Mr Game And Watch (SSBU)

{{\_%26\_Watch\_SSBU.png|250px]]

## How to unlock

Complete one of the following:

* Play VS. matches, with Mr. Game & Watch being the 52nd character to be unlocked.
* Clear Classic Mode with Pikachu or any character in its unlock tree, being the sixth character unlocked after Isabelle.

, he has fairly average walking and running speeds.

Unlike most other lightweights, Mr. Game and Watch possesses attacks with large disjointed hitboxes and has very powerful KO options. All of his smash attacks have very high power and low lag throughout, with each of them possessing unique attributes. Forward smash is among the strongest in the game if sweetspotted while having low startup lag and good range. Its sweetspot is also safe on shield. Up smash is also very strong, and comes with full body invincibility during and after its duration. While it has slow startup, it has minimal endlag and is completely safe on shield. Down smash sends opponents at an awkward semi-spike angle offstage, while its sweetspot buries opponents long enough to lead into a forward smash. It also has a very large hitbox, allowing it to easily 2-frame many recoveries. Like his other smash attacks, down smash is safe on shield when spaced properly. Overall, Mr. Game and Watch arguably possesses the best smash attacks in the game.

Outside of his smash attacks, Mr. Game and Watch's other moves have strong KOing potential. Forward tilt comes out quickly, has a lingering hitbox, and kills under 120% by the ledge. Down tilt lowers G&W's hurtbox to match his crouch, allowing him to whiff-punish certain attacks. It also possesses high power and semi-spikes opponents offstage, leading to edgeguards and killing outright at 100%. His new forward aerial's explosion kills opponents at 115% by the ledge, while his down aerial has been strengthened to become a viable kill move around 130%. Similarly, his back aerial now sends at a flatter angle, and the final hit possesses enough power to kill at 100% by the ledge. Oil Panic is a potent combo finisher with practically instantaneous startup lag, with its fairly large hitbox coming out on just frame 2, as well as extreme knockback that can kill at single digit percents when at max power. Compared to most characters and even compared to his previous iterations, Mr. Game and Watch possesses very strong KOing power.

Mr. Game and Watch also has a very potent combo and juggling game. Down throw combos into Oil Panic, Judge, and neutral air at low percentages. Chef can deal massive damage if multiple 'food' items hit, allowing it to get around 30-40% off of a single edgeguard. The pan also hits opponents into the stream of meat. Not only does Chef deal massive damage, but landing the move allows Mr. Game and Watch to follow up with a grab, forward aerial, forward tilt, or dash attack. Up tilt, though having worse range, deals high damage and combos into neutral aerial and Judge at low percentages. Once Mr. Game and Watch has his opponents above him, he can juggle them for massive damage using his up and neutral aerials. All in all, Mr. Game and Watch's strong KO power is also paired with highly damaging combos and juggles.

Lastly, Mr. Game and Watch possesses a fantastic recovery option, as well as large, disjointed aerials. This means that he is a formidable edgeguarder and is extremely hard to gimp himself. His up special, Fire, has frame 3 startup, invincibility in its early frames, and a strong upwards hitbox. This makes it deadly, as it can stage spike unwary opponents while also easily gimping characters with poor recoveries, like Chrom. It is also an extremely useful combo breaker and out-of-shield option due to its fast startup and invincibility. His back air, Turtle Bridge, is a large and disjointed multi-hit move that has high knockback at the final hit. Its large disjoint beats out a lot of recoveries that have hitboxes, and the multi-hit nature of the move makes it hard to tech for stage spikes and often drags opponents stuck in the move closer to the blast zone. For many characters, getting hit with Turtle Bridge is often fatal offstage. On the ledge, Chef punishes ledge hangers and covers getup attack and rolls (hit by the pan), forcing opponents to jump. This can easily allow Mr. Game and Watch to follow up with neutral aerial and force the opponent back offstage. His new forward aerial can be comboed into with Chef and has strong KO potential on its own. Overall, Mr. Game and Watch is extremely deadly off the level and at the ledge to all characters.

Despite these strengths, Mr. Game and Watch possesses very large weaknesses. He is tied with Squirtle being the third lightest character in the game, which makes his horizontal and vertical endurance absolutely terrible. In addition, despite having disjointed hotboxes, his overall range is merely average. This is worsened by the fact that many of his disjointed moves like down tilt, up tilt, and forward smash have subpar range for a disjoint. This makes characters like Ike and Cloud able to easily keep Mr. Game and Watch at arm's length. Also, while his new forward air possesses more damage and knockback, it disappears if it comes into contact with any other hitbox. This makes it unsuitable for approaching and forces Mr. Game and Watch to approach with his back air constantly. It also a much more situational move in general, due to its higher lag and delayed hitbox, as the bomb will only explode upon touching the ground or waiting for half a second. He also has a poor approach because his aerials don't autocancel in a short hop and his ground speed is poor. Due to this, he has a lackluster neutral game. His grab and throw game is also poor: his down throw is his only throw that can KO below 200%, but it has lost its combo potential beyond low percents, while his other throws are not good for KOing or combos.

Finally, Mr. Game and Watch's rolls, techs, and spotdodges are slow, laggy, and very punishable, giving him a poor defensive game. Combined with his low weight, they are often too risky to use effectively.

All in all, Mr. Game and Watch is a very powerful glass cannon. He possesses extremely high damage output and powerful KO options while being extremely vulnerable himself due to his light weight and laggy defensive options.

## Changes from *Super Smash Bros. 4*

Mr. Game and Watch, in a similar fashion to Link, has received a major overhaul in his moveset that goes beyond changes to aesthetic appearances; a majority of his moves have been altered in range, damage, knockback, lag, or have been completely reworked altogether. As a result, Mr. Game and Watch has undergone a plethora of buffs and nerfs in his transition to *Ultimate* - arguably more than any other returning veteran - but has been buffed overall.

Mr. Game and Watch's KO potential has been improved. A majority of his regular moves, including forward tilt and down tilt, have much stronger knockback, with the latter now capable of KOing as early as 100%. The ability to run cancel improves the utility of these attacks further, and now gives Mr. Game and Watch quick KO options he didn't have access to *SSB4*. To further add to this, his smash attacks are stronger as well. Down smash was significantly improved as it now has much less start-up lag and is also capable of burying opponents when sweetspotted. This can lead to a forward smash for early guarantee KO setups. Forward smash also has improved knockback, and is easier to sweetspot, making it a more potent punishing move. Lastly, up smash has increased knockback scaling, a longer duration, and now has Mr. Game and Watch completely invincible during the attack. Mr. Game and Watch has gained a new forward aerial: An attack in which he drops a bomb in front of him, a move that seems to be based off of either *Mario's Bombs Away*, *Bomb Sweeper*, or *Safebuster*, all of which featured similar bombs. Compared to his old aerial, the move's explosion has stronger knockback and damage output, making it a more reliable KO move than his old forward aerial.

Mr. Game and Watch's edgeguarding potential has also been buffed considerably. Back aerial and down aerial are stronger, leading them to become stronger options to punish opponents who are offstage. Chef's trajectory can now be controlled, which makes it easier to catch opponents who are trying to reach for the ledge and is now more effective keeping control of neutral. Lastly, Mr. Game and Watch's new forward aerial's explosion can cover the entire ledge of a stage, making it a more potent option than his old forward aerial, and the bomb itself is good to use as an edgeguarding option against opponents offstage.

Additionally, Mr. Game and Watch now possesses stronger OoS options and juggling tools. Changes to neutral aerial's landing lag and lingering hitboxes allow it to catch opponents above him more effectively, and can even it allow it to combo into itself at lower percents. Mr. Game and Watch has gained a new up air, in which he shoots a projectile upwards in the form of a single puff, functioning very similarly to Mega Man's up air. This projectile has much more range than his old up air, and is more reliable for keeping opponents trapped in it, improving its juggling potential considerably. Fire now has a frame 3 hitbox that replaces its windbox from *SSB4*, making it a much stronger OoS, and can even be followed up with a neutral aerial or up aerial to keep opponents in the air for even longer.

Mr. Game and Watch's attacks have increased utility overall: Mr. Game and Watch's new forward aerial possesses more versatility than his old forward aerial; it can be used as a combo starter, a shield pressuring tool, and a landing option, as it is much safer on block in comparison. Neutral aerial's landing weak hits can now be used as a KO confirm at higher percents (particularly into down tilt), forward tilt has a much longer duration, making it an effective option for both 2-framing and spotdodging, and up tilt's hits connect into each other much more reliably, improving its consistency and combo potential. Mr. Game and Watch now sports a much more disjointed dash and pivot grab, giving it effective reach. Lastly, Oil Panic can now reflect physical projectiles in addition to absorbing energy-based projectiles, and Judge's numbers 7, 8, and 9 have improved.

However, Mr. Game and Watch has received notable nerfs. His two most potent strengths from *SSB4* - his up smash and down throw setups - have been toned down considerably. Down throw now deals much more knockback, removing its follow-up potential at higher percents; compounded with the changes to his up aerial, which has lost all of its KO potential, this effectively removes his strong (though inconsistent) down-throw-to-up-aerial KO confirm from *SSB4*, dubbed the "Toot Toot". Despite the start-up reduction to up smash, it has lost all of its invincibility frames during the move's start-up, making it much less effective as an anti-air, and allows opponents to challenge it easier. While his new forward aerial possesses more utility than his old forward aerial, it has much weaker priority overall, making it a riskier option to challenge opponents in the air with. Additionally, many of Mr. Game and Watch's new animations have resulted in hitbox reductions for several of his attacks, including forward tilt, up aerial, up tilt, and most notably, his down tilt, the latter of which is now incapable of hitting aerial opponents altogether. This reduces Mr. Game and Watch's deceptive reach, and requires him to be closer towards opponents more often than before. . Lastly, despite his improvements, Mr. Game and Watch retains some of the same issues from his *SSB4* counterpart, notably his poor endurance, limited reach outside of back aerial, ineffective throws barring down throw, and a lack of reliable approach options, with the buffs to his neutral aerial and Chef failing to fully address this issue.

Overall, while Mr. Game and Watch generally retains much of his bait-and-punish playstyle from *SSB4*, the adjustments and increased utility he received to several of his attacks have led him to become more of a jack-of-all-trades type of character. Though competitive reception of Mr. Game and Watch was initially negative (with Template:Sm in particular highlighting Mr. Game and Watch as the 2nd worst character in the game), he has shown moderate success in the tournament scene thanks to the efforts of players including Template:Sm, Template:Sm, Template:Sm, and Template:Sm, with Maister notably defeating players such as Template:Sm, Template:Sm, and Template:Sm, while placing 1st at Template:Trn, Template:Trn and Template:Trn and 3rd at Template:Trn. This has garnered Mr. Game and Watch a more positive competitive reception overall, where notable players such as Template:Sm, Template:Sm, Template:Sm, Template:Sm, and Template:Sm either view him as a well-rounded upper mid-tier character, or even a solid high-tier character with the potential to be tournament viable. Notably, Template:Sm now regards him as a high tier character, indicating that G&W was better than first realized. Overall, Mr. Game and Watch is considered to fare better than both his *SSB4* and *Melee* counterparts, though his overall viability compared to his *Brawl* counterpart currently remains up for debate, as while his performances at regionals and super-regionals have been remarkable, his performances at majors has been generally below average.

### Aesthetics

* Mr. Game & Watch's base model is unaltered from the previous installment; however, the following moves temporarily alter his appearance to resemble the characters from the Template:Uv games they are based on:
	+ Neutral attack (*Greenhouse*), forward tilt (*Lion*), up tilt (*Flagman*), down tilt (*Manhole*), forward smash (*Fire Attack*), down smash (*Vermin*), up aerial (*Spitball Sparky*), all throws (*Ball*), Chef, Judge and Oil Panic.
* Like in *Melee*, Mr. Game & Watch now makes a noise when getting KOed, and he also has a new sound for getting Star KOed. Both use the sound of his up and side taunts.
* Mr. Game & Watch's walking animation has been changed; now looking less flippant.
* Mr. Game & Watch has a new victory animation where he juggles balls using his appearance from *Ball.* This replaces the victory pose where he jumps up and down.
* Mr. Game & Watch's mouth is open during his clapping animation, similar to his *Melee* appearance.

### Attributes

* Due to the universal buff to all characters, Mr. Game & Watch's jumpsquat animation now takes three frames to complete (down from 5).
* Mr. Game & Watch dashes faster (1.5264 → 1.679).
* Mr. Game & Watch's initial dash is significantly faster (1.5 → 1.98).
* Mr. Game & Watch walks slightly faster (1.1242 → 1.18).
* Mr. Game and Watch's traction has been significantly increased (0.06 → 0.131), now tied for the 5th highest in the entire game.
* Mr. Game & Watch's air speed is slightly higher (1.12 → 1.176).
* Spotdodge has slightly increased start-up lag (frames 2-16 → 3-17).
	+ Spotdodge has reduced endlag (FAF 26 → 22).
* Forward roll has slightly more endlag (FAF 30 → 31), and a shorter duration (frames 4-16 → 4-15).
* Backward roll has more endlag (FAF 30 → 36), slightly increased start-up lag, and a shorter duration (frames 4-16 → 5-16).
* Neutral air dodge has slightly increased start-up lag (frame 2 → 3) and significantly increased endlag (FAF 32 → 60).
	+ Neutral air dodge has a slightly longer duration (frames 2-26 → 3-28).
	+ Neutral air dodge has less landing lag (22 → 10 frames).
	+ The re-introduction of directional airdodges improves Mr. Game and Watch's recovery, as he can airdodge after using Fire to gain slightly more distance.

### Ground attacks

* Neutral attack
	+ Neutral attack no longer pushes Mr. Game & Watch as far back as previously.
	+ Neutral attack can now jab reset.
	+ Rapid Jab Finisher deals more damage (2% → 3%), without full compensation to the knockback (180 (scaling) → 160).
	+ Rapid Jab Finisher has a slightly bigger hitbox (5.5u/4.0u → 6.0u/4.0u).
	+ Rapid Jab Finisher's farthest hitbox has been moved upward (Y offset: 8.5u → 9.5u), improving its vertical range.
	+ Rapid jab's infinite hits have a reduced SDI multiplier (1x → 0.8x), making it harder to escape from.
	+ Neutral attack's animation change very slightly reduces Mr. Game and Watch's hurtbox.
	+ Rapid jab's infinite hits deal less damage (1% → 0.8%).
	+ Rapid Jab Finisher has more endlag (FAF 24 → 35).
	+ Rapid Jab's infinite hits have an increased hitlag multiplier (0.5x → 0.7x), giving opponents more time to SDI each hit.
	+ Neutral attack's first hit has altered hitbox sizes (5.0u/4.0u/3.0u → 3.8u/4.3u/4.3u).
* Forward tilt:
	+ Forward tilt deals more damage (10%(clean chair)/9%(clean body)/4%(late) → 12%/10%/6%) with knockback only partially compensated on the clean chair (100 (scaling) → 96), improving its KO potential.
	+ The late hit has significantly increased knockback scaling (100 → 120 (against aerial opponents), 100 → 135 (against grounded opponents)).
	+ Forward tilt has reduced startup lag (frame 10 → 8).
	+ Forward tilt has a longer duration (frames 10 (clean)/11-17 (late) → 8-9/10-20).
	+ Forward tilt's hitboxes are smaller (4.8u → 4.0u (clean chair), 4.0u → 3.5u (clean body), 4.5u/3.5u → 3.3u/2.8u (late)).
	+ Forward tilt's sourspot hitbox has been moved further away from Mr. Game and Watch (Z offset: 5.0u → 7.0u), and the sweetspot has been moved closer to Mr. Game and Watch and upwards (Y offset: 4.0u → 4.5u, Z offset: 16.0u → 15.0u). This improves the move's vertical range, but slightly reduces its horizontal range.
	+ Mr. Game and Watch's animation change has him lean in further during the attack, improving its range, but hindering its safety.
* Up tilt:
	+ Up tilt has intangibility on both hands.
	+ Up tilt has less endlag (FAF 36 → 34).
	+ Up tilt's first hit now has weight independent set knockback (20 (base)/ 125/127 (scaling) → 60/80 (set)/100 (scaling)) and launches opponents into the second hit (100°/115° → 170°/145°), allowing it to connect into the second hit much more reliably.
	+ Up tilt's second hit launches at a more favorable angle for combos (115° → 75°).
	+ Up tilt's second hit deals altered knockback (30 (base)/127 (scaling) → 50/117), improving its KO potential overall.
	+ Up tilt's flags have smaller hitboxes (5.5u → 4.5u).
	+ Up tilt has Flag 1 and Flag 2 appear on each side of Mr. Game & Watch instead of above. While this increases its horizontal range, it effectively removes any anti-air potential it had.
	+ Up tilt's animation change reduces Mr. Game and Watch's hurtbox horizontally, but increases it vertically.
* Down tilt:
	+ Down tilt has increased base knockback (40 → 45) and deals more damage (6% → 9%) without full compensation for its knockback scaling (125 → 112), drastically increasing its knockback to a point where it's now the strongest down tilt in the game.
	+ Down tilt's animation change considerably lowers Mr. Game and Watch's hurtbox vertically.
	+ Down tilt has increased endlag (FAF 40 → 43).
	+ Down tilt has a shorter duration (frames 6-11 → 6-8).
	+ Down tilt's windbox has been removed. This disallows for juggling with windboxes, and potential recovery interruptions (such as when used against Ike's Quick Draw).
	+ Down tilt's hitbox has been replaced with two smaller ones (2.5u → 1.2u/1.2u).
		- Both hitboxes have been moved much closer to Mr. Game and Watch (Z offset: 12.0u → 6.7u (both)) and neither hitbox can hit aerial opponents, significantly hindering its range overall.
* Smash attacks:
	+ Due to Mr. Game & Watch not being animated while charging his smash attacks, the new smash attack charging mechanics make it difficult to tell when they are fully charged.
* Forward smash:
	+ Forward smash's sweetspot deals altered knockback (91 (scaling)/48 (base) → 97/46), improving its KO potential.
	+ Forward smash has gained an additional sweetspot hitbox in between the sourspot and sweetspot (5.3u → 2.9u/5.3u), while the sourspot has been slightly reduced to compensate (3.0u → 2.6u).
	+ Forward smash's sourspot has slightly less base knockback (44 → 42).
	+ Forward smash's angle is now slightly lower (53 → 48).
	+ Forward smash's sourspots and sweetspots have been moved closer to Mr. Game and Watch (Z offset: 11.0u → 7.8u (sourspot), 17.0u → 16.0u (sweetspot)) and upwards (Y offset: 3.5u → 5.3u (sourspot), 7.2u → 7.8u (sweetspot)).
		- This increases its vertical range.
		- Sourspot's pushed back hitbox, coupled with the newly added sweetspot hitbox, makes the sweetspot much easier to land.
		- This slightly reduces the horizontal range of the sweetspot.
* Up smash:
	+ Up smash has less startup lag (frame 24 → 21).
	+ Up smash has a longer duration (frames 24-25 → 21-25), much like its *Brawl* iteration.
	+ Up smash's invincibility frames now cover Mr. Game and Watch's entire body.
	+ Up smash's knockback scaling has been increased (93 → 98).
	+ Up smash's invincibility frames have now been changed from before attacking, to during the active attack frames (frames 4-25 → 21-25), noticeably hindering its use as an effective anti-air.
	+ Mr. Game & Watch faces away from the camera when using his up smash to the left.
* Down smash:
	+ Down smash now has the ability to bury opponents if the move is sweetspotted.
	+ Down smash's sourspot has significantly more knockback scaling (65 → 80).
	+ Down smash has less startup lag (frame 15 → 12), and less endlag (FAF 42 → 38).
	+ Down smash's sweetspots have been moved farther away from Mr. Game and Watch (Z offset: 12.0u → 14.0u, -12.0u → -14.0u), increasing the move's horizontal range.
	+ Down smash's sweetspots are slightly smaller (5.0u → 4.5u).
* Dash attack:
	+ Dash attack's hitboxes have been moved closer to Mr. Game and Watch (Z offset: 6.0u/6.0u → 5.0u/5.0u), reducing its horizontal range.

### Aerial attacks

* Neutral aerial, back aerial, and down aerial have less landing lag (12 → 7 frames (neutral), 19 → 18 frames (back), 28 → 22 frames (down)).
* Neutral aerial:
	+ All of neutral aerial's hits have significantly longer durations (frames 7/12/17/22 → 7-10/12-15/17-20/22-23), much like its *Brawl* iteration.
	+ It auto-cancels earlier (frame 44 → 42).
	+ The final hit has had its largest hitbox increased (7u → 7.5u).
	+ Neutral aerial has a slightly reduced hitlag multiplier (1x → 0.8x), making it harder to escape from.
	+ Neutral aerial's reduced landing lag allows the landing multihits to set-up up for many attacks, including down tilt and forward tilt at KO percents.
	+ Neutral aerial's multihits deal less damage (5% (hit 1)/4% (hit 2)/4%(hit 3)/4% (hit 4)/17% (overall) → 3%/3%/3%/4%/13%).
	+ The final hit has an increased hitlag multiplier (1x → 2x).
	+ Every hit except the final hit has had their large hitbox replaced with two smaller ones (5u → 2.5u/2.5u (hit 1), 5u → 3u/3u (hits 2-3)).
* Forward aerial:

### Special Moves

* Chef:
	+ Chef deals more damage (5% → 8% (pan), 4% → 5% (sausages)) without compensation for knockback, improving the pan's semi-spike and the sausage's hitstun and follow-up potential.
	+ Chef's food trajectory can be controlled.
	+ Chef has more endlag (FAF 50 → 55).
	+ Chef's animation change increases Mr. Game and Watch's hurtbox.
	+ Chef spans sausages at a slower rate when not tapping the special button repeatedly (23 frames → 32).
	+ Chef's pan hitbox has been replaced with two smaller ones (6.76u → 3.5u/4.2u).
* Judge:
	+ Judge's numbers now appear in a jumble, before settling on the decided number.
	+ Judge can no longer roll the same number twice in a row.
	+ Judge 2 no longer has a bonus trip chance.
	+ Judge 5's first 3 hits have less knockback (40 (base), 80 (scaling) → 15/25 (base), 60/70 (scaling)), making it easier to hit opponents multiple times at higher percents.
	+ Judge 7 now spawns three apples instead of one, allowing him to heal significantly more health once using the move, although the opponent can potentially heal on block or armored hit.
	+ Judge 7 launches at a higher angle (361° → 45°), and deals more base knockback (30 → 45), making it safer on hit at low percents.
	+ Judge 8 does more damage (9% → 13%), which makes the freeze effect last longer.
	+ Judge 8 deals less set knockback (70 → 60), slightly improving its gimping potential.
	+ Judge 9 has a larger hitbox (4.0u → 6.0u), now in line with the rest of the Judge numbers.
	+ Judge 9 has a much higher SDI multiplier (0 → 2), allowing the opponent to manipulate their launch position to improve their chances of surviving, thanks to the move's high hitlag.
	+ Judge 9 now triggers Special Zoom.
* Fire:
	+ Fire's windbox has been replaced with a frame 3 hitbox.
		- Fire's new frame 3 hitbox significantly improves its capabilities as an out-of-shield option and combo breaking tool.
	+ Fire now transitions into the parachute slightly faster (FAF 41 → 37).
* Oil Panic:
	+ Bucket Jumping returns from the previous title, increasing Mr. Game & Watch's horizontal recovery.
	+ Oil Panic now reflects physical projectiles in addition to absorbing energy-based projectiles.
	+ Oil Panic now begins absorbing 1 frame earlier (7 → 6).
	+ Oil Panic has reduced endlag (FAF 50 → 44).
	+ Oil Panic's loop has been standardized, allowing Mr. Game & Watch to immediately go into the recovery animation when the B button is released after frame 30.
	+ Mr. Game & Watch is no longer forced into another loop of Oil Panic after absorbing a projectile if the B button is not being held.
		- He also isn't put into the move's recovery animation, allowing him to act the moment intangibility ends.
	+ Mr. Game & Watch can no longer absorb projectiles during the recovery animation of Oil Panic, making him unable to do lagless absorptions.
	+ Oil Panic's damage multiplier has been reduced (2.8x → 2.0x).
	+ Oil Panic's minimum and maximum damage has been reduced in both respects.
		- Minimum damage decreased (18% → 16%).
		- Maximum damage decreased (60% → 48%).
	+ Oil Panic has less base knockback (30 → 25) and slightly less knockback growth on the later hits (80 → 78,76), further hindering it's OHKO potential, and making its less strong variants unsafe on hit at lower percents.
	+ Oil Panic's attack portion no longer has intangibility on frames 1-6.
	+ Oil Panic's attack has slightly smaller hitboxes overall (3.36u/4.8u/8.16u → 3.4u/4.5u/8u).
	+ Oil Panic triggers Special Zoom on any successful hit, and leaves the opponent covered in oil for a brief moment.
* Octopus's use has been altered. The octopus now rears back and charges forward, grabs opponents who touch its tentacles, and drags them offscreen. The main body deals damage instead of the tentacles. While this increases its KO potential, it also reduces its range, mobility and duration. A greenish-beige backdrop similar to that of a *Game & Watch* game temporarily appears during this Final Smash.{{\_%26\_Watch\_SSBU.png|250px]]

## How to unlock

Complete one of the following:

* Play VS. matches, with Mr. Game & Watch being the 52nd character to be unlocked.
* Clear Classic Mode with Pikachu or any character in its unlock tree, being the sixth character unlocked after Isabelle.

, he has fairly average walking and running speeds.

Unlike most other lightweights, Mr. Game and Watch possesses attacks with large disjointed hitboxes and has very powerful KO options. All of his smash attacks have very high power and low lag throughout, with each of them possessing unique attributes. Forward smash is among the strongest in the game if sweetspotted while having low startup lag and good range. Its sweetspot is also safe on shield. Up smash is also very strong, and comes with full body invincibility during and after its duration. While it has slow startup, it has minimal endlag and is completely safe on shield. Down smash sends opponents at an awkward semi-spike angle offstage, while its sweetspot buries opponents long enough to lead into a forward smash. It also has a very large hitbox, allowing it to easily 2-frame many recoveries. Like his other smash attacks, down smash is safe on shield when spaced properly. Overall, Mr. Game and Watch arguably possesses the best smash attacks in the game.

Outside of his smash attacks, Mr. Game and Watch's other moves have strong KOing potential. Forward tilt comes out quickly, has a lingering hitbox, and kills under 120% by the ledge. Down tilt lowers G&W's hurtbox to match his crouch, allowing him to whiff-punish certain attacks. It also possesses high power and semi-spikes opponents offstage, leading to edgeguards and killing outright at 100%. His new forward aerial's explosion kills opponents at 115% by the ledge, while his down aerial has been strengthened to become a viable kill move around 130%. Similarly, his back aerial now sends at a flatter angle, and the final hit possesses enough power to kill at 100% by the ledge. Oil Panic is a potent combo finisher with practically instantaneous startup lag, with its fairly large hitbox coming out on just frame 2, as well as extreme knockback that can kill at single digit percents when at max power. Compared to most characters and even compared to his previous iterations, Mr. Game and Watch possesses very strong KOing power.

Mr. Game and Watch also has a very potent combo and juggling game. Down throw combos into Oil Panic, Judge, and neutral air at low percentages. Chef can deal massive damage if multiple 'food' items hit, allowing it to get around 30-40% off of a single edgeguard. The pan also hits opponents into the stream of meat. Not only does Chef deal massive damage, but landing the move allows Mr. Game and Watch to follow up with a grab, forward aerial, forward tilt, or dash attack. Up tilt, though having worse range, deals high damage and combos into neutral aerial and Judge at low percentages. Once Mr. Game and Watch has his opponents above him, he can juggle them for massive damage using his up and neutral aerials. All in all, Mr. Game and Watch's strong KO power is also paired with highly damaging combos and juggles.

Lastly, Mr. Game and Watch possesses a fantastic recovery option, as well as large, disjointed aerials. This means that he is a formidable edgeguarder and is extremely hard to gimp himself. His up special, Fire, has frame 3 startup, invincibility in its early frames, and a strong upwards hitbox. This makes it deadly, as it can stage spike unwary opponents while also easily gimping characters with poor recoveries, like Chrom. It is also an extremely useful combo breaker and out-of-shield option due to its fast startup and invincibility. His back air, Turtle Bridge, is a large and disjointed multi-hit move that has high knockback at the final hit. Its large disjoint beats out a lot of recoveries that have hitboxes, and the multi-hit nature of the move makes it hard to tech for stage spikes and often drags opponents stuck in the move closer to the blast zone. For many characters, getting hit with Turtle Bridge is often fatal offstage. On the ledge, Chef punishes ledge hangers and covers getup attack and rolls (hit by the pan), forcing opponents to jump. This can easily allow Mr. Game and Watch to follow up with neutral aerial and force the opponent back offstage. His new forward aerial can be comboed into with Chef and has strong KO potential on its own. Overall, Mr. Game and Watch is extremely deadly off the level and at the ledge to all characters.

Despite these strengths, Mr. Game and Watch possesses very large weaknesses. He is tied with Squirtle being the third lightest character in the game, which makes his horizontal and vertical endurance absolutely terrible. In addition, despite having disjointed hotboxes, his overall range is merely average. This is worsened by the fact that many of his disjointed moves like down tilt, up tilt, and forward smash have subpar range for a disjoint. This makes characters like Ike and Cloud able to easily keep Mr. Game and Watch at arm's length. Also, while his new forward air possesses more damage and knockback, it disappears if it comes into contact with any other hitbox. This makes it unsuitable for approaching and forces Mr. Game and Watch to approach with his back air constantly. It also a much more situational move in general, due to its higher lag and delayed hitbox, as the bomb will only explode upon touching the ground or waiting for half a second. He also has a poor approach because his aerials don't autocancel in a short hop and his ground speed is poor. Due to this, he has a lackluster neutral game. His grab and throw game is also poor: his down throw is his only throw that can KO below 200%, but it has lost its combo potential beyond low percents, while his other throws are not good for KOing or combos.

Finally, Mr. Game and Watch's rolls, techs, and spotdodges are slow, laggy, and very punishable, giving him a poor defensive game. Combined with his low weight, they are often too risky to use effectively.

All in all, Mr. Game and Watch is a very powerful glass cannon. He possesses extremely high damage output and powerful KO options while being extremely vulnerable himself due to his light weight and laggy defensive options.

## Changes from *Super Smash Bros. 4*

Mr. Game and Watch, in a similar fashion to Link, has received a major overhaul in his moveset that goes beyond changes to aesthetic appearances; a majority of his moves have been altered in range, damage, knockback, lag, or have been completely reworked altogether. As a result, Mr. Game and Watch has undergone a plethora of buffs and nerfs in his transition to *Ultimate* - arguably more than any other returning veteran - but has been buffed overall.

Mr. Game and Watch's KO potential has been improved. A majority of his regular moves, including forward tilt and down tilt, have much stronger knockback, with the latter now capable of KOing as early as 100%. The ability to run cancel improves the utility of these attacks further, and now gives Mr. Game and Watch quick KO options he didn't have access to *SSB4*. To further add to this, his smash attacks are stronger as well. Down smash was significantly improved as it now has much less start-up lag and is also capable of burying opponents when sweetspotted. This can lead to a forward smash for early guarantee KO setups. Forward smash also has improved knockback, and is easier to sweetspot, making it a more potent punishing move. Lastly, up smash has increased knockback scaling, a longer duration, and now has Mr. Game and Watch completely invincible during the attack. Mr. Game and Watch has gained a new forward aerial: An attack in which he drops a bomb in front of him, a move that seems to be based off of either *Mario's Bombs Away*, *Bomb Sweeper*, or *Safebuster*, all of which featured similar bombs. Compared to his old aerial, the move's explosion has stronger knockback and damage output, making it a more reliable KO move than his old forward aerial.

Mr. Game and Watch's edgeguarding potential has also been buffed considerably. Back aerial and down aerial are stronger, leading them to become stronger options to punish opponents who are offstage. Chef's trajectory can now be controlled, which makes it easier to catch opponents who are trying to reach for the ledge and is now more effective keeping control of neutral. Lastly, Mr. Game and Watch's new forward aerial's explosion can cover the entire ledge of a stage, making it a more potent option than his old forward aerial, and the bomb itself is good to use as an edgeguarding option against opponents offstage.

Additionally, Mr. Game and Watch now possesses stronger OoS options and juggling tools. Changes to neutral aerial's landing lag and lingering hitboxes allow it to catch opponents above him more effectively, and can even it allow it to combo into itself at lower percents. Mr. Game and Watch has gained a new up air, in which he shoots a projectile upwards in the form of a single puff, functioning very similarly to Mega Man's up air. This projectile has much more range than his old up air, and is more reliable for keeping opponents trapped in it, improving its juggling potential considerably. Fire now has a frame 3 hitbox that replaces its windbox from *SSB4*, making it a much stronger OoS, and can even be followed up with a neutral aerial or up aerial to keep opponents in the air for even longer.

Mr. Game and Watch's attacks have increased utility overall: Mr. Game and Watch's new forward aerial possesses more versatility than his old forward aerial; it can be used as a combo starter, a shield pressuring tool, and a landing option, as it is much safer on block in comparison. Neutral aerial's landing weak hits can now be used as a KO confirm at higher percents (particularly into down tilt), forward tilt has a much longer duration, making it an effective option for both 2-framing and spotdodging, and up tilt's hits connect into each other much more reliably, improving its consistency and combo potential. Mr. Game and Watch now sports a much more disjointed dash and pivot grab, giving it effective reach. Lastly, Oil Panic can now reflect physical projectiles in addition to absorbing energy-based projectiles, and Judge's numbers 7, 8, and 9 have improved.

However, Mr. Game and Watch has received notable nerfs. His two most potent strengths from *SSB4* - his up smash and down throw setups - have been toned down considerably. Down throw now deals much more knockback, removing its follow-up potential at higher percents; compounded with the changes to his up aerial, which has lost all of its KO potential, this effectively removes his strong (though inconsistent) down-throw-to-up-aerial KO confirm from *SSB4*, dubbed the "Toot Toot". Despite the start-up reduction to up smash, it has lost all of its invincibility frames during the move's start-up, making it much less effective as an anti-air, and allows opponents to challenge it easier. While his new forward aerial possesses more utility than his old forward aerial, it has much weaker priority overall, making it a riskier option to challenge opponents in the air with. Additionally, many of Mr. Game and Watch's new animations have resulted in hitbox reductions for several of his attacks, including forward tilt, up aerial, up tilt, and most notably, his down tilt, the latter of which is now incapable of hitting aerial opponents altogether. This reduces Mr. Game and Watch's deceptive reach, and requires him to be closer towards opponents more often than before. . Lastly, despite his improvements, Mr. Game and Watch retains some of the same issues from his *SSB4* counterpart, notably his poor endurance, limited reach outside of back aerial, ineffective throws barring down throw, and a lack of reliable approach options, with the buffs to his neutral aerial and Chef failing to fully address this issue.

Overall, while Mr. Game and Watch generally retains much of his bait-and-punish playstyle from *SSB4*, the adjustments and increased utility he received to several of his attacks have led him to become more of a jack-of-all-trades type of character. Though competitive reception of Mr. Game and Watch was initially negative (with Template:Sm in particular highlighting Mr. Game and Watch as the 2nd worst character in the game), he has shown moderate success in the tournament scene thanks to the efforts of players including Template:Sm, Template:Sm, Template:Sm, and Template:Sm, with Maister notably defeating players such as Template:Sm, Template:Sm, and Template:Sm, while placing 1st at Template:Trn, Template:Trn and Template:Trn and 3rd at Template:Trn. This has garnered Mr. Game and Watch a more positive competitive reception overall, where notable players such as Template:Sm, Template:Sm, Template:Sm, Template:Sm, and Template:Sm either view him as a well-rounded upper mid-tier character, or even a solid high-tier character with the potential to be tournament viable. Notably, Template:Sm now regards him as a high tier character, indicating that G&W was better than first realized. Overall, Mr. Game and Watch is considered to fare better than both his *SSB4* and *Melee* counterparts, though his overall viability compared to his *Brawl* counterpart currently remains up for debate, as while his performances at regionals and super-regionals have been remarkable, his performances at majors has been generally below average.

### Aesthetics

* Mr. Game & Watch's base model is unaltered from the previous installment; however, the following moves temporarily alter his appearance to resemble the characters from the Template:Uv games they are based on:
	+ Neutral attack (*Greenhouse*), forward tilt (*Lion*), up tilt (*Flagman*), down tilt (*Manhole*), forward smash (*Fire Attack*), down smash (*Vermin*), up aerial (*Spitball Sparky*), all throws (*Ball*), Chef, Judge and Oil Panic.
* Like in *Melee*, Mr. Game & Watch now makes a noise when getting KOed, and he also has a new sound for getting Star KOed. Both use the sound of his up and side taunts.
* Mr. Game & Watch's walking animation has been changed; now looking less flippant.
* Mr. Game & Watch has a new victory animation where he juggles balls using his appearance from *Ball.* This replaces the victory pose where he jumps up and down.
* Mr. Game & Watch's mouth is open during his clapping animation, similar to his *Melee* appearance.

### Attributes

* Due to the universal buff to all characters, Mr. Game & Watch's jumpsquat animation now takes three frames to complete (down from 5).
* Mr. Game & Watch dashes faster (1.5264 → 1.679).
* Mr. Game & Watch's initial dash is significantly faster (1.5 → 1.98).
* Mr. Game & Watch walks slightly faster (1.1242 → 1.18).
* Mr. Game and Watch's traction has been significantly increased (0.06 → 0.131), now tied for the 5th highest in the entire game.
* Mr. Game & Watch's air speed is slightly higher (1.12 → 1.176).
* Spotdodge has slightly increased start-up lag (frames 2-16 → 3-17).
	+ Spotdodge has reduced endlag (FAF 26 → 22).
* Forward roll has slightly more endlag (FAF 30 → 31), and a shorter duration (frames 4-16 → 4-15).
* Backward roll has more endlag (FAF 30 → 36), slightly increased start-up lag, and a shorter duration (frames 4-16 → 5-16).
* Neutral air dodge has slightly increased start-up lag (frame 2 → 3) and significantly increased endlag (FAF 32 → 60).
	+ Neutral air dodge has a slightly longer duration (frames 2-26 → 3-28).
	+ Neutral air dodge has less landing lag (22 → 10 frames).
	+ The re-introduction of directional airdodges improves Mr. Game and Watch's recovery, as he can airdodge after using Fire to gain slightly more distance.

### Ground attacks

* Neutral attack
	+ Neutral attack no longer pushes Mr. Game & Watch as far back as previously.
	+ Neutral attack can now jab reset.
	+ Rapid Jab Finisher deals more damage (2% → 3%), without full compensation to the knockback (180 (scaling) → 160).
	+ Rapid Jab Finisher has a slightly bigger hitbox (5.5u/4.0u → 6.0u/4.0u).
	+ Rapid Jab Finisher's farthest hitbox has been moved upward (Y offset: 8.5u → 9.5u), improving its vertical range.
	+ Rapid jab's infinite hits have a reduced SDI multiplier (1x → 0.8x), making it harder to escape from.
	+ Neutral attack's animation change very slightly reduces Mr. Game and Watch's hurtbox.
	+ Rapid jab's infinite hits deal less damage (1% → 0.8%).
	+ Rapid Jab Finisher has more endlag (FAF 24 → 35).
	+ Rapid Jab's infinite hits have an increased hitlag multiplier (0.5x → 0.7x), giving opponents more time to SDI each hit.
	+ Neutral attack's first hit has altered hitbox sizes (5.0u/4.0u/3.0u → 3.8u/4.3u/4.3u).
* Forward tilt:
	+ Forward tilt deals more damage (10%(clean chair)/9%(clean body)/4%(late) → 12%/10%/6%) with knockback only partially compensated on the clean chair (100 (scaling) → 96), improving its KO potential.
	+ The late hit has significantly increased knockback scaling (100 → 120 (against aerial opponents), 100 → 135 (against grounded opponents)).
	+ Forward tilt has reduced startup lag (frame 10 → 8).
	+ Forward tilt has a longer duration (frames 10 (clean)/11-17 (late) → 8-9/10-20).
	+ Forward tilt's hitboxes are smaller (4.8u → 4.0u (clean chair), 4.0u → 3.5u (clean body), 4.5u/3.5u → 3.3u/2.8u (late)).
	+ Forward tilt's sourspot hitbox has been moved further away from Mr. Game and Watch (Z offset: 5.0u → 7.0u), and the sweetspot has been moved closer to Mr. Game and Watch and upwards (Y offset: 4.0u → 4.5u, Z offset: 16.0u → 15.0u). This improves the move's vertical range, but slightly reduces its horizontal range.
	+ Mr. Game and Watch's animation change has him lean in further during the attack, improving its range, but hindering its safety.
* Up tilt:
	+ Up tilt has intangibility on both hands.
	+ Up tilt has less endlag (FAF 36 → 34).
	+ Up tilt's first hit now has weight independent set knockback (20 (base)/ 125/127 (scaling) → 60/80 (set)/100 (scaling)) and launches opponents into the second hit (100°/115° → 170°/145°), allowing it to connect into the second hit much more reliably.
	+ Up tilt's second hit launches at a more favorable angle for combos (115° → 75°).
	+ Up tilt's second hit deals altered knockback (30 (base)/127 (scaling) → 50/117), improving its KO potential overall.
	+ Up tilt's flags have smaller hitboxes (5.5u → 4.5u).
	+ Up tilt has Flag 1 and Flag 2 appear on each side of Mr. Game & Watch instead of above. While this increases its horizontal range, it effectively removes any anti-air potential it had.
	+ Up tilt's animation change reduces Mr. Game and Watch's hurtbox horizontally, but increases it vertically.
* Down tilt:
	+ Down tilt has increased base knockback (40 → 45) and deals more damage (6% → 9%) without full compensation for its knockback scaling (125 → 112), drastically increasing its knockback to a point where it's now the strongest down tilt in the game.
	+ Down tilt's animation change considerably lowers Mr. Game and Watch's hurtbox vertically.
	+ Down tilt has increased endlag (FAF 40 → 43).
	+ Down tilt has a shorter duration (frames 6-11 → 6-8).
	+ Down tilt's windbox has been removed. This disallows for juggling with windboxes, and potential recovery interruptions (such as when used against Ike's Quick Draw).
	+ Down tilt's hitbox has been replaced with two smaller ones (2.5u → 1.2u/1.2u).
		- Both hitboxes have been moved much closer to Mr. Game and Watch (Z offset: 12.0u → 6.7u (both)) and neither hitbox can hit aerial opponents, significantly hindering its range overall.
* Smash attacks:
	+ Due to Mr. Game & Watch not being animated while charging his smash attacks, the new smash attack charging mechanics make it difficult to tell when they are fully charged.
* Forward smash:
	+ Forward smash's sweetspot deals altered knockback (91 (scaling)/48 (base) → 97/46), improving its KO potential.
	+ Forward smash has gained an additional sweetspot hitbox in between the sourspot and sweetspot (5.3u → 2.9u/5.3u), while the sourspot has been slightly reduced to compensate (3.0u → 2.6u).
	+ Forward smash's sourspot has slightly less base knockback (44 → 42).
	+ Forward smash's angle is now slightly lower (53 → 48).
	+ Forward smash's sourspots and sweetspots have been moved closer to Mr. Game and Watch (Z offset: 11.0u → 7.8u (sourspot), 17.0u → 16.0u (sweetspot)) and upwards (Y offset: 3.5u → 5.3u (sourspot), 7.2u → 7.8u (sweetspot)).
		- This increases its vertical range.
		- Sourspot's pushed back hitbox, coupled with the newly added sweetspot hitbox, makes the sweetspot much easier to land.
		- This slightly reduces the horizontal range of the sweetspot.
* Up smash:
	+ Up smash has less startup lag (frame 24 → 21).
	+ Up smash has a longer duration (frames 24-25 → 21-25), much like its *Brawl* iteration.
	+ Up smash's invincibility frames now cover Mr. Game and Watch's entire body.
	+ Up smash's knockback scaling has been increased (93 → 98).
	+ Up smash's invincibility frames have now been changed from before attacking, to during the active attack frames (frames 4-25 → 21-25), noticeably hindering its use as an effective anti-air.
	+ Mr. Game & Watch faces away from the camera when using his up smash to the left.
* Down smash:
	+ Down smash now has the ability to bury opponents if the move is sweetspotted.
	+ Down smash's sourspot has significantly more knockback scaling (65 → 80).
	+ Down smash has less startup lag (frame 15 → 12), and less endlag (FAF 42 → 38).
	+ Down smash's sweetspots have been moved farther away from Mr. Game and Watch (Z offset: 12.0u → 14.0u, -12.0u → -14.0u), increasing the move's horizontal range.
	+ Down smash's sweetspots are slightly smaller (5.0u → 4.5u).
* Dash attack:
	+ Dash attack's hitboxes have been moved closer to Mr. Game and Watch (Z offset: 6.0u/6.0u → 5.0u/5.0u), reducing its horizontal range.

### Aerial attacks

* Neutral aerial, back aerial, and down aerial have less landing lag (12 → 7 frames (neutral), 19 → 18 frames (back), 28 → 22 frames (down)).
* Neutral aerial:
	+ All of neutral aerial's hits have significantly longer durations (frames 7/12/17/22 → 7-10/12-15/17-20/22-23), much like its *Brawl* iteration.
	+ It auto-cancels earlier (frame 44 → 42).
	+ The final hit has had its largest hitbox increased (7u → 7.5u).
	+ Neutral aerial has a slightly reduced hitlag multiplier (1x → 0.8x), making it harder to escape from.
	+ Neutral aerial's reduced landing lag allows the landing multihits to set-up up for many attacks, including down tilt and forward tilt at KO percents.
	+ Neutral aerial's multihits deal less damage (5% (hit 1)/4% (hit 2)/4%(hit 3)/4% (hit 4)/17% (overall) → 3%/3%/3%/4%/13%).
	+ The final hit has an increased hitlag multiplier (1x → 2x).
	+ Every hit except the final hit has had their large hitbox replaced with two smaller ones (5u → 2.5u/2.5u (hit 1), 5u → 3u/3u (hits 2-3)).
* Forward aerial:

### Special Moves

* Chef:
	+ Chef deals more damage (5% → 8% (pan), 4% → 5% (sausages)) without compensation for knockback, improving the pan's semi-spike and the sausage's hitstun and follow-up potential.
	+ Chef's food trajectory can be controlled.
	+ Chef has more endlag (FAF 50 → 55).
	+ Chef's animation change increases Mr. Game and Watch's hurtbox.
	+ Chef spans sausages at a slower rate when not tapping the special button repeatedly (23 frames → 32).
	+ Chef's pan hitbox has been replaced with two smaller ones (6.76u → 3.5u/4.2u).
* Judge:
	+ Judge's numbers now appear in a jumble, before settling on the decided number.
	+ Judge can no longer roll the same number twice in a row.
	+ Judge 2 no longer has a bonus trip chance.
	+ Judge 5's first 3 hits have less knockback (40 (base), 80 (scaling) → 15/25 (base), 60/70 (scaling)), making it easier to hit opponents multiple times at higher percents.
	+ Judge 7 now spawns three apples instead of one, allowing him to heal significantly more health once using the move, although the opponent can potentially heal on block or armored hit.
	+ Judge 7 launches at a higher angle (361° → 45°), and deals more base knockback (30 → 45), making it safer on hit at low percents.
	+ Judge 8 does more damage (9% → 13%), which makes the freeze effect last longer.
	+ Judge 8 deals less set knockback (70 → 60), slightly improving its gimping potential.
	+ Judge 9 has a larger hitbox (4.0u → 6.0u), now in line with the rest of the Judge numbers.
	+ Judge 9 has a much higher SDI multiplier (0 → 2), allowing the opponent to manipulate their launch position to improve their chances of surviving, thanks to the move's high hitlag.
	+ Judge 9 now triggers Special Zoom.
* Fire:
	+ Fire's windbox has been replaced with a frame 3 hitbox.
		- Fire's new frame 3 hitbox significantly improves its capabilities as an out-of-shield option and combo breaking tool.
	+ Fire now transitions into the parachute slightly faster (FAF 41 → 37).
* Oil Panic:
	+ Bucket Jumping returns from the previous title, increasing Mr. Game & Watch's horizontal recovery.
	+ Oil Panic now reflects physical projectiles in addition to absorbing energy-based projectiles.
	+ Oil Panic now begins absorbing 1 frame earlier (7 → 6).
	+ Oil Panic has reduced endlag (FAF 50 → 44).
	+ Oil Panic's loop has been standardized, allowing Mr. Game & Watch to immediately go into the recovery animation when the B button is released after frame 30.
	+ Mr. Game & Watch is no longer forced into another loop of Oil Panic after absorbing a projectile if the B button is not being held.
		- He also isn't put into the move's recovery animation, allowing him to act the moment intangibility ends.
	+ Mr. Game & Watch can no longer absorb projectiles during the recovery animation of Oil Panic, making him unable to do lagless absorptions.
	+ Oil Panic's damage multiplier has been reduced (2.8x → 2.0x).
	+ Oil Panic's minimum and maximum damage has been reduced in both respects.
		- Minimum damage decreased (18% → 16%).
		- Maximum damage decreased (60% → 48%).
	+ Oil Panic has less base knockback (30 → 25) and slightly less knockback growth on the later hits (80 → 78,76), further hindering it's OHKO potential, and making its less strong variants unsafe on hit at lower percents.
	+ Oil Panic's attack portion no longer has intangibility on frames 1-6.
	+ Oil Panic's attack has slightly smaller hitboxes overall (3.36u/4.8u/8.16u → 3.4u/4.5u/8u).
	+ Oil Panic triggers Special Zoom on any successful hit, and leaves the opponent covered in oil for a brief moment.
* Octopus's use has been altered. The octopus now rears back and charges forward, grabs opponents who touch its tentacles, and drags them offscreen. The main body deals damage instead of the tentacles. While this increases its KO potential, it also reduces its range, mobility and duration. A greenish-beige backdrop similar to that of a *Game & Watch* game temporarily appears during this Final Smash.{{\_%26\_Watch\_SSBU.png|250px]]

## How to unlock

Complete one of the following:

* Play VS. matches, with Mr. Game & Watch being the 52nd character to be unlocked.
* Clear Classic Mode with Pikachu or any character in its unlock tree, being the sixth character unlocked after Isabelle.

, he has fairly average walking and running speeds.

Unlike most other lightweights, Mr. Game and Watch possesses attacks with large disjointed hitboxes and has very powerful KO options. All of his smash attacks have very high power and low lag throughout, with each of them possessing unique attributes. Forward smash is among the strongest in the game if sweetspotted while having low startup lag and good range. Its sweetspot is also safe on shield. Up smash is also very strong, and comes with full body invincibility during and after its duration. While it has slow startup, it has minimal endlag and is completely safe on shield. Down smash sends opponents at an awkward semi-spike angle offstage, while its sweetspot buries opponents long enough to lead into a forward smash. It also has a very large hitbox, allowing it to easily 2-frame many recoveries. Like his other smash attacks, down smash is safe on shield when spaced properly. Overall, Mr. Game and Watch arguably possesses the best smash attacks in the game.

Outside of his smash attacks, Mr. Game and Watch's other moves have strong KOing potential. Forward tilt comes out quickly, has a lingering hitbox, and kills under 120% by the ledge. Down tilt lowers G&W's hurtbox to match his crouch, allowing him to whiff-punish certain attacks. It also possesses high power and semi-spikes opponents offstage, leading to edgeguards and killing outright at 100%. His new forward aerial's explosion kills opponents at 115% by the ledge, while his down aerial has been strengthened to become a viable kill move around 130%. Similarly, his back aerial now sends at a flatter angle, and the final hit possesses enough power to kill at 100% by the ledge. Oil Panic is a potent combo finisher with practically instantaneous startup lag, with its fairly large hitbox coming out on just frame 2, as well as extreme knockback that can kill at single digit percents when at max power. Compared to most characters and even compared to his previous iterations, Mr. Game and Watch possesses very strong KOing power.

Mr. Game and Watch also has a very potent combo and juggling game. Down throw combos into Oil Panic, Judge, and neutral air at low percentages. Chef can deal massive damage if multiple 'food' items hit, allowing it to get around 30-40% off of a single edgeguard. The pan also hits opponents into the stream of meat. Not only does Chef deal massive damage, but landing the move allows Mr. Game and Watch to follow up with a grab, forward aerial, forward tilt, or dash attack. Up tilt, though having worse range, deals high damage and combos into neutral aerial and Judge at low percentages. Once Mr. Game and Watch has his opponents above him, he can juggle them for massive damage using his up and neutral aerials. All in all, Mr. Game and Watch's strong KO power is also paired with highly damaging combos and juggles.

Lastly, Mr. Game and Watch possesses a fantastic recovery option, as well as large, disjointed aerials. This means that he is a formidable edgeguarder and is extremely hard to gimp himself. His up special, Fire, has frame 3 startup, invincibility in its early frames, and a strong upwards hitbox. This makes it deadly, as it can stage spike unwary opponents while also easily gimping characters with poor recoveries, like Chrom. It is also an extremely useful combo breaker and out-of-shield option due to its fast startup and invincibility. His back air, Turtle Bridge, is a large and disjointed multi-hit move that has high knockback at the final hit. Its large disjoint beats out a lot of recoveries that have hitboxes, and the multi-hit nature of the move makes it hard to tech for stage spikes and often drags opponents stuck in the move closer to the blast zone. For many characters, getting hit with Turtle Bridge is often fatal offstage. On the ledge, Chef punishes ledge hangers and covers getup attack and rolls (hit by the pan), forcing opponents to jump. This can easily allow Mr. Game and Watch to follow up with neutral aerial and force the opponent back offstage. His new forward aerial can be comboed into with Chef and has strong KO potential on its own. Overall, Mr. Game and Watch is extremely deadly off the level and at the ledge to all characters.

Despite these strengths, Mr. Game and Watch possesses very large weaknesses. He is tied with Squirtle being the third lightest character in the game, which makes his horizontal and vertical endurance absolutely terrible. In addition, despite having disjointed hotboxes, his overall range is merely average. This is worsened by the fact that many of his disjointed moves like down tilt, up tilt, and forward smash have subpar range for a disjoint. This makes characters like Ike and Cloud able to easily keep Mr. Game and Watch at arm's length. Also, while his new forward air possesses more damage and knockback, it disappears if it comes into contact with any other hitbox. This makes it unsuitable for approaching and forces Mr. Game and Watch to approach with his back air constantly. It also a much more situational move in general, due to its higher lag and delayed hitbox, as the bomb will only explode upon touching the ground or waiting for half a second. He also has a poor approach because his aerials don't autocancel in a short hop and his ground speed is poor. Due to this, he has a lackluster neutral game. His grab and throw game is also poor: his down throw is his only throw that can KO below 200%, but it has lost its combo potential beyond low percents, while his other throws are not good for KOing or combos.

Finally, Mr. Game and Watch's rolls, techs, and spotdodges are slow, laggy, and very punishable, giving him a poor defensive game. Combined with his low weight, they are often too risky to use effectively.

All in all, Mr. Game and Watch is a very powerful glass cannon. He possesses extremely high damage output and powerful KO options while being extremely vulnerable himself due to his light weight and laggy defensive options.

## Changes from *Super Smash Bros. 4*

Mr. Game and Watch, in a similar fashion to Link, has received a major overhaul in his moveset that goes beyond changes to aesthetic appearances; a majority of his moves have been altered in range, damage, knockback, lag, or have been completely reworked altogether. As a result, Mr. Game and Watch has undergone a plethora of buffs and nerfs in his transition to *Ultimate* - arguably more than any other returning veteran - but has been buffed overall.

Mr. Game and Watch's KO potential has been improved. A majority of his regular moves, including forward tilt and down tilt, have much stronger knockback, with the latter now capable of KOing as early as 100%. The ability to run cancel improves the utility of these attacks further, and now gives Mr. Game and Watch quick KO options he didn't have access to *SSB4*. To further add to this, his smash attacks are stronger as well. Down smash was significantly improved as it now has much less start-up lag and is also capable of burying opponents when sweetspotted. This can lead to a forward smash for early guarantee KO setups. Forward smash also has improved knockback, and is easier to sweetspot, making it a more potent punishing move. Lastly, up smash has increased knockback scaling, a longer duration, and now has Mr. Game and Watch completely invincible during the attack. Mr. Game and Watch has gained a new forward aerial: An attack in which he drops a bomb in front of him, a move that seems to be based off of either *Mario's Bombs Away*, *Bomb Sweeper*, or *Safebuster*, all of which featured similar bombs. Compared to his old aerial, the move's explosion has stronger knockback and damage output, making it a more reliable KO move than his old forward aerial.

Mr. Game and Watch's edgeguarding potential has also been buffed considerably. Back aerial and down aerial are stronger, leading them to become stronger options to punish opponents who are offstage. Chef's trajectory can now be controlled, which makes it easier to catch opponents who are trying to reach for the ledge and is now more effective keeping control of neutral. Lastly, Mr. Game and Watch's new forward aerial's explosion can cover the entire ledge of a stage, making it a more potent option than his old forward aerial, and the bomb itself is good to use as an edgeguarding option against opponents offstage.

Additionally, Mr. Game and Watch now possesses stronger OoS options and juggling tools. Changes to neutral aerial's landing lag and lingering hitboxes allow it to catch opponents above him more effectively, and can even it allow it to combo into itself at lower percents. Mr. Game and Watch has gained a new up air, in which he shoots a projectile upwards in the form of a single puff, functioning very similarly to Mega Man's up air. This projectile has much more range than his old up air, and is more reliable for keeping opponents trapped in it, improving its juggling potential considerably. Fire now has a frame 3 hitbox that replaces its windbox from *SSB4*, making it a much stronger OoS, and can even be followed up with a neutral aerial or up aerial to keep opponents in the air for even longer.

Mr. Game and Watch's attacks have increased utility overall: Mr. Game and Watch's new forward aerial possesses more versatility than his old forward aerial; it can be used as a combo starter, a shield pressuring tool, and a landing option, as it is much safer on block in comparison. Neutral aerial's landing weak hits can now be used as a KO confirm at higher percents (particularly into down tilt), forward tilt has a much longer duration, making it an effective option for both 2-framing and spotdodging, and up tilt's hits connect into each other much more reliably, improving its consistency and combo potential. Mr. Game and Watch now sports a much more disjointed dash and pivot grab, giving it effective reach. Lastly, Oil Panic can now reflect physical projectiles in addition to absorbing energy-based projectiles, and Judge's numbers 7, 8, and 9 have improved.

However, Mr. Game and Watch has received notable nerfs. His two most potent strengths from *SSB4* - his up smash and down throw setups - have been toned down considerably. Down throw now deals much more knockback, removing its follow-up potential at higher percents; compounded with the changes to his up aerial, which has lost all of its KO potential, this effectively removes his strong (though inconsistent) down-throw-to-up-aerial KO confirm from *SSB4*, dubbed the "Toot Toot". Despite the start-up reduction to up smash, it has lost all of its invincibility frames during the move's start-up, making it much less effective as an anti-air, and allows opponents to challenge it easier. While his new forward aerial possesses more utility than his old forward aerial, it has much weaker priority overall, making it a riskier option to challenge opponents in the air with. Additionally, many of Mr. Game and Watch's new animations have resulted in hitbox reductions for several of his attacks, including forward tilt, up aerial, up tilt, and most notably, his down tilt, the latter of which is now incapable of hitting aerial opponents altogether. This reduces Mr. Game and Watch's deceptive reach, and requires him to be closer towards opponents more often than before. . Lastly, despite his improvements, Mr. Game and Watch retains some of the same issues from his *SSB4* counterpart, notably his poor endurance, limited reach outside of back aerial, ineffective throws barring down throw, and a lack of reliable approach options, with the buffs to his neutral aerial and Chef failing to fully address this issue.

Overall, while Mr. Game and Watch generally retains much of his bait-and-punish playstyle from *SSB4*, the adjustments and increased utility he received to several of his attacks have led him to become more of a jack-of-all-trades type of character. Though competitive reception of Mr. Game and Watch was initially negative (with Template:Sm in particular highlighting Mr. Game and Watch as the 2nd worst character in the game), he has shown moderate success in the tournament scene thanks to the efforts of players including Template:Sm, Template:Sm, Template:Sm, and Template:Sm, with Maister notably defeating players such as Template:Sm, Template:Sm, and Template:Sm, while placing 1st at Template:Trn, Template:Trn and Template:Trn and 3rd at Template:Trn. This has garnered Mr. Game and Watch a more positive competitive reception overall, where notable players such as Template:Sm, Template:Sm, Template:Sm, Template:Sm, and Template:Sm either view him as a well-rounded upper mid-tier character, or even a solid high-tier character with the potential to be tournament viable. Notably, Template:Sm now regards him as a high tier character, indicating that G&W was better than first realized. Overall, Mr. Game and Watch is considered to fare better than both his *SSB4* and *Melee* counterparts, though his overall viability compared to his *Brawl* counterpart currently remains up for debate, as while his performances at regionals and super-regionals have been remarkable, his performances at majors has been generally below average.

### Aesthetics

* Mr. Game & Watch's base model is unaltered from the previous installment; however, the following moves temporarily alter his appearance to resemble the characters from the Template:Uv games they are based on:
	+ Neutral attack (*Greenhouse*), forward tilt (*Lion*), up tilt (*Flagman*), down tilt (*Manhole*), forward smash (*Fire Attack*), down smash (*Vermin*), up aerial (*Spitball Sparky*), all throws (*Ball*), Chef, Judge and Oil Panic.
* Like in *Melee*, Mr. Game & Watch now makes a noise when getting KOed, and he also has a new sound for getting Star KOed. Both use the sound of his up and side taunts.
* Mr. Game & Watch's walking animation has been changed; now looking less flippant.
* Mr. Game & Watch has a new victory animation where he juggles balls using his appearance from *Ball.* This replaces the victory pose where he jumps up and down.
* Mr. Game & Watch's mouth is open during his clapping animation, similar to his *Melee* appearance.

### Attributes

* Due to the universal buff to all characters, Mr. Game & Watch's jumpsquat animation now takes three frames to complete (down from 5).
* Mr. Game & Watch dashes faster (1.5264 → 1.679).
* Mr. Game & Watch's initial dash is significantly faster (1.5 → 1.98).
* Mr. Game & Watch walks slightly faster (1.1242 → 1.18).
* Mr. Game and Watch's traction has been significantly increased (0.06 → 0.131), now tied for the 5th highest in the entire game.
* Mr. Game & Watch's air speed is slightly higher (1.12 → 1.176).
* Spotdodge has slightly increased start-up lag (frames 2-16 → 3-17).
	+ Spotdodge has reduced endlag (FAF 26 → 22).
* Forward roll has slightly more endlag (FAF 30 → 31), and a shorter duration (frames 4-16 → 4-15).
* Backward roll has more endlag (FAF 30 → 36), slightly increased start-up lag, and a shorter duration (frames 4-16 → 5-16).
* Neutral air dodge has slightly increased start-up lag (frame 2 → 3) and significantly increased endlag (FAF 32 → 60).
	+ Neutral air dodge has a slightly longer duration (frames 2-26 → 3-28).
	+ Neutral air dodge has less landing lag (22 → 10 frames).
	+ The re-introduction of directional airdodges improves Mr. Game and Watch's recovery, as he can airdodge after using Fire to gain slightly more distance.

### Ground attacks

* Neutral attack
	+ Neutral attack no longer pushes Mr. Game & Watch as far back as previously.
	+ Neutral attack can now jab reset.
	+ Rapid Jab Finisher deals more damage (2% → 3%), without full compensation to the knockback (180 (scaling) → 160).
	+ Rapid Jab Finisher has a slightly bigger hitbox (5.5u/4.0u → 6.0u/4.0u).
	+ Rapid Jab Finisher's farthest hitbox has been moved upward (Y offset: 8.5u → 9.5u), improving its vertical range.
	+ Rapid jab's infinite hits have a reduced SDI multiplier (1x → 0.8x), making it harder to escape from.
	+ Neutral attack's animation change very slightly reduces Mr. Game and Watch's hurtbox.
	+ Rapid jab's infinite hits deal less damage (1% → 0.8%).
	+ Rapid Jab Finisher has more endlag (FAF 24 → 35).
	+ Rapid Jab's infinite hits have an increased hitlag multiplier (0.5x → 0.7x), giving opponents more time to SDI each hit.
	+ Neutral attack's first hit has altered hitbox sizes (5.0u/4.0u/3.0u → 3.8u/4.3u/4.3u).
* Forward tilt:
	+ Forward tilt deals more damage (10%(clean chair)/9%(clean body)/4%(late) → 12%/10%/6%) with knockback only partially compensated on the clean chair (100 (scaling) → 96), improving its KO potential.
	+ The late hit has significantly increased knockback scaling (100 → 120 (against aerial opponents), 100 → 135 (against grounded opponents)).
	+ Forward tilt has reduced startup lag (frame 10 → 8).
	+ Forward tilt has a longer duration (frames 10 (clean)/11-17 (late) → 8-9/10-20).
	+ Forward tilt's hitboxes are smaller (4.8u → 4.0u (clean chair), 4.0u → 3.5u (clean body), 4.5u/3.5u → 3.3u/2.8u (late)).
	+ Forward tilt's sourspot hitbox has been moved further away from Mr. Game and Watch (Z offset: 5.0u → 7.0u), and the sweetspot has been moved closer to Mr. Game and Watch and upwards (Y offset: 4.0u → 4.5u, Z offset: 16.0u → 15.0u). This improves the move's vertical range, but slightly reduces its horizontal range.
	+ Mr. Game and Watch's animation change has him lean in further during the attack, improving its range, but hindering its safety.
* Up tilt:
	+ Up tilt has intangibility on both hands.
	+ Up tilt has less endlag (FAF 36 → 34).
	+ Up tilt's first hit now has weight independent set knockback (20 (base)/ 125/127 (scaling) → 60/80 (set)/100 (scaling)) and launches opponents into the second hit (100°/115° → 170°/145°), allowing it to connect into the second hit much more reliably.
	+ Up tilt's second hit launches at a more favorable angle for combos (115° → 75°).
	+ Up tilt's second hit deals altered knockback (30 (base)/127 (scaling) → 50/117), improving its KO potential overall.
	+ Up tilt's flags have smaller hitboxes (5.5u → 4.5u).
	+ Up tilt has Flag 1 and Flag 2 appear on each side of Mr. Game & Watch instead of above. While this increases its horizontal range, it effectively removes any anti-air potential it had.
	+ Up tilt's animation change reduces Mr. Game and Watch's hurtbox horizontally, but increases it vertically.
* Down tilt:
	+ Down tilt has increased base knockback (40 → 45) and deals more damage (6% → 9%) without full compensation for its knockback scaling (125 → 112), drastically increasing its knockback to a point where it's now the strongest down tilt in the game.
	+ Down tilt's animation change considerably lowers Mr. Game and Watch's hurtbox vertically.
	+ Down tilt has increased endlag (FAF 40 → 43).
	+ Down tilt has a shorter duration (frames 6-11 → 6-8).
	+ Down tilt's windbox has been removed. This disallows for juggling with windboxes, and potential recovery interruptions (such as when used against Ike's Quick Draw).
	+ Down tilt's hitbox has been replaced with two smaller ones (2.5u → 1.2u/1.2u).
		- Both hitboxes have been moved much closer to Mr. Game and Watch (Z offset: 12.0u → 6.7u (both)) and neither hitbox can hit aerial opponents, significantly hindering its range overall.
* Smash attacks:
	+ Due to Mr. Game & Watch not being animated while charging his smash attacks, the new smash attack charging mechanics make it difficult to tell when they are fully charged.
* Forward smash:
	+ Forward smash's sweetspot deals altered knockback (91 (scaling)/48 (base) → 97/46), improving its KO potential.
	+ Forward smash has gained an additional sweetspot hitbox in between the sourspot and sweetspot (5.3u → 2.9u/5.3u), while the sourspot has been slightly reduced to compensate (3.0u → 2.6u).
	+ Forward smash's sourspot has slightly less base knockback (44 → 42).
	+ Forward smash's angle is now slightly lower (53 → 48).
	+ Forward smash's sourspots and sweetspots have been moved closer to Mr. Game and Watch (Z offset: 11.0u → 7.8u (sourspot), 17.0u → 16.0u (sweetspot)) and upwards (Y offset: 3.5u → 5.3u (sourspot), 7.2u → 7.8u (sweetspot)).
		- This increases its vertical range.
		- Sourspot's pushed back hitbox, coupled with the newly added sweetspot hitbox, makes the sweetspot much easier to land.
		- This slightly reduces the horizontal range of the sweetspot.
* Up smash:
	+ Up smash has less startup lag (frame 24 → 21).
	+ Up smash has a longer duration (frames 24-25 → 21-25), much like its *Brawl* iteration.
	+ Up smash's invincibility frames now cover Mr. Game and Watch's entire body.
	+ Up smash's knockback scaling has been increased (93 → 98).
	+ Up smash's invincibility frames have now been changed from before attacking, to during the active attack frames (frames 4-25 → 21-25), noticeably hindering its use as an effective anti-air.
	+ Mr. Game & Watch faces away from the camera when using his up smash to the left.
* Down smash:
	+ Down smash now has the ability to bury opponents if the move is sweetspotted.
	+ Down smash's sourspot has significantly more knockback scaling (65 → 80).
	+ Down smash has less startup lag (frame 15 → 12), and less endlag (FAF 42 → 38).
	+ Down smash's sweetspots have been moved farther away from Mr. Game and Watch (Z offset: 12.0u → 14.0u, -12.0u → -14.0u), increasing the move's horizontal range.
	+ Down smash's sweetspots are slightly smaller (5.0u → 4.5u).
* Dash attack:
	+ Dash attack's hitboxes have been moved closer to Mr. Game and Watch (Z offset: 6.0u/6.0u → 5.0u/5.0u), reducing its horizontal range.

### Aerial attacks

* Neutral aerial, back aerial, and down aerial have less landing lag (12 → 7 frames (neutral), 19 → 18 frames (back), 28 → 22 frames (down)).
* Neutral aerial:
	+ All of neutral aerial's hits have significantly longer durations (frames 7/12/17/22 → 7-10/12-15/17-20/22-23), much like its *Brawl* iteration.
	+ It auto-cancels earlier (frame 44 → 42).
	+ The final hit has had its largest hitbox increased (7u → 7.5u).
	+ Neutral aerial has a slightly reduced hitlag multiplier (1x → 0.8x), making it harder to escape from.
	+ Neutral aerial's reduced landing lag allows the landing multihits to set-up up for many attacks, including down tilt and forward tilt at KO percents.
	+ Neutral aerial's multihits deal less damage (5% (hit 1)/4% (hit 2)/4%(hit 3)/4% (hit 4)/17% (overall) → 3%/3%/3%/4%/13%).
	+ The final hit has an increased hitlag multiplier (1x → 2x).
	+ Every hit except the final hit has had their large hitbox replaced with two smaller ones (5u → 2.5u/2.5u (hit 1), 5u → 3u/3u (hits 2-3)).
* Forward aerial:

### Special Moves

* Chef:
	+ Chef deals more damage (5% → 8% (pan), 4% → 5% (sausages)) without compensation for knockback, improving the pan's semi-spike and the sausage's hitstun and follow-up potential.
	+ Chef's food trajectory can be controlled.
	+ Chef has more endlag (FAF 50 → 55).
	+ Chef's animation change increases Mr. Game and Watch's hurtbox.
	+ Chef spans sausages at a slower rate when not tapping the special button repeatedly (23 frames → 32).
	+ Chef's pan hitbox has been replaced with two smaller ones (6.76u → 3.5u/4.2u).
* Judge:
	+ Judge's numbers now appear in a jumble, before settling on the decided number.
	+ Judge can no longer roll the same number twice in a row.
	+ Judge 2 no longer has a bonus trip chance.
	+ Judge 5's first 3 hits have less knockback (40 (base), 80 (scaling) → 15/25 (base), 60/70 (scaling)), making it easier to hit opponents multiple times at higher percents.
	+ Judge 7 now spawns three apples instead of one, allowing him to heal significantly more health once using the move, although the opponent can potentially heal on block or armored hit.
	+ Judge 7 launches at a higher angle (361° → 45°), and deals more base knockback (30 → 45), making it safer on hit at low percents.
	+ Judge 8 does more damage (9% → 13%), which makes the freeze effect last longer.
	+ Judge 8 deals less set knockback (70 → 60), slightly improving its gimping potential.
	+ Judge 9 has a larger hitbox (4.0u → 6.0u), now in line with the rest of the Judge numbers.
	+ Judge 9 has a much higher SDI multiplier (0 → 2), allowing the opponent to manipulate their launch position to improve their chances of surviving, thanks to the move's high hitlag.
	+ Judge 9 now triggers Special Zoom.
* Fire:
	+ Fire's windbox has been replaced with a frame 3 hitbox.
		- Fire's new frame 3 hitbox significantly improves its capabilities as an out-of-shield option and combo breaking tool.
	+ Fire now transitions into the parachute slightly faster (FAF 41 → 37).
* Oil Panic:
	+ Bucket Jumping returns from the previous title, increasing Mr. Game & Watch's horizontal recovery.
	+ Oil Panic now reflects physical projectiles in addition to absorbing energy-based projectiles.
	+ Oil Panic now begins absorbing 1 frame earlier (7 → 6).
	+ Oil Panic has reduced endlag (FAF 50 → 44).
	+ Oil Panic's loop has been standardized, allowing Mr. Game & Watch to immediately go into the recovery animation when the B button is released after frame 30.
	+ Mr. Game & Watch is no longer forced into another loop of Oil Panic after absorbing a projectile if the B button is not being held.
		- He also isn't put into the move's recovery animation, allowing him to act the moment intangibility ends.
	+ Mr. Game & Watch can no longer absorb projectiles during the recovery animation of Oil Panic, making him unable to do lagless absorptions.
	+ Oil Panic's damage multiplier has been reduced (2.8x → 2.0x).
	+ Oil Panic's minimum and maximum damage has been reduced in both respects.
		- Minimum damage decreased (18% → 16%).
		- Maximum damage decreased (60% → 48%).
	+ Oil Panic has less base knockback (30 → 25) and slightly less knockback growth on the later hits (80 → 78,76), further hindering it's OHKO potential, and making its less strong variants unsafe on hit at lower percents.
	+ Oil Panic's attack portion no longer has intangibility on frames 1-6.
	+ Oil Panic's attack has slightly smaller hitboxes overall (3.36u/4.8u/8.16u → 3.4u/4.5u/8u).
	+ Oil Panic triggers Special Zoom on any successful hit, and leaves the opponent covered in oil for a brief moment.
* Octopus's use has been altered. The octopus now rears back and charges forward, grabs opponents who touch its tentacles, and drags them offscreen. The main body deals damage instead of the tentacles. While this increases its KO potential, it also reduces its range, mobility and duration. A greenish-beige backdrop similar to that of a *Game & Watch* game temporarily appears during this Final Smash.{{\_%26\_Watch\_SSBU.png|250px]]

## How to unlock

Complete one of the following:

* Play VS. matches, with Mr. Game & Watch being the 52nd character to be unlocked.
* Clear Classic Mode with Pikachu or any character in its unlock tree, being the sixth character unlocked after Isabelle.

, he has fairly average walking and running speeds.

Unlike most other lightweights, Mr. Game and Watch possesses attacks with large disjointed hitboxes and has very powerful KO options. All of his smash attacks have very high power and low lag throughout, with each of them possessing unique attributes. Forward smash is among the strongest in the game if sweetspotted while having low startup lag and good range. Its sweetspot is also safe on shield. Up smash is also very strong, and comes with full body invincibility during and after its duration. While it has slow startup, it has minimal endlag and is completely safe on shield. Down smash sends opponents at an awkward semi-spike angle offstage, while its sweetspot buries opponents long enough to lead into a forward smash. It also has a very large hitbox, allowing it to easily 2-frame many recoveries. Like his other smash attacks, down smash is safe on shield when spaced properly. Overall, Mr. Game and Watch arguably possesses the best smash attacks in the game.

Outside of his smash attacks, Mr. Game and Watch's other moves have strong KOing potential. Forward tilt comes out quickly, has a lingering hitbox, and kills under 120% by the ledge. Down tilt lowers G&W's hurtbox to match his crouch, allowing him to whiff-punish certain attacks. It also possesses high power and semi-spikes opponents offstage, leading to edgeguards and killing outright at 100%. His new forward aerial's explosion kills opponents at 115% by the ledge, while his down aerial has been strengthened to become a viable kill move around 130%. Similarly, his back aerial now sends at a flatter angle, and the final hit possesses enough power to kill at 100% by the ledge. Oil Panic is a potent combo finisher with practically instantaneous startup lag, with its fairly large hitbox coming out on just frame 2, as well as extreme knockback that can kill at single digit percents when at max power. Compared to most characters and even compared to his previous iterations, Mr. Game and Watch possesses very strong KOing power.

Mr. Game and Watch also has a very potent combo and juggling game. Down throw combos into Oil Panic, Judge, and neutral air at low percentages. Chef can deal massive damage if multiple 'food' items hit, allowing it to get around 30-40% off of a single edgeguard. The pan also hits opponents into the stream of meat. Not only does Chef deal massive damage, but landing the move allows Mr. Game and Watch to follow up with a grab, forward aerial, forward tilt, or dash attack. Up tilt, though having worse range, deals high damage and combos into neutral aerial and Judge at low percentages. Once Mr. Game and Watch has his opponents above him, he can juggle them for massive damage using his up and neutral aerials. All in all, Mr. Game and Watch's strong KO power is also paired with highly damaging combos and juggles.

Lastly, Mr. Game and Watch possesses a fantastic recovery option, as well as large, disjointed aerials. This means that he is a formidable edgeguarder and is extremely hard to gimp himself. His up special, Fire, has frame 3 startup, invincibility in its early frames, and a strong upwards hitbox. This makes it deadly, as it can stage spike unwary opponents while also easily gimping characters with poor recoveries, like Chrom. It is also an extremely useful combo breaker and out-of-shield option due to its fast startup and invincibility. His back air, Turtle Bridge, is a large and disjointed multi-hit move that has high knockback at the final hit. Its large disjoint beats out a lot of recoveries that have hitboxes, and the multi-hit nature of the move makes it hard to tech for stage spikes and often drags opponents stuck in the move closer to the blast zone. For many characters, getting hit with Turtle Bridge is often fatal offstage. On the ledge, Chef punishes ledge hangers and covers getup attack and rolls (hit by the pan), forcing opponents to jump. This can easily allow Mr. Game and Watch to follow up with neutral aerial and force the opponent back offstage. His new forward aerial can be comboed into with Chef and has strong KO potential on its own. Overall, Mr. Game and Watch is extremely deadly off the level and at the ledge to all characters.

Despite these strengths, Mr. Game and Watch possesses very large weaknesses. He is tied with Squirtle being the third lightest character in the game, which makes his horizontal and vertical endurance absolutely terrible. In addition, despite having disjointed hotboxes, his overall range is merely average. This is worsened by the fact that many of his disjointed moves like down tilt, up tilt, and forward smash have subpar range for a disjoint. This makes characters like Ike and Cloud able to easily keep Mr. Game and Watch at arm's length. Also, while his new forward air possesses more damage and knockback, it disappears if it comes into contact with any other hitbox. This makes it unsuitable for approaching and forces Mr. Game and Watch to approach with his back air constantly. It also a much more situational move in general, due to its higher lag and delayed hitbox, as the bomb will only explode upon touching the ground or waiting for half a second. He also has a poor approach because his aerials don't autocancel in a short hop and his ground speed is poor. Due to this, he has a lackluster neutral game. His grab and throw game is also poor: his down throw is his only throw that can KO below 200%, but it has lost its combo potential beyond low percents, while his other throws are not good for KOing or combos.

Finally, Mr. Game and Watch's rolls, techs, and spotdodges are slow, laggy, and very punishable, giving him a poor defensive game. Combined with his low weight, they are often too risky to use effectively.

All in all, Mr. Game and Watch is a very powerful glass cannon. He possesses extremely high damage output and powerful KO options while being extremely vulnerable himself due to his light weight and laggy defensive options.

## Changes from *Super Smash Bros. 4*

Mr. Game and Watch, in a similar fashion to Link, has received a major overhaul in his moveset that goes beyond changes to aesthetic appearances; a majority of his moves have been altered in range, damage, knockback, lag, or have been completely reworked altogether. As a result, Mr. Game and Watch has undergone a plethora of buffs and nerfs in his transition to *Ultimate* - arguably more than any other returning veteran - but has been buffed overall.

Mr. Game and Watch's KO potential has been improved. A majority of his regular moves, including forward tilt and down tilt, have much stronger knockback, with the latter now capable of KOing as early as 100%. The ability to run cancel improves the utility of these attacks further, and now gives Mr. Game and Watch quick KO options he didn't have access to *SSB4*. To further add to this, his smash attacks are stronger as well. Down smash was significantly improved as it now has much less start-up lag and is also capable of burying opponents when sweetspotted. This can lead to a forward smash for early guarantee KO setups. Forward smash also has improved knockback, and is easier to sweetspot, making it a more potent punishing move. Lastly, up smash has increased knockback scaling, a longer duration, and now has Mr. Game and Watch completely invincible during the attack. Mr. Game and Watch has gained a new forward aerial: An attack in which he drops a bomb in front of him, a move that seems to be based off of either *Mario's Bombs Away*, *Bomb Sweeper*, or *Safebuster*, all of which featured similar bombs. Compared to his old aerial, the move's explosion has stronger knockback and damage output, making it a more reliable KO move than his old forward aerial.

Mr. Game and Watch's edgeguarding potential has also been buffed considerably. Back aerial and down aerial are stronger, leading them to become stronger options to punish opponents who are offstage. Chef's trajectory can now be controlled, which makes it easier to catch opponents who are trying to reach for the ledge and is now more effective keeping control of neutral. Lastly, Mr. Game and Watch's new forward aerial's explosion can cover the entire ledge of a stage, making it a more potent option than his old forward aerial, and the bomb itself is good to use as an edgeguarding option against opponents offstage.

Additionally, Mr. Game and Watch now possesses stronger OoS options and juggling tools. Changes to neutral aerial's landing lag and lingering hitboxes allow it to catch opponents above him more effectively, and can even it allow it to combo into itself at lower percents. Mr. Game and Watch has gained a new up air, in which he shoots a projectile upwards in the form of a single puff, functioning very similarly to Mega Man's up air. This projectile has much more range than his old up air, and is more reliable for keeping opponents trapped in it, improving its juggling potential considerably. Fire now has a frame 3 hitbox that replaces its windbox from *SSB4*, making it a much stronger OoS, and can even be followed up with a neutral aerial or up aerial to keep opponents in the air for even longer.

Mr. Game and Watch's attacks have increased utility overall: Mr. Game and Watch's new forward aerial possesses more versatility than his old forward aerial; it can be used as a combo starter, a shield pressuring tool, and a landing option, as it is much safer on block in comparison. Neutral aerial's landing weak hits can now be used as a KO confirm at higher percents (particularly into down tilt), forward tilt has a much longer duration, making it an effective option for both 2-framing and spotdodging, and up tilt's hits connect into each other much more reliably, improving its consistency and combo potential. Mr. Game and Watch now sports a much more disjointed dash and pivot grab, giving it effective reach. Lastly, Oil Panic can now reflect physical projectiles in addition to absorbing energy-based projectiles, and Judge's numbers 7, 8, and 9 have improved.

However, Mr. Game and Watch has received notable nerfs. His two most potent strengths from *SSB4* - his up smash and down throw setups - have been toned down considerably. Down throw now deals much more knockback, removing its follow-up potential at higher percents; compounded with the changes to his up aerial, which has lost all of its KO potential, this effectively removes his strong (though inconsistent) down-throw-to-up-aerial KO confirm from *SSB4*, dubbed the "Toot Toot". Despite the start-up reduction to up smash, it has lost all of its invincibility frames during the move's start-up, making it much less effective as an anti-air, and allows opponents to challenge it easier. While his new forward aerial possesses more utility than his old forward aerial, it has much weaker priority overall, making it a riskier option to challenge opponents in the air with. Additionally, many of Mr. Game and Watch's new animations have resulted in hitbox reductions for several of his attacks, including forward tilt, up aerial, up tilt, and most notably, his down tilt, the latter of which is now incapable of hitting aerial opponents altogether. This reduces Mr. Game and Watch's deceptive reach, and requires him to be closer towards opponents more often than before. . Lastly, despite his improvements, Mr. Game and Watch retains some of the same issues from his *SSB4* counterpart, notably his poor endurance, limited reach outside of back aerial, ineffective throws barring down throw, and a lack of reliable approach options, with the buffs to his neutral aerial and Chef failing to fully address this issue.

Overall, while Mr. Game and Watch generally retains much of his bait-and-punish playstyle from *SSB4*, the adjustments and increased utility he received to several of his attacks have led him to become more of a jack-of-all-trades type of character. Though competitive reception of Mr. Game and Watch was initially negative (with Template:Sm in particular highlighting Mr. Game and Watch as the 2nd worst character in the game), he has shown moderate success in the tournament scene thanks to the efforts of players including Template:Sm, Template:Sm, Template:Sm, and Template:Sm, with Maister notably defeating players such as Template:Sm, Template:Sm, and Template:Sm, while placing 1st at Template:Trn, Template:Trn and Template:Trn and 3rd at Template:Trn. This has garnered Mr. Game and Watch a more positive competitive reception overall, where notable players such as Template:Sm, Template:Sm, Template:Sm, Template:Sm, and Template:Sm either view him as a well-rounded upper mid-tier character, or even a solid high-tier character with the potential to be tournament viable. Notably, Template:Sm now regards him as a high tier character, indicating that G&W was better than first realized. Overall, Mr. Game and Watch is considered to fare better than both his *SSB4* and *Melee* counterparts, though his overall viability compared to his *Brawl* counterpart currently remains up for debate, as while his performances at regionals and super-regionals have been remarkable, his performances at majors has been generally below average.

### Aesthetics

* Mr. Game & Watch's base model is unaltered from the previous installment; however, the following moves temporarily alter his appearance to resemble the characters from the Template:Uv games they are based on:
	+ Neutral attack (*Greenhouse*), forward tilt (*Lion*), up tilt (*Flagman*), down tilt (*Manhole*), forward smash (*Fire Attack*), down smash (*Vermin*), up aerial (*Spitball Sparky*), all throws (*Ball*), Chef, Judge and Oil Panic.
* Like in *Melee*, Mr. Game & Watch now makes a noise when getting KOed, and he also has a new sound for getting Star KOed. Both use the sound of his up and side taunts.
* Mr. Game & Watch's walking animation has been changed; now looking less flippant.
* Mr. Game & Watch has a new victory animation where he juggles balls using his appearance from *Ball.* This replaces the victory pose where he jumps up and down.
* Mr. Game & Watch's mouth is open during his clapping animation, similar to his *Melee* appearance.

### Attributes

* Due to the universal buff to all characters, Mr. Game & Watch's jumpsquat animation now takes three frames to complete (down from 5).
* Mr. Game & Watch dashes faster (1.5264 → 1.679).
* Mr. Game & Watch's initial dash is significantly faster (1.5 → 1.98).
* Mr. Game & Watch walks slightly faster (1.1242 → 1.18).
* Mr. Game and Watch's traction has been significantly increased (0.06 → 0.131), now tied for the 5th highest in the entire game.
* Mr. Game & Watch's air speed is slightly higher (1.12 → 1.176).
* Spotdodge has slightly increased start-up lag (frames 2-16 → 3-17).
	+ Spotdodge has reduced endlag (FAF 26 → 22).
* Forward roll has slightly more endlag (FAF 30 → 31), and a shorter duration (frames 4-16 → 4-15).
* Backward roll has more endlag (FAF 30 → 36), slightly increased start-up lag, and a shorter duration (frames 4-16 → 5-16).
* Neutral air dodge has slightly increased start-up lag (frame 2 → 3) and significantly increased endlag (FAF 32 → 60).
	+ Neutral air dodge has a slightly longer duration (frames 2-26 → 3-28).
	+ Neutral air dodge has less landing lag (22 → 10 frames).
	+ The re-introduction of directional airdodges improves Mr. Game and Watch's recovery, as he can airdodge after using Fire to gain slightly more distance.

### Ground attacks

* Neutral attack
	+ Neutral attack no longer pushes Mr. Game & Watch as far back as previously.
	+ Neutral attack can now jab reset.
	+ Rapid Jab Finisher deals more damage (2% → 3%), without full compensation to the knockback (180 (scaling) → 160).
	+ Rapid Jab Finisher has a slightly bigger hitbox (5.5u/4.0u → 6.0u/4.0u).
	+ Rapid Jab Finisher's farthest hitbox has been moved upward (Y offset: 8.5u → 9.5u), improving its vertical range.
	+ Rapid jab's infinite hits have a reduced SDI multiplier (1x → 0.8x), making it harder to escape from.
	+ Neutral attack's animation change very slightly reduces Mr. Game and Watch's hurtbox.
	+ Rapid jab's infinite hits deal less damage (1% → 0.8%).
	+ Rapid Jab Finisher has more endlag (FAF 24 → 35).
	+ Rapid Jab's infinite hits have an increased hitlag multiplier (0.5x → 0.7x), giving opponents more time to SDI each hit.
	+ Neutral attack's first hit has altered hitbox sizes (5.0u/4.0u/3.0u → 3.8u/4.3u/4.3u).
* Forward tilt:
	+ Forward tilt deals more damage (10%(clean chair)/9%(clean body)/4%(late) → 12%/10%/6%) with knockback only partially compensated on the clean chair (100 (scaling) → 96), improving its KO potential.
	+ The late hit has significantly increased knockback scaling (100 → 120 (against aerial opponents), 100 → 135 (against grounded opponents)).
	+ Forward tilt has reduced startup lag (frame 10 → 8).
	+ Forward tilt has a longer duration (frames 10 (clean)/11-17 (late) → 8-9/10-20).
	+ Forward tilt's hitboxes are smaller (4.8u → 4.0u (clean chair), 4.0u → 3.5u (clean body), 4.5u/3.5u → 3.3u/2.8u (late)).
	+ Forward tilt's sourspot hitbox has been moved further away from Mr. Game and Watch (Z offset: 5.0u → 7.0u), and the sweetspot has been moved closer to Mr. Game and Watch and upwards (Y offset: 4.0u → 4.5u, Z offset: 16.0u → 15.0u). This improves the move's vertical range, but slightly reduces its horizontal range.
	+ Mr. Game and Watch's animation change has him lean in further during the attack, improving its range, but hindering its safety.
* Up tilt:
	+ Up tilt has intangibility on both hands.
	+ Up tilt has less endlag (FAF 36 → 34).
	+ Up tilt's first hit now has weight independent set knockback (20 (base)/ 125/127 (scaling) → 60/80 (set)/100 (scaling)) and launches opponents into the second hit (100°/115° → 170°/145°), allowing it to connect into the second hit much more reliably.
	+ Up tilt's second hit launches at a more favorable angle for combos (115° → 75°).
	+ Up tilt's second hit deals altered knockback (30 (base)/127 (scaling) → 50/117), improving its KO potential overall.
	+ Up tilt's flags have smaller hitboxes (5.5u → 4.5u).
	+ Up tilt has Flag 1 and Flag 2 appear on each side of Mr. Game & Watch instead of above. While this increases its horizontal range, it effectively removes any anti-air potential it had.
	+ Up tilt's animation change reduces Mr. Game and Watch's hurtbox horizontally, but increases it vertically.
* Down tilt:
	+ Down tilt has increased base knockback (40 → 45) and deals more damage (6% → 9%) without full compensation for its knockback scaling (125 → 112), drastically increasing its knockback to a point where it's now the strongest down tilt in the game.
	+ Down tilt's animation change considerably lowers Mr. Game and Watch's hurtbox vertically.
	+ Down tilt has increased endlag (FAF 40 → 43).
	+ Down tilt has a shorter duration (frames 6-11 → 6-8).
	+ Down tilt's windbox has been removed. This disallows for juggling with windboxes, and potential recovery interruptions (such as when used against Ike's Quick Draw).
	+ Down tilt's hitbox has been replaced with two smaller ones (2.5u → 1.2u/1.2u).
		- Both hitboxes have been moved much closer to Mr. Game and Watch (Z offset: 12.0u → 6.7u (both)) and neither hitbox can hit aerial opponents, significantly hindering its range overall.
* Smash attacks:
	+ Due to Mr. Game & Watch not being animated while charging his smash attacks, the new smash attack charging mechanics make it difficult to tell when they are fully charged.
* Forward smash:
	+ Forward smash's sweetspot deals altered knockback (91 (scaling)/48 (base) → 97/46), improving its KO potential.
	+ Forward smash has gained an additional sweetspot hitbox in between the sourspot and sweetspot (5.3u → 2.9u/5.3u), while the sourspot has been slightly reduced to compensate (3.0u → 2.6u).
	+ Forward smash's sourspot has slightly less base knockback (44 → 42).
	+ Forward smash's angle is now slightly lower (53 → 48).
	+ Forward smash's sourspots and sweetspots have been moved closer to Mr. Game and Watch (Z offset: 11.0u → 7.8u (sourspot), 17.0u → 16.0u (sweetspot)) and upwards (Y offset: 3.5u → 5.3u (sourspot), 7.2u → 7.8u (sweetspot)).
		- This increases its vertical range.
		- Sourspot's pushed back hitbox, coupled with the newly added sweetspot hitbox, makes the sweetspot much easier to land.
		- This slightly reduces the horizontal range of the sweetspot.
* Up smash:
	+ Up smash has less startup lag (frame 24 → 21).
	+ Up smash has a longer duration (frames 24-25 → 21-25), much like its *Brawl* iteration.
	+ Up smash's invincibility frames now cover Mr. Game and Watch's entire body.
	+ Up smash's knockback scaling has been increased (93 → 98).
	+ Up smash's invincibility frames have now been changed from before attacking, to during the active attack frames (frames 4-25 → 21-25), noticeably hindering its use as an effective anti-air.
	+ Mr. Game & Watch faces away from the camera when using his up smash to the left.
* Down smash:
	+ Down smash now has the ability to bury opponents if the move is sweetspotted.
	+ Down smash's sourspot has significantly more knockback scaling (65 → 80).
	+ Down smash has less startup lag (frame 15 → 12), and less endlag (FAF 42 → 38).
	+ Down smash's sweetspots have been moved farther away from Mr. Game and Watch (Z offset: 12.0u → 14.0u, -12.0u → -14.0u), increasing the move's horizontal range.
	+ Down smash's sweetspots are slightly smaller (5.0u → 4.5u).
* Dash attack:
	+ Dash attack's hitboxes have been moved closer to Mr. Game and Watch (Z offset: 6.0u/6.0u → 5.0u/5.0u), reducing its horizontal range.

### Aerial attacks

* Neutral aerial, back aerial, and down aerial have less landing lag (12 → 7 frames (neutral), 19 → 18 frames (back), 28 → 22 frames (down)).
* Neutral aerial:
	+ All of neutral aerial's hits have significantly longer durations (frames 7/12/17/22 → 7-10/12-15/17-20/22-23), much like its *Brawl* iteration.
	+ It auto-cancels earlier (frame 44 → 42).
	+ The final hit has had its largest hitbox increased (7u → 7.5u).
	+ Neutral aerial has a slightly reduced hitlag multiplier (1x → 0.8x), making it harder to escape from.
	+ Neutral aerial's reduced landing lag allows the landing multihits to set-up up for many attacks, including down tilt and forward tilt at KO percents.
	+ Neutral aerial's multihits deal less damage (5% (hit 1)/4% (hit 2)/4%(hit 3)/4% (hit 4)/17% (overall) → 3%/3%/3%/4%/13%).
	+ The final hit has an increased hitlag multiplier (1x → 2x).
	+ Every hit except the final hit has had their large hitbox replaced with two smaller ones (5u → 2.5u/2.5u (hit 1), 5u → 3u/3u (hits 2-3)).
* Forward aerial:

### Special Moves

* Chef:
	+ Chef deals more damage (5% → 8% (pan), 4% → 5% (sausages)) without compensation for knockback, improving the pan's semi-spike and the sausage's hitstun and follow-up potential.
	+ Chef's food trajectory can be controlled.
	+ Chef has more endlag (FAF 50 → 55).
	+ Chef's animation change increases Mr. Game and Watch's hurtbox.
	+ Chef spans sausages at a slower rate when not tapping the special button repeatedly (23 frames → 32).
	+ Chef's pan hitbox has been replaced with two smaller ones (6.76u → 3.5u/4.2u).
* Judge:
	+ Judge's numbers now appear in a jumble, before settling on the decided number.
	+ Judge can no longer roll the same number twice in a row.
	+ Judge 2 no longer has a bonus trip chance.
	+ Judge 5's first 3 hits have less knockback (40 (base), 80 (scaling) → 15/25 (base), 60/70 (scaling)), making it easier to hit opponents multiple times at higher percents.
	+ Judge 7 now spawns three apples instead of one, allowing him to heal significantly more health once using the move, although the opponent can potentially heal on block or armored hit.
	+ Judge 7 launches at a higher angle (361° → 45°), and deals more base knockback (30 → 45), making it safer on hit at low percents.
	+ Judge 8 does more damage (9% → 13%), which makes the freeze effect last longer.
	+ Judge 8 deals less set knockback (70 → 60), slightly improving its gimping potential.
	+ Judge 9 has a larger hitbox (4.0u → 6.0u), now in line with the rest of the Judge numbers.
	+ Judge 9 has a much higher SDI multiplier (0 → 2), allowing the opponent to manipulate their launch position to improve their chances of surviving, thanks to the move's high hitlag.
	+ Judge 9 now triggers Special Zoom.
* Fire:
	+ Fire's windbox has been replaced with a frame 3 hitbox.
		- Fire's new frame 3 hitbox significantly improves its capabilities as an out-of-shield option and combo breaking tool.
	+ Fire now transitions into the parachute slightly faster (FAF 41 → 37).
* Oil Panic:
	+ Bucket Jumping returns from the previous title, increasing Mr. Game & Watch's horizontal recovery.
	+ Oil Panic now reflects physical projectiles in addition to absorbing energy-based projectiles.
	+ Oil Panic now begins absorbing 1 frame earlier (7 → 6).
	+ Oil Panic has reduced endlag (FAF 50 → 44).
	+ Oil Panic's loop has been standardized, allowing Mr. Game & Watch to immediately go into the recovery animation when the B button is released after frame 30.
	+ Mr. Game & Watch is no longer forced into another loop of Oil Panic after absorbing a projectile if the B button is not being held.
		- He also isn't put into the move's recovery animation, allowing him to act the moment intangibility ends.
	+ Mr. Game & Watch can no longer absorb projectiles during the recovery animation of Oil Panic, making him unable to do lagless absorptions.
	+ Oil Panic's damage multiplier has been reduced (2.8x → 2.0x).
	+ Oil Panic's minimum and maximum damage has been reduced in both respects.
		- Minimum damage decreased (18% → 16%).
		- Maximum damage decreased (60% → 48%).
	+ Oil Panic has less base knockback (30 → 25) and slightly less knockback growth on the later hits (80 → 78,76), further hindering it's OHKO potential, and making its less strong variants unsafe on hit at lower percents.
	+ Oil Panic's attack portion no longer has intangibility on frames 1-6.
	+ Oil Panic's attack has slightly smaller hitboxes overall (3.36u/4.8u/8.16u → 3.4u/4.5u/8u).
	+ Oil Panic triggers Special Zoom on any successful hit, and leaves the opponent covered in oil for a brief moment.
* Octopus's use has been altered. The octopus now rears back and charges forward, grabs opponents who touch its tentacles, and drags them offscreen. The main body deals damage instead of the tentacles. While this increases its KO potential, it also reduces its range, mobility and duration. A greenish-beige backdrop similar to that of a *Game & Watch* game temporarily appears during this Final Smash.