Kirby (Super Smash Bros. X Zone)

**Kirby** (カービィ, *Kirby*) is a playable character in *Super Smash Bros. X Zone*.

## Attributes

Kirby is a small lightweight, being tied for the fifth lightest character in the game. This is also reflected in his mobility, which is poor; he has a slow walking speed, slightly below average dashing speed, the fourth slowest falling speed, the third lowest gravity, the fourth slowest air speed, below average traction and average air acceleration. Despite having the second lowest jumps, he has five double jumps, which counteract that flaw.

Kirby's greatest strength is the versatility of his moveset. The majority of Kirby's moveset is characterized by speed, while his slower moves instead boast very high power as a trade-off. Neutral attack and forward tilt are fast and have decent range, allowing Kirby to quickly fend off opponents. Up tilt is notorious for its combo potential, as its very quick speed allows it to consistently combo into itself or an aerial attack. Down tilt's very low power is compensated by its very fast speed and it launching opponents at the Sakurai angle, which allow it to trip opponents even up to 270%. His smash attacks have good range and high power, yet are not particularly slow, making them excellent at scoring a KO. The usefulness of Kirby's ground game also extends to his grab game. His grabs are fast, while his pummel's meager damage output is counterbalanced by its very fast speed. His forward throw, notorious in *Brawl* for its highly damaging combo options at 0%, has been improved even further, as it now possesses follow-ups even up to medium percents, including a down aerial to re-grab. Back throw can be followed up by a back aerial at 0% on certain characters, tech-chase fast-fallers, and can now KO at high percents. Up throw is his strongest throw and is able to KO almost all characters around 170%, or even earlier if it lands on a platform. Lastly, down throw is reliable for damage racking when no other throw can yield better results.

Kirby's air game is also useful, due to his aerials boasting versatility and less than 18 frames of landing lag. Neutral aerial has a long duration, and its very low landing lag grants Kirby protection and allows him to take full advantage of buffering. Forward aerial is powerful, chains fluidly and can allow additional follow-ups at low percents. Up aerial has vertical knockback, low landing lag and has a good amount of auto-canceling frames, allowing for many potential follow-ups. Back aerial has slightly disjointed range, a decently long duration, and is Kirby's fastest and strongest aerial, making it a very good all-purpose aerial attack. Lastly, down aerial has considerable start-up, but drags opponents downward before meteor smashing them, making it a deceptively powerful edge-guarding tool. In addition, it is an effective combo starter with guaranteed follow-ups on grounded opponents, even against floaty characters.

Kirby's special moveset has some interesting options. Inhale allows him to either copy the neutral special move of any character he Inhales, or spit them out as a weight-dependent projectile. The latter can be used to Kirbycide or put the opponent below the stage, almost eliminating their chances of recovering. The former, depending on what character he Inhales, can give Kirby a move that provides some assistance (Heat Slam and Homing Attack) or massive benefits (Fireball (from Baxter) and Kinetic Donut). Hammer Flip is very powerful, especially when fully charged. Its slow speed, however, makes it very difficult to use outside of edge-guarding or after a shield break. Final Cutter is Kirby's primary move for recovery and is decent at that, granting good vertical distance and decent horizontal distance, as well as decent protection during his ascent and descent. It also emits a shockwave upon landing, making it difficult to punish if not at point-blank range. Lastly, Stone causes Kirby to plummet straight down and ignore damage by any move that deals less than 30%. It is also very strong and can be canceled at any time, making it useful for playing mindgames.

However, Kirby has noticeable flaws. As mentioned, Kirby has poor mobility, giving him significant trouble approaching and pressuring opponents. It also gives him trouble against fast characters like Sonic, or those with disjointed hitboxes like Zero and Spyre. In addition, his very long-distanced recovery is very slow, making aggressive edge-guarding and gimp-oriented moves, such as meteor smashes, detrimental to him. Kirby's range is also mediocre at best, and his strongest moves happen to be his slowest, making it difficult for him to KO opponents outside of edge-guarding or without a set-up. His most prominent weakness, however, is his endurance. Being light and floaty, Kirby cannot survive strong hits at high percents. He is also very vulnerable to juggling, due to his aforementioned slow falling and air speeds. The introduction of rage further compounds these issues, as Kirby will be launched even earlier, while he will typically not endure long enough in order to take advantage of it.

## Moveset

### Smash Attacks

 Down Smash |  | 10% (uncharged), 14% (fully charged) | A spinning split kick.

## Misc.

 **Idle poses** | * Hops to look off-screen, then hops back into his default position.
 **Victory pose 3** | Brings his arms down twice, does a cartwheel, and then holds his arm up.