Special Attacks
By AlphaZealot | Published: April 23, 2008 9:25pm EST
Special attacks are performed by pushing the control stick in a direction and pressing the B-button simultaneously. Some B specials can even be charged by holding the B-button, such as Link’s spin attack or Samus’s charge shot. Also, some B attacks can also have tilt versus Smash properties, such as Diddy Kong’s and Samus’s Side-B.
Special Attack Abbreviations
Neutral B Special: Neutral-B
Side B Special: Side-B
Down B Special: Down-B
Up B Special: Up-B
Performing Special Attacks
Neutral-B: Press the B-button
Side-B: Push to the side on the control stick and the B-button
Down-B: Push down on the control stick and the B-button
Up-B: Push up on the control stick and the B-button
Unlike tilt and Smash attacks, B specials share the least properties between characters. The most universal B attacks will be covered here; view the character-specific section for more detail on specific B attacks.
Neutral-B: Often a projectile, the Neutral-B can wreak havoc on an opponent who has never encountered a projectile spammer before. If you are playing a character with projectiles make sure you know the start up and finishing lag of the move so that it can be used from the appropriate safe distance. Neutral-B attacks can also turn your character around in midair; to do this just gently tilt the control stick to the left or right as you are pressing the B-button.
Side-B: The Side-B attacks of many characters also act as a recovery move, such as Fox or Captain Falcon. If this is the case then there are secondary options for recovering that can be used to trick the edge guarder. Like some Neutral-B specials, some Side-B specials can also be used for projectile spamming, such as Link’s boomerang or Samus’ missiles.
As mentioned before, some of these Side-B moves can be Smashed or tilted, but in addition to this, some attacks, like Toon Link’s boomerang, can also be directed up or down by shifting up or down on the control stick after inputting Side-B. Finally, some Side-B specials, like that of Fox, can be shortened by pressing B before the animation ends.
Down-B: The Down-B specials of many characters are also projectiles that don’t require immediate use, like Peach’s turnips, Diddy Kong’s bananas, or Snake's remote mine. There are also a fair number of characters who have Down-B specials that perform the opposite function, reflecting or absorbing damage from projectiles, like Fox’, Falco’s, Wolf’s, and Ness’ Down-B. This special has very few similarities between characters, though; view the character-specific guides for more information on your character's Down-B special.
Up-B: Just about every character’s Up-B attack is also a recovery move (sorry, Yoshi). The general positioning for the most effective recovery is to use your jumps sparingly until you are directly below the stage and maybe slightly spaced to the side. From here, performing your Up-B will allow you to grab the edge straight away instead of sending your character over it, and you will be sent right into invincibility frames. Most characters have better vertical than horizontal Up-B recoveries and, with this in mind, you’ll need to use other moves and tactics to ensure the best use and positioning of the Up-B.
Note #1: For more in-depth information on each character’s special attacks view the character-specific guides.
Note #2: Default control scheme using the GCN controller is assumed.
