With the next installment in the wildly popular Super Smash Bros. series almost within our grasp, I thought I'd share, like many others before me, who my favorite fighters to use are. A few of these characters are some that are universally popular picks, but there are still some that may surprise, especially my number one pick, who I rarely see being chosen as a top fighter.
5. Pikachu
Despite my favorite character always changing from game to game, this quick little mouse has been consistently one of my go-to character to use in each entry. Pikachu's quickness always gave me a slight edge when playing against friends, with its strong aerial game and the perfect spam attack in Thunder. The added Skull Bash move made for a good risk/reward maneuver as well (especially with Pichu). Land a full charged Skull Bash and you'll deal a good amount of damage to your opponent. Miss and you'll likely be falling off the map.
4. Kirby
Kirby is a character that I was never that great at using, but always had fun when I chose him. Obviously, the main hook to Kirby is his ability to inhale opponents and copy their B moves, so choosing him always depended on who I was going up against. Captain Falcon was the main one I would copy because come on, Kirby looks great wearing that helmet while doing the Falcon Punch.
In addition to that, Kirby had good ranged attacks and was always a tough one to knock out with his ability to float around the map. His added Hammer in Melee was also a powerful move to use in a pinch.
3. Fox
I've cooled down on Fox in recent years, but as one of my main characters to use in the original Smash and in Melee, I figured he still deserves a spot in this list. He may not have been the most powerful character, but what he lacked in strength he certainly made up for in speed. Fox could run circles around his opponents, and his Fox Illusion move was always good for a quick hit-and-run tactic. Then there's his Final Smash, which brought in a giant Landmaster Tank that took up half the level. It's possibly my favorite Final Smash in the series.
2. Luigi
I've always seen Luigi as a slightly riskier alternative to Mario, starting with the Super Jump Punch. Mario's Jump Punch would always damage his opponent, but with Luigi's, you had to hit the sweetspot in order to do some significant damage, otherwise you would only do a measly 1% damage. It also sends Luigi up vertically, as opposed to Mario going up at an angle, which makes you rely on Luigi's Green Missile move to make it back to the stage. But there's another twist here as well. While charging up the Green Missile, there's a slight chance you'll misfire, causing Luigi to explode and go flying off the stage.
It's this risk/reward style that makes Luigi a blast to play as. He could either deal a good amount of damage, or leave himself susceptible to getting beat up himself. There's also his groovy Final Smash, called Negative Zone. It's a completely 'out there' move that sees Luigi dancing while his opponents become dizzy, leaving them open to Luigi's powerful attacks. Plus, he has one of my favorite aerial attacks in his Judo Chop.
1. Mr Game and Watch
I started using Mr Game and Watch as a joke. When I first unlocked him in Melee, I had no idea what the hell he was. I never played a game of his or saw him anywhere else. So when I first used him against my friends, we would just laugh at his strange move set, like flipping bacon in a pan at various distances. But the more I laughed at his strange moves, the more I came to realize just how great this character really is.
The best way I can describe Game and Watch is that he's a somewhat sneaky character, simply because he can be very unpredictable. It can be hard to tell if he's sprinting, which in turn makes it hard to prepare for his next attack. Then there's his side special, entitled ''Judge." He attacks his opponent with a hammer while holding a sign that displays a random number. The number tells you the force of the hit as well as having some sort of effect attached to it. For instance, a 5 deals electric damage and an 8 freezes the opponent. Get a 9 and you'll be rewarded with an extremely powerful attack that can knock out the opponent.
Honorable Mentions
Ganondorf
Mario/Dr. Mario
Mewtwo
Samus
Link