bowser hanging on the ledge at
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Down air
Hitbox is active from frame 15 - 16. Deals 15%. Has a 270° knockback angle. 10 BKB & 100 KBG.
Kills a Bowser hanging on the ledge at
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

 

[WD40]

Ryus Dair is nasty, especially since you can carry them to the ledge with an utilt string, and then SH Dair. Ryus Nair is also sneaky good as a gimping option. If you're feeling fancy, you can try and catch someone with a Shakunetsu Hadouken and then Dair spike them out of the few frames they get locked in.

 

[SphericalCrusher]

It may not be the "best" per say, but Falcon's spike is one of the most entertaining to watch, hah. ZSS has a really good spike as well, except it's harder to pull off. Link's down air spike, although pretty bad, is decent on combos considering his 2nd hit also spikes.

 

[Rizen]

It may not be the "best" per say, but Falcon's spike is one of the most entertaining to watch, hah. ZSS has a really good spike as well, except it's harder to pull off. Link's down air spike, although pretty bad, is decent on combos considering his 2nd hit also spikes.

Link's Dair only spikes the first 4 frames. The 2nd hit doesn't spike. Just saying.

 

[Zeriora]

You all forget meta knight.
Remember his nerf on his f-air, because it could spike at crazy percents, and kill.
Well, not his fair anymore. But his Back air can spike at very early percents to kill, amazing gimping tool too, Probably not the best as it's not easy to land, and his back air overall is good with all the hits connecting, I'll agree with ganons dair, ultimate disrespect, damage, and torture tool.

 

[Meta_X]

You all forget meta knight.

MK's bair spike is interesting, although I never would have thought of including it here. It's not very strong since it's just a soft spike, but I admit I have gotten one or two kills by catching someone out of their double jump at the ledge with the first two hits and they not recovering fast enough.
Although a few weeks ago I got a bair FF > footstool combo which killed really early... To be honest it was a complete accident but it was pretty awesome haha

 

[SphericalCrusher]

Link's Dair only spikes the first 4 frames. The 2nd hit doesn't spike. Just saying.

Interesting. Maybe I need to test it. I was thinking it was the first four frames of both bounce though. I could have sworn I've spiked in frame one or two of the 2nd hit.

 

[Pixel_]

In terms of gimping, I feel like Mario needs to be mentioned more.
He has the cape, which can destroy several recoveries.
He has the F.L.U.D.D. which can destroy really bad recoveries.
...and I think it's generally agreed that Mario's spike is the best in terms of style.

 

[maxics]

Ganon's D-air can kill at 0%. Besides that, Yoshi's F-air

 

[Masonomace]

Ganon's D-air can kill at 0%. Besides that, Yoshi's F-air

who does Ganon kill at 0%? Because I test Jigglypuff ledge-hanging on Final Destination & have Ganon Short Hopping Dair her & she doesn't die at 0% since she can mash X to use her midair jumps.

 

[PkFreezie]

Pit is one of the best characters for gimping. He has one of the best projectiles in the game, and has great offstage play. His Dair also acts as a spike if hit correctly.

Yeah pits down air is amazing and always satisfying once it lands. I think the hit box should get buffed it would be amazing.

 

[Masonomace]

Pit's Down air is unfortunately not that great. Only active for one frame, has no base knockback & normal amount of knockback growth means it kills Bowser reliably at 115% ledge-hanging in Training Mode. Pit & Dark Pit could definitely use some Down air buffs.

 

[Darklink401]

Villager 3-turnip dair is probably one of the best. It's super strong, AND probably the fastest spike in the game.

In detriment, it's only 33% chance to spike.

 

[Trunks159]

Well ZSS's down b has to be up there.

 

[Deleted member]

Are we forgetting everybody's favorite Famicom robot? His spike comes out relatively quickly, has a huge hitbox and even extends below the ledge. That and his gyros can spike on the ledge too!

 

[Aquatics]

Use Luigi
Get them off-stage
Let them hog the ledge twice, removing their invincibility
Down Taunt

Serious answer: Ganon's D-air or aerial WizFoot. Maybe DK too.

i wish i played someone who isn't smart enough to do that

yoshi, if you're talking about how good it is. Yoshi has a oos option for f-air (Spike) and other options to use this tool. and it comes out pretty fast too

 

[DunnoBro]

Ignoring set-ups and vacuum theoretics, it's between these two characters imo:

Yoshi
Rosalina(With Luma)

For overall utility Yoshi takes the cake since it's an actual neutral option and can be thrown out pretty haphazardly. It's the strongest tool of the entire character imo.

Rosa's is very consistent with that lingering and very generous hitbox hitbox with luma, functions both as a landing aerial and gimping tool. Can randomly kill at absurdly low percents with rage on stage. Her floatiness lets her get multiple tries with it for gimps too, so trying to time recoveries to avoid it just doesn't help some characters.

 

[TheHypnotoad]

Rosa's spike is not actually that consistent. I get the non-meteor hitbox way more often than I get the meteor.

Also, I think Donkey Kong's dair might be one of the best spikes. It comes out very fast and has a very large hitbox.

 

[Trifroze]

Advocating my own characters here but their strong practical kill moves are the reason I find them so interesting, meteors being among them for both.

Falcon's down air meteor hitbox is massive so it's easier to connect than any other, yet it's still among the stronger ones killing at around 40-50% depending on the character. It also has short cooldown, whereas DK's down air for example is pretty terrible in this regard together with his poor vertical recovery. Chances are you see this one landed a fair amount on any competitive level, and it's pretty much always a kill.

ZSS' flip kick is a pretty unique one since if you're in the middle of flip jump it comes out on frame 9, but if you're not it takes something like 35 frames to come out. Still, it has 6 active frames, a massive hitbox so it beats just about everything and it also kills at around 30-40%. Most of the time when you're offstage or in disadvantage you're going to be in the middle of flip jump because it's both a recovery and an escape tool, so any overextension by your opponent and they'll be hit by this. When you're in advantage or edgeguarding the opponent you can pre-emptively flip jump after which you have nearly a second to wait for your opponent to do something and then punish them with that 9 frame flip kick when the time is right. The only problem is flip jump's auto-footstool attack that sometimes activates when you don't want it to while you're baiting an airdodge, but chances are your flip kick meteor spacing would've been off in those situations anyway. There's also two very reliable setups into this but that's not really a property of the meteor itself.

For both moves, even if you don't hit with the meteor hitbox (which is quite difficult to miss with Falcon), chances are your opponent dies anyway.

 

[TheHypnotoad]

Falcon's has a fair amount of startup, though. I don't have the exact framedata, but it at least feels like DK's comes out faster than Falcon's.

EDIT: I just checked, and Falcon's is active on frames 16-18, and DK's is active from 14-16. So DK's does come out faster.

 

[Swamp Sensei]

I'm surprised that people haven't mentioned Hard Knuckle.

 

[Aquatics]

rosa does have a crazy hitbox with luma. its easy to d-air someone recovering and get the 2 frame punish. but this is only with luma like you said.

 

[Aquatics]

Advocating my own characters here but their strong practical kill moves are the reason I find them so interesting, meteors being among them for both.

Falcon's down air meteor hitbox is massive so it's easier to connect than any other, yet it's still among the stronger ones killing at around 40-50% depending on the character. It also has short cooldown, whereas DK's down air for example is pretty terrible in this regard together with his poor vertical recovery. Chances are you see this one landed a fair amount on any competitive level, and it's pretty much always a kill.

ZSS' flip kick is a pretty unique one since if you're in the middle of flip jump it comes out on frame 9, but if you're not it takes something like 35 frames to come out. Still, it has 6 active frames, a massive hitbox so it beats just about everything and it also kills at around 30-40%. Most of the time when you're offstage or in disadvantage you're going to be in the middle of flip jump because it's both a recovery and an escape tool, so any overextension by your opponent and they'll be hit by this. When you're in advantage or edgeguarding the opponent you can pre-emptively flip jump after which you have nearly a second to wait for your opponent to do something and then punish them with that 9 frame flip kick when the time is right. The only problem is flip jump's auto-footstool attack that sometimes activates when you don't want it to while you're baiting an airdodge, but chances are your flip kick meteor spacing would've been off in those situations anyway. There's also two very reliable setups into this but that's not really a property of the meteor itself.

For both moves, even if you don't hit with the meteor hitbox (which is quite difficult to miss with Falcon), chances are your opponent dies anyway.

but if you too deep for it or miss, falcon is very easy to gimp as yoshi and rosa aren't.

 

[Aquatics]

Luigi probably has the best spike, with Falcon close behind.

noooooooo, his d-air really doesn't spike. it not a good option unless he's playing someone with a punishable recover. you need to hit their head or general area on the spot to get the spike effect

 

[Masonomace]

Nice, more discussion. Also, Aquatics ya may want to edit your first of your three posts so that you have multiple quotes in one post. Try not to triple post to the max.

Villager's Triple turnip is very fast, as it becomes active on Frame 8 & 9, dealing 13 damage normally with understandable BKB & KBG values. However, it being RNG-based wouldn't be a top contending meteor smash to me. Still, when it decides to happen, it's good.

It's not easy to determine the ideal best meteor smash from data alone, but Yoshi & Falcon to me are two great contenders for the best overall meteor smash. Even though I can't deny Ganon has a destructive Down air, it's not as scary as Falcon or Yoshi already off-stage hunting you with their respective meteors.

 

[Aquatics]

Nice, more discussion. Also, Aquatics ya may want to edit your first of your three posts so that you have multiple quotes in one post. Try not to triple post to the max.

Villager's Triple turnip is very fast, as it becomes active on Frame 8 & 9, dealing 13 damage normally with understandable BKB & KBG values. However, it being RNG-based wouldn't be a top contending meteor smash to me. Still, when it decides to happen, it's good.

It's not easy to determine the ideal best meteor smash from data alone, but Yoshi & Falcon to me are two great contenders for the best overall meteor smash. Even though I can't deny Ganon has a destructive Down air, it's not as scary as Falcon or Yoshi already off-stage hunting you with their respective meteors.

MY B, i don't post much in the fourms, just read a lot in them

 

[TheHypnotoad]

I still contend that DK's dair is a better spike than Falcon's or Yoshi's because it comes out faster.

 

[Thirtyfour]

Spike goes to Falco's Fair since it destroys low recoveries.
Meteor goes to ZSS's down special follow up since there's so many ways to combo into it.

 

[TheHypnotoad]

Spike goes to Falco's Fair since it destroys low recoveries.
Meteor goes to ZSS's down special follow up since there's so many ways to combo into it.

Spikes and meteors are essentially the same thing because there is no meteor cancelling in Smash 4. (Or it might be that the meteor cancel window scales with percent, I'm not entirely sure. Either way, you can't survive a meteor at high percents.)

 

[Dee-SmashinBoss]

Someone like Zeldas is an awesome meteor, very powerful, low cool down, and always spikes with the sourspot or sweet spot, plus because of her fantastic recovery, she can always make it back.
Kirbys may not look like much, but it is actually quite good, it's not the strongest, but because he can drag opponents down AND footstool them to drop them low, it's very easy to kill people at low percents.
It does have moderate startup lag, but not much end lag and it lasts quite a long time.

 

[MarioMeteor]

noooooooo, his d-air really doesn't spike. it not a good option unless he's playing someone with a punishable recover. you need to hit their head or general area on the spot to get the spike effect

Who? Luigi's spike is incredible. Especially with the new patch, if you hit anywhere close to Luigi's shoes, your ass is going down.

 

[Thirtyfour]

Spikes and meteors are essentially the same thing because there is no meteor cancelling in Smash 4. (Or it might be that the meteor cancel window scales with percent, I'm not entirely sure. Either way, you can't survive a meteor at high percents.)

A spike is a move with knockback angled downwards. These moves don't have the vapor trail effect like Fox's shine, Falco's fair, Marth's dair, and I believe Luigi's taunt also counts as a spike.
A meteor is a spike but with the high velocity vapor trail effect. Mario's fair, ZSS's down special, Falcon's dair,

I don't remember, but I think DK has a spike and two meteors. His spike being his side special and his two meteors being his fair and dair. The weak hit of Zelda's dair is a spike, while the strong hit is a meteor for sure though.

 

[The Legendary Big Boss]

I say Captain Falcon has the best meteor/spike overall. It has sheer power combined with his mobility. It is simple and easy to use. Plus it is delicious to land on a foe lol. Second place is a tie for me and would go to Yoshi and Ganondorf.

 

[Masonomace]

I still contend that DK's dair is a better spike than Falcon's or Yoshi's because it comes out faster.

DK's Dair is pretty good. It does start on Frame 14 whereas Falcon's Dair & Yoshi's Fair start on Frame 16, but the faster startup by only 2 frames isn't that much of an achievement. Still though, it is faster. To me, I wouldn't consider a meteor smash being greater than another meteor only for the move's faster startup.

 

[Quarium]

Smash 4's new mechanic of continuing hitboxes once someone gets hit.

Not necessarily related to the subject but this mechanic has been around since 64 c: