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Super Smash Bros. Melee Character FAQ and Move List by Alasdair Lo
System: Nintendo Gamecube
E-mail: kylohk@netvigator.com
Date: 30 May, 2004
Version 2.1
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Contents
1. Introduction
2. Updates 
3. Disclaimer
4. The Scoring System
5. Basics
6. The Different Classes of Characters
7. Character Moves, Comparisons and Strategies by Division:
     a. Mario Division
     b. Realistic Division
     c. Light Division
8. Final Overall Analysis
     a. Mario Division
     b. Realistic Division
     c. Light Division
9. Strategies for 1 Player Mode
	a. Regular Match
	b. Stadium
10. The Items
11. Conclusion
Appendix I. Feedback Information
---------------
1. Introduction
---------------
I must say, the Nintendo Exclusive Super Smash Bros. Melee is my favorite 
and one and only fighting game that I play. After all, my parents do not 
allow me and discourage me to play other fighting games of the genre. 
I remember when I was 9, and I got Super Street Fighter for my SNES, and 
my parents said, "Too violent! Don't play this!" But when they saw this 
game, they only laughed. 

Oh well, I AM surprised that this innovative fighting game got a Teen 
rating from the ESRB! Of course, in every fighting game, each character 
has their own special attributes, and the purpose of this guide is to 
show you where each character's (At least the first 14's) strengths and 
weaknesses are, and to tell you some basic strategies to make the better 
use of a character. Of course, each character's special moves will be 
listed out as well. As a result, I think this guide also serves as a move 
list of sorts. The same scoring system used in my Command and Conquer: 
Generals Zero Hour Side Comparison Guide will be used, only that I will 
alter the comparisons a bit here and there. Eventually, even each class 
of items will be listed out and compared. Of course, the comparisons are 
based on my own opinions and observations, so don't be surprised if you 
have any disagreements with my guide. In conclusion, this strategy guide 
is about 75% fact, 25% opinion. Feel free to ignore the comparisons if 
you only want the facts.

Of course, as I have only given you the basic pointers of this game, feel 
free to experiment on your own and find your own perfect formula.  If you 
have any special tactics, FEEL FREE TO E-MAIL ME.

---------------
2. Updates
---------------
Version 2.1:
Added the strategies for the Home Run Contest for the other 9 characters.

Version 2.0:
Added the strategies for the Home Run Contest for Mario, Peach, Yoshi, 
Donkey Kong and Bowser.

Version 1.9:
Adde the strategies for the Target Test concerning Kirby, Pikachu, Ness 
and Ice Climbers.

Version 1.8: 
Added the strategies for the Target Test concerning Fox, Captain Falcon, 
Samus, Link and Zelda.

Version 1.7:
Added the strategies for the Target Test concerning Mario, Peach, Yoshi, 
Donkey Kong and Bowser.

Version 1.6:
Added tips concerning the usage of Shooting Items.

Version 1.5:
Modified the introduction, emphasizing that people can e-mail me if they 
have thought of any new strategies for each character.

Version 1.4:
Used Notepad to fix the horrible formatting in Chapter 8. Added the 
learning curve for the 14 Characters. (The unlockable characters have 
not been added yet.)

Version 1.3:
Added a section that analyzes the scores of each character and to expose 
each characters' "true" strength.

Version 1.2:
Added the strategies for the Throwing Items.

Version 1.1:
Added the strategies for the usage of certain items.

---------------
3. Disclaimer
---------------
I must say, for any fighting games like Super Smash Bros. Melee, people 
will always argue about which character is better. It is obvious that 
each character has their own assortment of fanboys and fangirls. So, before 
we begin, I must stress that this guide is based on MY (I must stress 
this) own views. As OPINIONS ARE NOT EQUAL TO FACTS, do not send in e-mail 
saying that I am a liar or whatever, as my eyes do not fool me.

For some, not all of the moves, I will provide some strategies concerning 
their usage. If you have any other ideas, feel free to e-mail me to share 
with me.

The comparisons in this guide are based on multiplayer games played at 
home, and not at Nintendo Gamecube tournaments. Of course, there is no 
need to worry about any online games, as you cannot play online with this 
game!!! Get the point?

The comparisons are based on many factors, such as attack power, impact 
force, their speed, their armor, their ease of use and so on. Each factor 
is given a different weight, of course, different types of moves and 
properties have different weights on their factors, fir instance, for 
Smash Attacks, impact force and hit damage are 2 important things, so 
I give them a better weighting. 

For each character, I will now tell you which factors I compare them by 
which factors. Sometimes, I will determine which unit is better by 
performing a test run with each character while I play a multiplayer game 
with my best friends. So, all those scores are BASED ON MY OWN OBSERVATIONS. 
So, as my Pure Mathematics Algebra Teacher likes to say when he spots 
a student cheating, "DON"T ARGUE WITH MY OBSERVATIONS!"

So, in conclusion, it is just normal for readers to disagree with this 
guide, and if you have any opinions, feel free to e-mail me and express 
it. Please express yourself in a more polite manner, or I will regard 
that as flame, and delete. Of course, each character will have their own 
special moves and skills that are worth trying out yourself. If you have 
bought this game so as to only play with only one character, then you 
will not be able to unlock any secrets, and of course, would hardly worth 
the money you spent on the game. So, play as all characters at least one 
to get the 1-P mode victories for maximum enjoyment!!!

----------------------------------
4. More about the Scoring System
----------------------------------
It is typical for many fighting games to include stats for each character, 
but this is something that Super Smash Bros. Melee is lacking. So, I will 
carry out some tests on characters and give them some customized stats 
which is the scoring system.

For each unit, I will now tell you which factors I compare them by. Sometimes, 
I will determine which unit is better by performing a test run with each 
unit while I play a multiplayer game with my best friends, some of them 
are tested in training mode, and some are tested in the Adventure Mode. 
So, all those scores are BASED ON MY OWN OBSERVATIONS. So, as my Pure 
Mathematics Algebra Teacher likes to say when he spots a student cheating, 
"DON'T ARGUE WITH MY OBSERVATIONS!"

For simplicity, the 25 characters to be compared in this game are grouped 
by how they appear in the event battles. I know 3 of the groups are well 
defined while 2 of them a vague, but really, this grouping is only a matter 
of my style.

Some factors compared include:
Weight (How far a character is sent flying when he or she gets hit by 
an attack with a high impact force)
Versatility (How flexible and agile a character is, this does not only 
include speed)
Jumping Ability
Standard Attacks
Smash Attacks
Special Attacks
Other notable characteristics

Another rule I make when comparing characters is that. If some characters 
in the same category have attack capabilities, while the other has not. 
I will automatically give the unit without any attack power a 0.

Each group in the game may have 4 to 6 characters. The character who is 
the strongest in that ability is given the highest score, while the 2nd 
is given the 2nd highest score and so on. This is how the points are awarded:

For the groups with 6 characters:
Winner: 10 points
2nd Place: 7 points
3rd Place: 5 points
4th Place: 3 points
5th Place: 2 points
6th Place: 1 Point

For the groups with 5 characters:
Winner: 8 points
2nd Place: 5 points
3rd Place: 3 points
4th Place: 2 Points
5th Place: 1 Point

For the group with 4 characters:
Winner: 7 points
2nd Place: 5 points
3rd Place: 3 points
4th Place: 1 point

The whole point of such arrangements is to clearly separate the strong 
from the weak. As simple is that.

Although there must be a winner in the final score, having the highest 
score DOES NOT imply that character is the strongest. It just implies 
that side is all rounded. So, no more e-mails about how biased I am towards 
a character. Or else expect to get blacklisted. Read the Appendix I: 
Feedback Information for the rules to be observed when sending me feedback.

---------------
5. Basics
---------------
Walking and running:
To walk, hold the Control Stick in the horizontal direction you want your 
character to walk in. To make him/her/them run, TAP the control stick 
in the direction required.

Jumping:
To jump, press up on the control stick, or diagonally upwards in the 
direction you want your character to jump. However, I personally recommend 
using the Y Button to jump, as it is more user-friendly. For me, at least.

Attacking:
A Button is the ordinary attack button. Press A repeatedly and your 
character will perform a multiple hit combo on the enemy. Press A while 
holding a Control Stick in the desired direction will cause your character 
to perform a strong attack in the desired direction. Press A while tapping 
the Control Stick in the desired direction will cause your character to 
perform a Smash Attack in the desired direction. As simple as that. 
Pressing A while your character is in the air with or without holding 
the Control Stick will cause your character to perform a Mid-air attack 
in the desired direction.

Grabbing and Throwing:
Press Z to grab an enemy, A to hit him/her a couple of times and then 
tap the control stick in the direction you want to throw him/her in. 
Pressing A while holding the R button also works.

Protective Measures:
Press R or L while standing to pull up a shield, and R or L while in midair 
to perform an air dodge. If you tilt the control stick in any of the 
directions, you can air dodge anywhere you like. Another thing that you 
can do with the air-dodge is to regain control more quickly after 
performing an air attack. After you have attacked, press L or R and your 
character will perform an air dodge, fall to the ground quicker and you 
can move him/her away faster.

Special Moves:
Press B alone or accompanied by a tilt of the Control Stick to perform 
a special move unique to that character.

Using Items:
Sometimes, in a middle of a fight, an item will appear. Go over to the 
item and press A to use it. Some items like food or healing items will 
take effect as soon as you press A. The others will be grabbed. For throwing 
items, capsules and carriers, Press A again to throw. For the other items, 
Press A to shoot or bash your enemies with the item. To throw those away. 
Press Z, preferably at your enemies to hurt them!

---------------
6. The Groups
---------------
Mario Division:

Characters included: Mario, Peach, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Bowser
These are the characters you will face in the first All-Star Event Battle 
Match in the single player Event Battle Mode. They all have something 
in common, it is that they all have first appeared in Mario franchised 
related games. Of course, all of these characters are playable right at 
the start of the game. In this group, there are two newcomers to the Super 
Smash Bros. series. They are Princess Peach Toadstool and of course, the 
ultimate nemesis of Mario, Bowser!

Realistic Division:

Characters included: Fox, Captain Falcon, Samus, Link, Zelda
These are the characters you will face in the second All-Star Even Battle 
Match in the single player Event Battle Mode. The reason, I guess for 
all of these characters to be known as "realistic stars", is that well, 
the storyline of their game is rather realistic and probably futuristic. 
I guess. Again, these characters are playable right at the beginning of 
the game. There is a single newcomer to the series here. She is Zelda, 
the usual "damsel in distress" of the Legend of Zelda series! (God knows 
why it is called the Legend of Zelda, but not the Legend of Link.)

Light Division:

Characters included: Pikachu, Kirby, Ness, Ice Climbers
These are the characters you will face in the third All-Star Battle Match 
in the single player Event Battle mode. All of these characters, as the 
name of this division suggests is lightweight. Besides, they are just 
so cute and fuzzy! Ooooo! Only kidding! Of course, as they are so small 
in size, they really are the most versatile characters in this game. All 
of these characters are playable right at the beginning of the game. There 
is again, a single newcomer to the series here, and they are the Ice Climbers. 
I said they because two if them do come at the same time.

Secret Division:

Characters included: Luigi, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Mr. Game and Watch, Marth
These characters will be faced in the fourth All-Stars Battle Match in 
the single player Event battle Mode. They take up the 5 slots on the 
character select screen marked with a question mark. They are not available 
right at the start of the game, and are to be unlocked by special methods, 
which are not to be discussed here.

Clone Division:

Characters included: Dr. Mario, Ganondorf, Falco Lombardi, Young Link, 
Pichu, Roy
These characters will be faced in the fifth and final All-Star Battle 
Match in the single player Event Battle Mode. These characters appear 
in blocks that are next two and are slightly lower than the characters 
on the edge of the entire "frame" of the character select screen. They 
are called clones because they have moves EXTREMELY similar to those of 
the original one, but with slight variations here and there. Again, they 
are not available right at the start of the game, and are to be unlocked 
by special methods, which are not to be discussed here.

---------------------------------------------------
7. Character Strategies and Comparisons by Division
---------------------------------------------------

------------------
a. Mario Division
------------------
There are in total 5 characters in this group for comparison.

------------------------------------
Short Introduction of the Characters
------------------------------------
Mario:
Yes, our good old Mario started as Jumpman in the 1980 Donkey Kong arcade 
game to save his girlfriend from the dreaded Donkey Kong. But it was not 
until the first Super Mario Bros. Title appeared on the NES that he became 
famous. Since then, Mario has been involved in many action/adventure, 
sports, puzzle and party games on the SNES, Nintendo 64 and the Nintendo 
Gamecube. As if Nintendo didn't like him enough, he also got to be the 
victim in Luigi's Mansion released back in 2001 with the Nintendo 
Gamecube's release! Of course, Mario, in general is the most balanced 
character in this division, I guess the programmers like to set Mario 
as the "reference" character or something like that.

Learning Curve: Easy

Note: The stronger a character is, the harder it is to master him/her/them. 
Therefore, the learning curve of a character is inversely proportional 
to his/her/their total score in the end.

Peach:
A newcomer to the Super Smash Bros. Series, our princess in pink Peach 
Toadstool has some tricks up her sleeve. She appeared in the 1984 Super 
Smash Bros. Game on the NES, and has been the damsel in distress in the 
Super Mario series for the 20th year up to 2004! The only time she was 
playable was in Super Mario Bros. 2, where you get to control your character 
in a Dream World, tossing vegetables around! She is also one of the few 
characters in the game whose voice is played by a non-Japanese voice 
actress! Listen to her voices and you will see!

Learning Curve: Easy

Yoshi:
There is more than one type of Yoshi, as there are 4 different colours 
initially and many more in the coming games, but the green variant of 
Yoshi is the most popular. Yoshi first appeared in Super Mario World for 
the SNES back in 1990 as Mario's "horse", and this Green Saddled Dinosaur 
became so popular that he had his own games made for him like Yoshi's 
Island. Yoshis are obviously capable for asexual reproduction, as even 
the male can lay eggs! After some time apart, Mario and Yoshi were finally 
reunited in Super Mario Sunshine, and he gets to be ridden by Mario!

Learning Curve: Medium

Donkey Kong:
This giant gorilla was once Mario's worst enemy in the old Donkey Kong 
arcade games. But DK, as we know it, got a new start by Rare Corporation 
as he had his own series of Adventure Games called Donkey Kong Country 
for the SNES and Donkey Kong Land for the Game Boy. For some strange reason, 
Donkey Kong was the hero in the first episode but was the victim in the 
2nd and the 3rd! But still, he got a comeback in Donkey Kong 64 as the 
lead character. It is a pity that Donkey Kong will not have any more 
adventure games to be released even 3 years after the Release of the 
Gamecube. But still, you will never know.

Learning Curve: Hard

Bowser:
Yes, this is the character that everyone loves to hate. He is Bowser, 
the King of the Koopas! This newcomer to the Super Smash Bros. Series 
has been Mario's enemy since the first Super Mario Bros. game for the 
NES! When will he ever give up? There is almost not a single Mario adventure 
game without Bowser! Of course, in all sports games like Mario Kart, Bowser 
was allocated into the extreme Heavyweight group! And of course, in Super 
Smash Bros. Melee, this is not an exception. 

Learning Curve: Hard

-----------------
Basic comparisons
-----------------
Weight:
There is no denying that Bowser is the heaviest of the whole bunch of 
the Mario Division. Donkey Kong is second. Both characters mentioned can 
usually survive up to 200% most of the time. Mario and Yoshi's weights 
are very close and the difference is negligible. As for Peach, she usually 
can be knocked away with no trouble at all when her damage percentage 
just exceeds 100%! Therefore the results of the comparison of weight are 
as follows:

Mario: 3	Peach: 1	Yoshi: 3	Donkey Kong: 8*	Bowser:	8*

Versatility:
In this group, Yoshi tends to lead the pack when running, with Mario close 
behind him. Donkey Kong is slightly faster than Bowser when they run, 
while Peach is well, somewhere in the middle of the pack. Yoshi is the 
most flexible when attacking and moving, while Bowser and Donkey Kong 
are relatively labored when attacking. Peach is also stuck in the middle 
in this area. Yoshi is therefore the most versatile character of these 
5, while Bowser is the least versatile. I guess versatility to some extent 
is inversely related to a character's weight and size.

Mario: 5	Peach: 3	Yoshi:	8*	Donkey Kong: 2	Bowser: 1 

Cumulative Score:
Mario: 8	Peach: 4	Yoshi: 11*	Donkey Kong: 10	Bowser:	9

Jumping Abilities:
"Hup! Noooooooooo!" "Mommy! That Yoshi jumped over the moon!" Nah, I am 
just kidding. But still, Yoshi has a very high and very long double jump, 
and he is therefore able to cover great distances by jumping! What can 
be better? Our Princess Toadstool seemed to retain some of her attributes 
dating back to Super Mario Bros. 2. She can jump, and when you hold Y 
or X, she can also float in the air "gracefully" for some time! I guess 
her dress sort of acted like a parachute in this respect, or something 
like that. As for Mario, he is only average with his post-Super Mario 
64 style double jump. The two heavyweight characters are not very good 
jumpers. And the difference in their jumping abilities are pretty much 
negligible at this point. They are hence both tied at 4th place.

Mario: 3	Peach: 5	Yoshi: 8*	Donkey Kong: 2	Bowser: 2

Cumulative Score:
Mario: 11	Peach: 9	Yoshi: 19	Donkey Kong: 12	Bowser:	11

-----------------
Standard Attacks
-----------------
Standard A button attack:
Mario:
Attack: Punch-Punch-Kick
You press A to make Mario punch, you press A repeatedly and Mario will 
resort to the old "Punch-Punch-Kick" fashion of Super Mario 64. After 
each cycle is completed, Mario will pause for a moment and let his foot 
touch the ground before punching again.

Strategy:
It seems that the final kick can be used to kick the enemy away. So, if 
you want to get rid of an annoyance, always press A thrice and the enemy 
will be sent a bit far off.

Peach:
Attack: Slap
Peach, being the courtly noble of the Mushroom Kingdom, will resort to 
some courtly standard attack. You know what? She slaps! You press A once 
to slap and press a repeatedly and Peach will slap combo in two slap cycles. 
That's about it. Nothing too special.

Strategy:
No tactics avail, really, as this is just an average slap.

Yoshi:
Attack: Left-foot kick, Right-foot kick
Yoshi, having rather short arms, could not hit people very well by punching. 
Instead of punching, Yoshi kicks people. Press A once to kick, and then 
A repeatedly and Yoshi will sort of kick the enemy repeatedly in two hit 
cycles as if he were "goosesteping". Oh well. In fact, he does look like 
a soldier with his expression!

Strategy:
No strategies are available. Just use it as you wish.

Donkey Kong:
Attack: Punch and Hook
Ohh... What lovely big fists you have! You know what they are used for, 
don't you? They are for, punching! Donkey Kong has the ability to do quite 
a lot of damage by Punching and Hooking alternately by repeatedly pressing 
the A-button on the controller.

Strategy:
Thanks to his large body size and long arms. It is possible to hit the 
enemy from a longer range than they hit Donkey Kong.

Bowser:
Attack: Punching Slash
Our super heavy weight is a bit slow and steady. He also punches, and 
in a slashing fashion too! Bowser also can punch and slash the enemy 
sequentially be repeatedly pressing the A button. However, I get the 
impression that this move is a little bit laboured here and there.

Strategy:
Thanks to his large body size and long arms. It is possible to hit the 
enemy from a longer range than they hit Bowser.

Comparison:

Factor: Combat Frequency and Damage
Mario's triple hit punch is the fastest of the 3, while they deal average 
damage of at least 4% with each blow. Princess Toadstool and Yoshi's 2 
hit combos are not as frequent as Mario's and deal about 3-4% each time. 
Meanwhile, Bowser and Donkey Kong's two hit combos tend to be faster than 
Peach and Yoshi's and they also do more damage. Now, this really is a 
tricky balance, but I still came up with the following conclusion. This 
is because, damage seemed to accumulate the fastest in the cases of Donkey 
Kong and Bowser.

Mario: 3	Peach: 2	Yoshi: 2	Donkey Kong: 8*	Bowser: 8*

Cumulative Score:
Mario: 14	Peach: 11	Yoshi: 21*	Donkey Kong: 20	Bowser:	19

Running Attack:

Mario:
Attack: Sliding Tackle
Mario likes to play football (I am referring to, of course, soccer, but 
not American Football.) In fact, if you dash and attack, Mario will sort 
of perform a sliding tackle on the enemy while dealing him/her/them 9% 
and also knock him/her/them a little bit about.

Strategy:
You know what a sliding tackle does, don't you? If you want to break through 
someone, perform a sliding tackle on him and he will be knocked up, and 
then get back on your feet and run forwards. This is great if you want 
to race for a vital healing item and so on. Note that no Red Cards will 
be given to Mario even if he does it from behind! Ha ha!

Peach:
Attack: Running Shove
Princess Peach Toadstool really has some royal attacks like this running 
attack. She will run, and stick out her arms to sort of push the enemy 
along the direction she is going, while at the same time knock him/her/them 
a little about and dealing about 12% damage to him/her/them.

Strategy:
Nothing so special to say about this move.

Yoshi:
Attack: Charging Headbutt
Yoshi, being the dinosaur that he is, really likes to charge and stampede. 
In fact, if you press the A button while Yoshi is running and charging 
towards the enemy, Yoshi will perform a headbutt on the enemy. This attack 
deals about 9% damage to him/her/them and will not knock him/her/them 
very far back.

Strategy:
As this knocks an enemy far back, this move is a good way to force someone 
against a wall or off the edge. Just run quick enough and you should be 
able to do this repeatedly.

Donkey Kong:
Attack: Sliding Tackle
Donkey Kong being the pre-evolutionary form of men, shares a lot of 
similarities with man. After all, this gorilla also likes to play football 
with his opponents. If you make him run, or do a fast crawl, to be more 
precise, Donkey Kong will also perform a sliding tackle on the character. 
Dealing about 11% damage and knocking him/her/them quite around a lot!

Strategy:
Same as that of Mario's, really. But it is less effective due to the slow 
speed of Donkey Kong.

Bowser:
Attack: Charging Headbutt
Bowser, also likes to headbutt his enemies. He charges and headbutts. 
Upon impact, about 11% damage is deal to the enemy, and him/her/them is 
sent flying rather high.

Strategy:
Nope, not any thing special. As this is nothing but brute force.

Comparison:

Factor: Damage and Impact Force
Princess Peach Toadstool's pushing can deal the most damage, but the impact 
force is not very great. On the other hand, Bowser and Donkey Kong are 
very close in terms of damage and can knock people sky high with their 
attacks, while Mario and Yoshi are not very able to do this. After all, 
this game is about sending people off the screen, so impact force is a 
very important factor when comparing different attacks. So, the following 
conclusion is made:

Mario: 2	Peach: 3	Yoshi: 1	Donkey Kong: 5	Bowser: 8*

Cumulative Score:
Mario: 16	Peach: 14	Yoshi: 22	Donkey Kong: 25	Bowser:	27*

Grabbing attack:

Mario:
Mario will grab his opponent, and headbutts him/her/them while they are 
held, and deal about 3% damage per hit. There is nothing so special about 
his throw, but he likes to throw people as if they were Bowser from Super 
Mario 64. Remember the part where you throw Bowser into the Spiked Orbs 
anyone? But he will cry, "Yee-Haw."

Strategy:
For all throws, consider throwing your enemy at the following things: 
Motion Sensor Bombs, Pits, off the stage, other characters. Other 
characters that get hit by the character who is thrown will be hurt as 
well! If you throw an enemy just before he/she breaks free, you will get 
a "Close Call" Bonus. If you fail to grab enemies too many times, you 
get a penalty "Butterfingers". If you only hit someone but did not throw 
him/her you get a "Fists of Fury" bonus. If you knock someone out by throwing, 
you get a "Throw Down" bonus.

Peach:
Peach grabs her opponents and does the very regal form of attacking called 
the slap. She then slaps him/her/them away. Each slap deals 2% damage. 
Nothing so special about this.

Yoshi:
Yoshi is always hungry. He will use his tongue to swallow his enemy, and 
he will get a feeling of what he/she tastes like by chewing a bit before 
spitting him/her out in the direction you desire. Each chew deals about 
3% damage to the enemy.

Donkey Kong:
Donkey Kong will grab his opponent and deal him 3% of damage per hit. 
That's all. Nothing too special, except Donkey Kong can carry an enemy 
around as if he were Mario's girlfriend.

Bowser:
Bowser also grabs and punches his enemies for 3% per hit as before. However, 
what is so special is his throws. If you throw a character upwards, Bowser 
will spin the character around a little bit before sending him/her flying. 
If you were to use a downward throw, then Bowser will sort of roll him/her 
on his belly before throwing!

Comparison:

Factor: Hit Damage, Throw Damage
Peach, by far, has the weakest hit damage of the 4. Bowser, on the other 
hand, has the highest throw damage due to the ability to spin and roll 
the enemies. Meanwhile, Mario and Donkey Kong throw enemies with similar 
distances, while the spitting action of Yoshi doesn't seem to go very 
far. But still, Donkey Kong's grab and move can prove to be a little more 
useful than Mario. Therefore, Bowser's grab is the strongest, while 
Peach's is the weakest.

Mario: 3	Peach: 1	Yoshi: 2	Donkey Kong: 5	Bowser: 8*

Cumulative Score:
Mario: 19	Peach: 15	Yoshi: 24	Donkey Kong: 30	Bowser:	35*

---------------
Strong Attacks
---------------
Horizontal Strong Attack:

Mario:
Attack: Strong Punch
Mario will deliver a slightly more powerful punch to his enemy if you 
press A button while holding either left or right on the control stick. 
As a result, at most 9% damage will be dealt to the enemy, while knocking 
him/her/them considerably around. (The impact force comparison is made 
on a character standing still with 100% damage in all cases.)

Peach:
Attack: Flexible Kick
Peach does have very flexible legs. When you press A while holding left 
or right while she is next to an enemy, she will kick, while sending her 
leg all the way up, almost forming a vertical line perpendicular to the 
ground. And knocking him/her/them rather high up into the air. Peach deals 
about 13% damage with this move.

Yoshi:
Attack: Strong Kick
Yoshi is a lot like Peach in the horizontal strong attack. Press A while 
holding left or right on the control stick to let Yoshi to a slightly 
more powerful kick. About 12% damage is dealt, and the enemy is sent up 
rather high up in the air. However, the angle of trajectory of him/her/them 
is slightly smaller than Peach's kick, so the character will be sent flying 
in a little more diagonal manner.

Donkey Kong:
Attack: Large Swat
Donkey Kong, being a gorilla with such large hands and fists, like to 
sweep out his arm and swat his enemies when you press the A button while 
holding left or right on the control stick. This attack dishes out about 
10% damage to the enemy, and this time, the angle of trajectory on 
him/her/them is rather small, so the enemy will be knocked further more 
horizontally than vertically compared with Yoshi and Peach.

Bowser:
Attack: Strong Punch
Bowser is a big, bad and mean dude. In fact, his strong attack consists 
of a very STRONG punch! After he slugs the enemy with his fist, the enemy 
will be dealt about 14% damage and will be sent flying over a rather long 
range! I know, the angle of trajectory is the smallest when compared with 
the other 4 characters. However, this also means that the horizontal range 
of this attack is much greater than the vertical range of this attack! 
Get what I mean?

Comparison:

Factors: Hit Damage, Trajectory
Mario's fatal weakness is well, he is far too average! In fact, he is 
so average so that he really is good at nothing in particular, in particular 
this strong attack! Only 9%! Now, Bowser's Strong attack taunts the 
strongest horizontal range and damage. Peach's Strong Attack gives the 
2nd strongest horizontal range and damage. As Donkey Kong and Yoshi tends 
to be stuck in the middle, I will rate them by their damage only. 12% 
damage is greater than 10%, it is obvious.

Mario: 1	Peach: 5	Yoshi: 3	Donkey Kong: 2	Bowser: 8*

Cumulative Score:
Mario: 20	Peach: 20	Yoshi: 27	Donkey Kong: 32	Bowser:	43*

Upward Strong Attack:

Mario:
Attack: Upward Punch
Mario will perform a more powerful punch upwards into the air when you 
press A while holding up on the control stick. The enemy will be sent 
flying in an almost vertical direction. Besides, about 8% damage will 
be dealt to him/her/them. That's about it.

Strategy:
This move makes a great juggling move for Mario. If an enemy is falling 
towards Mario, knock the enemy upwards, and when he/she/they falls again, 
hit up into the air again. Repeat enough times and you will get the Juggler 
bonus.

Peach:
Attack: Knee Kick
I don't really know what Peach does in her strong attack, but she looks 
as if she is knocking the enemy up in the air using her knee. This attack 
is more powerful than Mario's upward punch, dealing 12% damage, however, 
it cannot be used on enemies that are almost at the same level as Peach. 
So, they must be falling towards you for it to work.

Yoshi:
Attack: Upward Tail Whip
Yoshi will sort of use his tail to whip he enemy up into the air. This 
move can be used even if his enemy is level with him. However, this attack 
lacks impact force, and only does 10% damage to the enemy. It's amazing 
that even a character at 100% cannot fly very high into the air when hit 
with this strong attack.

Strategy: 
As this move deals such a low impact force, consider using to juggle enemies 
around, virtually dealing damage to them while they can't do much about 
it!

Donkey Kong:
Attack: Upward Swat
Donkey Kong again will use his fist to swat at the air, but this time 
he does it upwards. This move does not deal too much damage, at only a 
measly 9%, but the impact force is very high, as the enemy, when hit can 
fly straight up and even higher than the previous 3 characters can. Note 
that the enemy must be airborne for you to be able to hit him/her/them.

Strategy:
The Sweep angle is rather large, and hence it is particularly effective 
when there is a bunch of enemies falling towards you. (Like in those Classic 
Mode matches where you have so many enemies coming at you. That is, 10.)

Bowser:
Attack: Upward Slash
Bowser's strong attack is basically an upward slash. This move can be 
used even if the target is level with Bowser. Bowser will simply claw 
him/her/them up into the air as if he were serving in a badminton game, 
and this move does 13% damage and sends the target the highest up by far! 
(The target's path after impact is almost completely vertical.)

Comparison:

Factors: Hit Damage, Impact Force
Bowser's strong attack is the strongest of all the strong attacks in the 
Mario Division. Nothing can match his 13% damage and such a large impact 
force. Peach may is the second highest in terms of damage and force, while 
Donkey Kong is just as strong as Peach in terms of impact force but rather 
weak in damage. Yoshi's strong attack deals more damage than Mario, and 
yet does not have as much impact force as Mario's. To settle the differences 
between Mario, Yoshi and Donkey Kong, I will have to give impact force 
a higher rating this time, as the difference in Hit Damage is not so 
significant.

Mario: 2	Peach: 5	Yoshi: 1	Donkey Kong: 3	Bowser: 8*

Cumulative Score:
Mario: 22	Peach: 25	Yoshi: 28	Donkey Kong: 35	Bowser:	51*

Downward Strong Attack:

Mario:
Attack: Low Kick
Mario will perform a low kick on his enemy. The damage done is also at 
8%. The enemy is knocked a little bit back.

Peach:
Attack: Low Slap
Peach sorts of perform a downward slap at her enemy, and this has the 
ability to send him/her/them as high up into the air as she does in her 
upward strong attack. This attack gives out 12% damage to him/her/them.

Yoshi:
Attack: Low Tail Whip
Yoshi does have a rather long and useful tail, in fact, it is also used 
in his low strong attack. This attack gives out 8% damage and knocks the 
enemy back a little bit. This move cannot send an enemy up into the air, 
it only can make him/her/them fly in a horizontal direction.

Donkey Kong:
Attack: Low Arm Sweep
Donkey Kong again would make rather good use of his giant fists in his 
downward strong attacks. In fact, he is capable of creating 2 hit combos 
if you press A repeatedly while holding down on the control stick. When 
the enemy is quite damaged, he/she/they will be knocked back, so it is 
not as effective against enemies that have rather high damage unless they 
are trapped against a wall. By the way, this move deals about 5-7% damage 
for the first few hits.

Boswer:
Attack: Low Slash
You know how the Hunters attack in Resident Evil? That's right, they like 
to bend down and slash. The same goes with Bowser. This attack can be 
carried out repeatedly, making it a great combo maker. It can sometimes 
deal 13% damage, and when the enemy has high enough damage, he/she/they 
will be sent flying at a low angle.

Comparison:
Factors: Hit Damage, Impact Force, Combo Ability
Bowser is the only character of the 5 to have a strong attack with a high 
hit damage, a high impact force and a great combo ability, so he will 
get a large 8. Peach has a high damage and impact force, Donkey Kong has 
a great combo ability, Mario's also has great combo ability, and deals 
a little more damage than Donkey Kong. Yoshi has a high damage but no 
combo ability and a small impact force. Again, it is a tricky comparison, 
but I will give the other 4 characters the following scores.

Mario: 5	Peach: 5	Yoshi: 1	Donkey Kong: 2	Bowser: 8*

Cumulative Score:
Mario: 27	Peach: 30	Yoshi: 29	Donkey Kong: 37	Bowser:	59*

--------------
Air Attacks
--------------

Neutral Air Attack:

Mario:
Attack: Jump Kick
Mario will perform the same type of jumping kick he used to in Super Mario 
64. Mario will give out 12% of damage with this move.

Peach:
Attack: Jump Kick
Princess Peach Toadstool will also perform a jumping kick on the enemy. 
Dealing him/her/them 14% damage.

Yoshi:
Attack: Jump Kick
Yoshi also will perform a jumping kick on the enemy, inflicting 14% damage 
to him/her/them.

Donkey Kong:
Attack: Body Twirl
Donkey Kong is not as boring as the 3 characters mentioned above. This 
time, Donkey Kong will again, make use of his giant fists to twirl around 
in the air for a second, dealing 10% damage to anything those fists come 
in contact with.

Bowser:
Attack: Upward Withdrawn Shell Twirl
Bowser will kind of withdraw into his shell, and spin around, allowing 
the spikes on top of his shell to hit his targets, dealing them 13% damage 
each.

Comparison:

Factor: Damage
There really is not much to compare, is there?

Mario: 2	Peach: 8*	Yoshi: 8*	Donkey Kong: 1	Bowser: 3

Cumulative Score:
Mario: 29	Peach: 38	Yoshi: 27	Donkey Kong: 38	Bowser:	62*

Upward Air Attack:

Mario:
Attack: 360 Spin Aerobic Kick
Mario will perform a jumping acrobatic kick style of move on his enemies. 
This attack deals 11% damage upon impact, and has the ability to send 
enemies flying if they are damaged enough.

Peach:
Attack: Upward Jump Kick
Peach will also perform a flying kick while in the air. This move deals 
14% damage and can knock enemies quite high up in the air.

Yoshi:
Attack: Upward Tail Whip
Yoshi will use his tail to do a flip in midair, dealing about 13% damage 
to any targets it hits. However, this move does have a decent impact force.

Donkey Kong:
Attack: Upward Jumping Headbutt
Donkey Kong will jump into the air and perform a headbutt on his target. 
This attack has a decent impact force and is capable of dealing up to 
14% damage to him/her/them/.

Bowser:
Attack: Upward Jump Slash
Huhuhuhuhu... This big bad enemy of Mario does like to resort to brute 
force. In fact, Bowser is very willing to send his enemies flying by jumping 
up from below and slashing them with their claws. This attack does a 
whopping 17% damage at most! Enjoy!

Comparison:

Factor: Hit Damage, Impact Force
For this attack, I used these 5 characters to hit two Ice Climbers at 
100% damage in the Yoshi's Story Stage in training mode. Bowser is the 
only character capable in sending the Ice Climbers into oblivion in one 
hit from below. So, a big 8 is what he gets. Now, Peach, Yoshi, and Donkey 
Kong's attacks seemed to have similar impact force towards the Ice Climbers, 
and so, they will be ranked as according to the damage dealt. Mario, is 
well, the last in the pack. As he can only give 11% damage and is not 
very capable of knocking the characters around.

Mario: 1	Peach: 5	Yoshi: 2	Donkey Kong: 5	Bowser: 8*

Cumulative Score:
Mario: 30	Peach: 43	Yoshi: 29	Donkey Kong: 43	Bowser: 70*

Downward Air Attack:

Mario:
Attack: Corkscrew Leg Twirl
Mario will sort of use his legs to spin around in a corkscrew and to attempt 
to "drill" into his target. This deals moderate damage. How shall I put 
it? Typically, it is possible to achieve a 3 hit combo with about 5-10% 
damage on him/her/them. It is very dependent on where the enemy is knocked 
after impact. Be sure to "follow" through and you may get the most damage.

Peach:
Attack: Multi Downward Kick
Peach will use her legs to do some sort of multiple air kick on her targets 
below her. This again usually deals moderate damage in form of 3 hit combos 
with 5%-10% damage. Again, like in the case of Mario, it is very dependent 
on where the enemy is knocked after impact.

Yoshi:
Attack: Rapid Foot Drill
Yes, Yoshi really is a versatile character, as shown by this move. Yoshi 
sorts of kicks both of his legs alternately and performs a very impressive 
combo. In fact, it is sometimes possible to achieve over 20% in damage 
with this move. Always "follow through" the enemy to maximize the damage 
given! My personal record was 28%, can you get any higher percentages?

Donkey Kong:
Attack: Airborne Stomp (Meteor Attack)
Donkey Kong will perform an airborne stomp on his enemies. This attack 
is a kind of meteor attack, which has the effect of hammering the target 
onto the ground, stunning him/her/them for a brief moment. If you knock 
out someone with a meteor attack, you get a bonus called "Meteor Smash". 
This move gives quite a high damage at 16%.

Bowser:
Attack: Downward Withdrawn Shell Twirl
Bowser is a giant evil turtle, and giant evil turtles like to withdraw 
into their shells for self defense. This is what Bowser does when you 
press A while holding down in the air. Bowser will withdraw, and turn 
his shell upside down to spike the characters below him. This attack can 
be followed through the enemy and can sometimes deal up to 13% damage 
to him/her/them.

Comparison:

Factors: Damage, Impact Force
All of these moves have very little impact force with the exception of 
Donkey Kong. All the other attacks have some sort of "drilling" action 
involved, so I will just compare this category in terms of attack Damage, 
and a small bonus will be awarded to Donkey Kong for the Impact Force.

Mario: 2	Peach: 2	Yoshi: 8*	Donkey Kong: 8*	Bowser: 3

Cumulative Score:
Mario: 32	Peach: 45	Yoshi: 37	Donkey Kong: 51	Bowser: 73*

Horizontal Air Attack:

Mario:
Attack: Horizontal Air Punch
Mario will perform a Meteor Attack by punching the enemy downwards. This 
attack has quite a large impact force and can deal up to 15% damage. This 
move is rather effective. Try to rely on it as Mario.

Peach:
Attack: Horizontal Midair Slap (Meteor Attack)
Princess Peach will resort to slapping her enemies in mid air. This move 
has decent horizontal impact force, and may be able to send enemies flying 
high when they are heavily damaged.

Yoshi:
Attack: Horizontal Air Headbutt
Yoshi will jump into the air, pounce on his opponent and headbutt 
him/her/them. This move deals 17% damage to the target. When a heavily 
damaged target is it, he/she/him will be sent rather high up into the 
air, but the trajectory is basically vertical in contrast to Horizontal 
for that of Peach.

Donkey Kong:
Attack: Dual Fist Slam (Meteor Attack)
Donkey Kong will use his fists (again) to slam down on the enemy in front 
of him, sending him/her/them up into the air. This is another Meteor Attack. 
If your target is airborne, he/she/they will be slammed on to the ground. 
The trajectory of this move is mostly vertical. It also deals about 16% 
damage upon impact.

Bowser:
Attack: Airborne Claw Attack
Bowser will claw his enemies in mid air with his horizontal airborne attack. 
This attack also has the capability to send enemies flying. The trajectory 
of this attack is horizontal, and has similar range to that of Peach. 
This attack can give up to 14% damage at a time.

Comparison:

Factors: Hit Damage, Impact Force
Yoshi's horizontal air attack gives the most damage of the pack. All 
characters' horizontal air attack have similar impact forces. However, 
Mario and Donkey Kong will receive a bonus as they are also Meteor Attacks. 
Besides, the difference in damage is small, so is the standard deviation. 
So I will give a higher weighting on Impact Force.

Mario: 5	Peach: 2	Yoshi: 5	Donkey Kong: 8*	Bowser: 1

Cumulative Score:
Mario: 37	Peach: 47	Yoshi: 42	Donkey Kong: 59	Bowser: 74*

---------------
Smash Attacks
---------------
Horizontal Smash Attack:
Mario:
Attack: Fiery Meteor Punch
Mario will give his enemy a very fiery punch, and sending him/her/them 
into the air. This move can be charged to deal as much as 24% damage to 
your enemy. Not bad for our so called all rounded "average" player that 
is our Italian Plumber in Red, Mario.

Peach:
Attack: Random Blunt Object Attack
The reason I call this the random blunt object attack is that Peach can 
use up to 3 different blunt objects, that are a golf club, frying pan 
or a tennis racket! The damage generated is also randomized. The Golf 
Club is the most powerful, dealing up to 23% when it hits while charged 
up. The Frying Pan is second at 21%, while the Tennis Racket is last, 
at 16%. So, I can only work out the MEAN damage for Peach's Smash Attack, 
which is (23+21+16)/3 = 20%.

Strategy:
Regardless of what blunt object Peach gets to use, her smash attack has 
some range. Use to your advantage.

Yoshi:
Attack: Smash Headbutt
Yeah! Yoshi's Headbutt would prove to be a smash hit! Only kidding! Yoshi 
will lower his head and do a more powerful headbutt on his enemies. Sending 
him/her/them up into the sky. The problem is that dinosaurs like Yoshi 
don't seem to have a hard enough skull or hide. In fact, this attack can 
only deal a measly 21% when I tested it out fully charged at a stationary 
Ness in Training Mode!

Donkey Kong:
Attack: Double Hand Slap
Our big hunk of a gorilla Donkey Kong really loves to use his fists. 
Including in Smash Attacks. Donkey Kong will withdraw his hands and then 
clapping them at the enemy, sending him/her/them into the blue skies! 
As the fists are just so big, it is not amazing that it can deal as much 
damage as 28% at a stationary Ness in Training Mode! Keep up with the 
slaps, Donkey Kong! You're the gorilla! (Not the man, of course.)

Bowser:
Attack: Smash Headbutt
Whoopee! Bowser's Smash Headbutt would prove to be even more of a smash 
hit than the smash hit that is Yoshi's Smash Headbutt! Bowser will also 
lower his head, and then perform an even more powerful headbutt on his 
foes, sending them sky high! In fact, Bowser's skull tends to be harder 
than Yoshi's! This attack can deliver as much as 32% damage to the target!!! 
Let's get smashing!

Comparison:
Factor: Damage
As all Smash Attacks in this category are capable of sending enemies sky 
high to their doom provided that they receive enough damage, I might as 
well just compare them by the damage dealt.

Mario: 24%
Peach: 20% Mean Damage
Yoshi: 21%
Donkey Kong: 28%
Bowser: 32%

The result is obvious isn't it?

Mario: 3	Peach: 1	Yoshi: 2	Donkey Kong: 5	Bowser: 8*

Cumulative Score:
Mario: 40	Peach: 48	Yoshi: 44	Donkey Kong: 64	Bowser:	82*

Upward Smash Attack:

Mario:
Attack: Upward Smash Headbutt
Mario will put his head down, and then headbutt his enemy upwards. Sending 
him/her/them into the air almost vertically upwards. This move can be 
performed, even if the enemy is on the ground. The damage dealt is just 
about average, at 20%, and it is just average for Mario, our all rounded 
average character...

Peach:
Attack: Upward Jab
Peach will use both of her arms to jab the enemies upwards into the air. 
For a princess, Peach really has some gentle moves, unfortunately this 
is not very useful in a fighting game, right? This hit did not have much 
impact force even on a stationary Ness with 100% damage, and he was dealt 
a measly 10% damage! Imagine that!

Strategy:
You'd be better off using this move to defend against enemies falling 
towards you rather than using it as a finishing move.

Yoshi:
Attack: Upward Smash Headbutt
Yes!! Yoshi just likes to use his head. No, he does not use his head to 
think, but he will use it to bash his enemies! I guess he is using his 
skull's soft spot to hit the enemies, as well, only 19% damage is dealt 
to the enemy. But still, it still boasts a high impact force, as I can 
knock out a stationary Ness at 100% in training mode. This move can be 
used even if your opponent is right next to you.

Donkey Kong:
Attack: Upward Double Hand Clap
This is another of Donkey Kong's numerous fist attacks. This time, he 
does it upwards. As he raises his arms so high up, this attack cannot 
be used on enemies that are right next to you. However, you can still 
hit them when they are falling towards you. That's when they should pray. 
This attack deals up to 24% and is really capable of giving out Star KOs 
on heavily damaged characters.

Strategy:
The advantage of this move is that the slap covers a large angle, and 
makes it a decent finishing move when multiple targets fall on you.

Bowser:
Attack: Upward Shell Spike
Turtles love to use their shells for self defense, and yet our Big Koopa 
Bowser likes to use his to attack! Bowser will sort of crawl down on the 
floor and suddenly jump up, spiking the enemy with his spiky shell! 
Although this move can only work on enemies that are falling down towards 
you, it still is a big bad mean move! Up to 27% damage can be dealt on 
the enemy, sending him/her/them to the moon!

Strategy:
The advantage of this move is that the surface area of the move is rather 
large, and makes it a decent finishing move when multiple targets fall 
on you.

Comparison:
Factor: Damage
As all Smash Attacks in this category are capable of sending enemies sky 
high to their doom provided that they receive enough damage, I might as 
well just compare them by the damage dealt.

Mario: 20%
Peach: 10% 
Yoshi: 19%
Donkey Kong: 24%
Bowser: 27%

The result is obvious isn't it? Bowser again has a considerable lead over 
the other characters when their upward smash attacks are concerned.

Mario: 3	Peach: 1	Yoshi: 2	Donkey Kong: 5	Bowser: 8*

Cumulative Score:
Mario: 43	Peach: 49	Yoshi: 46	Donkey Kong: 69	Bowser:	90*

Downward Smash Attack:

Mario:
Attack: Low Smash Kick
Mario does like to show off his awesome football (Soccer) skills. He will 
go in a stance like in the low kick, and deliver a more powerful kick 
on his enemies, sending him/her/them flying. This move deals a 
considerable amount of damage of up to 21%. This is sort of better than 
average for our all rounded average character Mario.

Peach:
Attack: Low Spin Kick
Peach again does a gentle spin kick as if she is dancing some sort of 
court dance. As this is a gentle move, you really cannot expect much from 
it. Any enemies next to Peach will be dealt 19% and sent flying in a 
horizontal direction. Not much there is it? The same impact force applies.

Yoshi:
Attack: Low Smash Tail Whip
Yoshi does not use his head all the time. Sometimes, he will just have 
some fun with his rather long tail. Yoshi will spin around and use his 
tail to hit his enemies surrounding him with more force than before. 
Unfortunately, most animal's tails, are not very hard, and Yoshi's is 
not an exception. This attack is only capable of dealing 19% damage upon 
impact. That's about it, same as that of Peach.

Donkey Kong:
Attack: Low Dual Hand Slam
Donkey Kong again will raise his fists (again), and then hammer them onto 
the ground around him. Bam! Destruction guaranteed! This move deals up 
to 21% at a time, as well as sending the poor hapless victims sky high 
to the moon! Enjoy. 

Bowser:
Attack: Low Shell Twirl
Bowser again will reveal his reptilian characteristics with this move. 
After all, turtles just love to withdraw into their shells for self defense. 
This is what Bowser will do. He will withdraw into his shell, and go spinning 
around! This attack is capable of performing a 7 hit combo on an enemy, 
dealing him up to 27% damage before sending him/her/them sky high! Enjoy!

Comparison:
Factor: Damage
As all Smash Attacks in this category are capable of sending enemies sky 
high to their doom provided that they receive enough damage, I might as 
well just compare them by the damage dealt.

Mario: 21%
Peach: 19% 
Yoshi: 19%
Donkey Kong: 21%
Bowser: 27%

The result is obvious isn't it? Bowser again has a considerable lead over 
the other characters when their upward smash attacks are concerned. Brute 
force rules. 


Mario: 3	Peach: 2	Yoshi: 2	Donkey Kong: 5	Bowser: 8*

Cumulative Score:
Mario: 46	Peach: 51	Yoshi: 48	Donkey Kong: 74	Bowser:	98*

---------------
Special Attacks
---------------
This section will compare each character's special attacks. As different 
attacks are different in use and properties, no score will be given to 
each attack. Instead, I would just state what each move is good at, and 
how to receive the full potential of the move.

Mario:

Standard B Move: Fireball
Type of attack: Ballistic
Mario had the Fire Flower with him when he begun his career in Super Mario 
Bros, and he still took it with him in Super Smash Bros. Melee. This move 
will cause Mario to throw a single fireball at the enemy when the button 
is pressed. This fireball will bounce along the terrain for a while before 
it fades out. Of course, being a ballistic move, you can use it repeatedly 
on an enemy. Each fireball deals moderate damage of about 8% per hit, 
and is capable of causing the enemy to flinch a little bit when hit. This 
move is particularly useful when you see a group of your mates busy tearing 
each other apart and you are at a considerable distance from them. Use 
this also if your enemies walking towards you and you want to slow 
him/her/them down as they will have to jump or put up a shield to block 
your attack.

Horizontal B Move: Cape
Type of Attack: Physical Attack, Counter Attack, Distance Shortener 
Mario has the Cape Feather with him when he starred in the SNES game Super 
Mario World, and he still took it with him in Super Smash Bros. Melee! 
This move would cause Mario to take his cape out and swing at his enemies, 
as if he were a bullfighter with a yellow cloth. This move again can be 
used repeatedly on the enemy. When hit, the enemy will be turned around, 
and you may be able to prevent him/her/them from pulling off something 
powerful on you. This move also is rather effective in shielding off enemy 
ballistic Attacks on Mario. Being an attack, the Cape deals moderate damage 
of about 8-10% every time it hits. The reason why I dub this move a distance 
shortener is that, if Mario is very faraway from the stage, but also high 
in the air, he can use the cape to help him drift back to a close enough 
distance so that he can use his recovery move to go back up onto the stage. 
Just keep pressing B while holding Left/Right on the control stick to 
perform this maneuver.

Up B Move: Super Jump Punch
Type of Attack: Physical Attack, Recovery Move
Mario had the new coins with him when he starred in Super Mario 64. (Loved 
that game!) And he still took it with him in Super Smash Bros. Melee! 
This move would cause Mario to do a traditional jump punch, while making 
sounds similar to Mario's jumping on the NES Super Mario Bros. Games. 
Dooiinngggg! Upon impact, lots of Super Mario 64 style coins will be sent 
flying. Use this when you want to perform an impressive combo on someone 
on a ledge above you. This move also deals moderate damage to the enemy, 
peaking at about 10%. Of course, this move is also a recovery move. IF 
you are knocked off the stage, perform a double jump, and then Super Jump 
Punch in the direction of the platform and Mario usually could recover. 
However, this move is more vertical than horizontal, and I would recommend 
you to use the Cape to shorten the distance between Mario and the stage 
as much as possible before you perform this move, or Mario's controls 
will be locked and he would not be able to perform anything until he hits 
the stage or suffer a fall.

Down B Move: Mario Tornado
Type of Attack: Physical Attack
This is a rather unconventional attack for our average friend Mario. Mario 
will spin around in a tornado, and then flex his muscles. Any enemy that 
gets trapped in the tornado will be sent flying depending on how much 
damage they have before impact. However, the impact force of this move 
is still 
not very great. That's all. This move deals just about moderate damage 
to the enemies that are hit. It does a little more than 10% on average, 
but still, I would not recommend you to use this move unless you are 
surrounded by enemies and want to knock them off your trail for the time 
being. I don't really know why Mario had this move with him all the way 
from the original Super Smash Bros. fighting game. I guess they cannot 
think of any other thing to fill up the last slot of Mario's move list. 
Oh well, what a waste of a move slot.

Peach:

Standard B Move: Toad
Type of Attack: Counter Attack 
Yes, the toads were the mushroom headed assistants of Peach, and there 
is more than one of them at a time. For instance, in Super Mario Bros. 
you get to save 1+2+3+4+5+6+7 = 28 toads from Bowser before you can rescue 
the Princess. However, in Super Smash Bros. Melee, Toad becomes Princess 
Peach Toadstool's pain magnet! As Peach will take Toad out to shield her 
from any physical attacks and deal the attacker damage! Gee, what a sadist 
is Peach... only joking! Anyway the damage given out with this move is 
always different, as it varies with the damage the enemies' moves may 
inflict on Peach. If the enemy is not attacking at all, this move is rather 
useless. So, I would not recommend you to use this move very often. However, 
if someone is preparing to perform a Smash Attack on you, this move may 
be able to help Peach block it completely, saving her form being sent 
flying high, into the sky. La-dee-dah!

Horizontal B Move: Peach Bomber
Type of Attack: Physical Attack
This is one of the 3 "body" bomb moves in the game. Peach will cry "hup-zha!" 
and propel herself towards the enemy, hitting him/her/them with her behind! 
Boy, her bum really is explosive! Tee hee! Being an explosive move, the 
Peach Bomber does have a certain amount of impact force, but it is not 
enough to send a character flying. This happened when I tried it on a 
stationary Pikachu on 100% damage in training mode. The Pikachu only flew 
a certain distance, but it was not sufficient for him to be knocked out 
of the stage. (For your information, I used the Princess Peach's Castle 
stage in the Training Mode.) However, the damage Peach given out ain't 
too shabby here, as I was able to deal as much as 18% on the Pikachu. 
So, I really would recommend this move to be used to damage someone, but 
not to finish him/her/them off. Is that clear?

Up B Move: Peach Parasol
Type of Attack: Physical Attack, Recovery Move
Peach is a princess, and for some strange reason, "royal" people like 
to carry Parasols around with them, I guess this is to make them look 
absolutely splendid! Anyway, Peach herself sort of enjoys using her 
parasol as something else that begins with "para". That's right, a 
Parachute! Peach will first stick the parasol into the air, gaining a 
little bit of altitude, and then Peach can drift slowly back onto the 
stage. Of course, the rate of descent is rather low, so this move covers 
a lot of horizontal distance, and makes it a rather effective recovery 
move. Of course, the tip of a parasol is rather sharp, and can case damage 
to any enemy that touches it. In fact, I was able to use this move to 
inflict up to 15% damage to the enemies hit, as well as 3% each time the 
enemy touches the open parasol. Note that if Peach is using the Parasol 
while the timer has run out. She can receive a bonus called "parasol Finish" 
in the bonus point section. 
To close the parachute, press the B button.

Down B Move: Vegetable
Type of attack: Ballistic
Remember Super Mario Bros. 2 for the NES? That's right, you can play as 
Princess Peach Toadstool in that game, and you pull vegetables out of 
the ground to throw at enemies. This is what Peach will do. She will pick 
a vegetable on the ground and use it on the enemy. Note that although 
Peach usually will pick the white smiling turnip from the ground, she 
sometimes will pick up a turnip with a different expression. Turnips with 
different expressions deal different amount of damage. A smiling turnip 
deals 8% damage, while a skeptical one deals about 12% damage. Therefore, 
the best thing I could do is to work out the mean damage for this move. 
I threw a total of 22 vegetables at a stationary Pikachu, and inflicted 
222% damage on him, so I guess the average damage of this move is 10.1% 
damage. Of course, always use a smash throw to maximize damage. IF Peach 
is holding an item, she cannot use this move. Be aware.

Yoshi:

Standard B Move: Egg Lay
Type of attack: Ingestion
Yoshi used to have an attack in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island for 
the SNES and Gameboy Advance that involves ingested enemies and laying 
them out as eggs. In spite of being a male, Yoshi still can lay eggs! 
Press the B button and Yoshi will draw out his tongue and grab an enemy 
with it, then he will swallow him/her and then lay him/her out of his 
body in an egg! This temporarily paralyzes him/her while he/she is stuck 
in an egg, and deals 7% damage to him/her. The best way to use this attack 
is to do it with Yoshi's back facing the edge of a cliff. Then Yoshi will 
swallow the enemy, and he/she will not be able to jump back up for a while 
as it takes time for him/her to break free of the egg shell. If you are 
lucky enough, the enemy may have fallen far beyond recovery and would 
suffer a fall. Not bad, Yoshi, not bad.

Horizontal B Move: Egg Roll
Type of Attack: Physical Attack
Yoshi is in no short supply of eggs, as you can see. He can even wrap 
himself up in one of them and roll around the stage like a steam roller, 
inflicting damage to anything that he hits. This is just typical of a 
dinosaur like Yoshi, after all, they have certain survival instincts. 
The damage inflicted by this move varies all the time. If the egg is rolling 
slowly, only 5% damage will be dealt per hit, and if it rolls fast enough, 
up to 10% and even more can be dealt! Your best bet with this move is 
to use it when a couple of your friends are level with you and they are 
kept busy by each other in a brawl. That's when you can send Yoshi the 
steam-roller in to inflict more damage on them. However, if Yoshi gets 
hit while doing this, the move will be stopped, and of course, if you 
are fighting on a stage with narrow platforms, don't get too carried away 
or Yoshi will roll right off the stage and to his own doom!

Up B Move: Egg Throw
Type of Attack: Ballistic
Remember Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island? Yoshi has ths attack which 
involves throwing eggs in an arc at the enemies. That's what Yoshi's Egg 
Throw move was all about. As Yoshi has such a long and high second jump, 
the programmers of this game have decided to not give Yoshi a third recovery 
move. Instead, Yoshi gets to throw eggs at the enemy! Gee! Does this guy 
every run out of eggs? Sigh... Note that the trajectory of the egg can 
be adjusted by tilting the Control Stick in the preferred diagonal 
direction. But it is rather hard for the player to pull off. Anyway, this 
move is great for keeping enemies at bay. The Egg Throw can deal a maximum 
of 12% damage upon impact, and that's just about it. I suggest you use 
it only when the enemies are diagonally above Yoshi and are very close 
to him, as the egg will sort of crack and break if it doesn't hit anyone 
in time.

Down B Move; Yoshi Bomb
Type of Attack: Physical Attack
This is the second "body" bomb attack of Super Smash Bros. Melee. But 
this attack is vertical, but not horizontal. Yoshi will make a cry, and 
then slam down on the ground with his bum! Let's just treat this as a 
typical butt stomp attack of any typical platformer game, shall we? Of 
course, I am NOT trying to be sexually explicit at this point, but as 
Yoshi's bum is not as big as Peach's, the damage dealt upon impact is 
only 14%. However, this move does taunt a larger impact fore on the target, 
as I was able to knock out a stationary Kirby with 100% damage in training 
mode in the Yoshi's Island Stage with only one Yoshi Bomb, so feel free 
to use this move as a finishing move against relatively lighter characters 
and you will be fine. Otherwise, simply use it to engage a group of friends 
who are too busy brawling with each other to notice your arrival.

Donkey Kong:

Standard B Move: Giant Punch
Type of Attack: Charging up, Physical Attack
This is one of the reasons why one of my friends so insist on using Donkey 
Kong! His reasons are as follows: He is an Oliver Kahn fan, and he thinks 
that Oliver Kahn is like a gorilla. Two, he thinks himself is a gorilla! 
a ha! This attack as mentioned, as an attack which requires a certain 
degree of charging up. Press B once and Donkey Kong will withdraw his 
dominant arm and tighten his fist. Then he will twist them around as if 
pretending to use Popeye's Twisker Punch, making a whoop-whoop-whoop sound 
as he does it. When you are ready, press B again and Donkey Kong will 
punch! If you wait long enough, the move will be fully charged, and you 
will see the entire body of Donkey Kong steaming up. Then, as long as 
you press the B button quickly enough, Donkey Kong will still retain the 
power of his punch! This move does a massive 30% damage. I tried this 
move on a pair of stationary Ice Climbers at 100% damage in training mode 
\, and they literally went sky high after the impact! So, if you are lazy 
enough, always get out from a brawl, charge up, and surprise your heavily 
damaged friends as they bash each other, and the result will be similar 
to that of a Smash Attack!

Horizontal B Move: Headbutt
Type of Attack: Stun Attack
Donkey Kong, like most preevolutionary apes, likes to use his head a lot! 
No, he will not use his head to think, but would use his very hard skull 
to headbutt his enemies. This move causes Donkey Kong to headbutt his 
enemies downwards, into the grounds, and will stun them momentarily before 
they are able to break free. However, this move itself does not deal a 
lot of damage. In fact, the highest damage possible is only 5%. So, it 
is more than obvious that the designers of this game want the players 
to create a combo with this move. So, after headbutting someone into the 
ground. Always follow up immediately with a powerful attack like a smash 
attack, and if you are fast enough, the enemy may have just broken free 
of the ground while you send him/her to their doom! If you are playing 
against the Ice Climbers, be sure to headbutt both Popo and Nana to the 
ground. Otherwise, either of them can still retaliate and hit Donkey Kong, 
preventing him from performing a follow-up move.

Up B Move: Spinning Kong
Type of Attack: Physical Attack, Recovery Move
Donkey Kong's recovery move involves him spinning around in the air like 
some king of Gorilla Chopper. The Spinning Kong move is a lot like Bowser's 
Whirling Fortress Move, as it involves the character spinning around very 
rapidly. Note that this move does not gain much height, so it would not 
be as effective if Donkey Kong were trapped in a deep pit. However, it 
does cover a lot of horizontal distance, so this is still a decent recovery 
move. Now, let's move on to damage. Donkey Kong is the chopper, and his 
arms are the propeller blades. As his arms just spin so fast, it is possible 
to achieve a very powerful combo provided that the enemy does not get 
hit back too much. In fact, when I tested this move on a pair of stationary 
Ice Climbers, I was able to achieve 10% damage in the first hit, and over 
7% in the following hits! So, I suggest you use it on your friends if 
they have little damage to significantly increase they damage percentage. 
Otherwise, don't bother using it.

Down B Move: Hand Slap
Type of Attack: Physical Attack
It is just typical for giant apes like Donkey Kong to throw a tantrum 
every now and them. With their hest slapping and all, but this time, Donkey 
Kong will slap the ground with his two hands, creating a minor earthquake! 
Of course, enemies are sent flying when they are hit by the shocks. This 
attack does a reasonable amount of damage. In fact, the first hit will 
deal about 11%, the second about 10% and the third about 9%. However, 
the impact force is not really that great. It was not capable of knocking 
out a pair of 100% Ice Climbers in the training mode. However, it is 
extremely effective in the multi-man melee. Particularly in the 100-Man 
Melee and the Endless Melee, as you only need to pound the ground 
continuously again and again to defeat all the enemies, and at least 100 
in the endless Melee. Meeting that goal can give you access to the Male 
Wire Frame and the Female Wire Frame trophies. Enjoy! 


Bowser:

Standard B Move: Fire Breath
Type of Attack: Ballistic, Continuous Attack
Ladies and Gentlemen, what is Bowser's signature move? That's right, his 
fire breath! Press and hold B and Bowser will start to breathe fire at 
his enemies. Hold B continuously to keep the flame spewing! I really cannot 
give you the exact damage percentage of this move, as it delivers gradual 
damage. The longer the enemy is exposed to the flames, the more he/she/them 
is damaged. Usually, the enemy would not be able to retaliate for a while 
when trapped in the flames. So, use that to your advantage, particularly 
when you are up against a large group of your friends. Note that even 
Bowser does not have the lungs of Superman. He WILL eventually run out 
of breath, and the flame will eventually die down. So, it is best to release 
the B button for a second and press and hold it again when you notice 
the flames start weakening for the best effect. Maybe we will need some 
nice Thai Sweet and Spicy Sauce with the meat. Heh heh...

Horizontal B Move: Koopa Claw
Type of Attack: Physical Attack
Oh boy! Grandma, what sharp claws you have! Who am I talking about? The 
Big Bad Wolf? No! That's right, it's Bowser! Bowser will use his Claws 
to swipe at enemies, sometimes grabbing him/her, taking a few bites out 
of them before throwing them away! Wow! That's mean, I tell you, absolutely 
mean! This attack deals about 4% damage in the initial claw, and 2 to 
3% damage on each subsequent bite, and about 10% damage in the throw. 
Quite neat, eh? If Bowser is not close enough to the enemy, the first 
claw will only send the enemy high up into the air, dealing about 9% damage. 
This is capable of knocking out characters with high damage if this is 
done right! Consider using this when you see a heavily damaged enemy 
approaching. A great move nonetheless!

Up B Move: Whirling Fortress
Type of Attack: Physical Attack, Recovery Move
Bowser will withdraw into his shell and spin it around, trapping any 
unfortunate victims on the spikes of a shell, send him/her/them for a 
little spin before sending them flying high up into the air. This move 
can be used as a recovery move. Just press and hold B while pushing the 
control stick to the diagonal you want Bowser to spin over to. He will 
make a sound that sounds like some kind of electric drill as he spins 
over to the edge of the stage and grab on. This move, like Donkey Kong's 
Spinning Kong move does not gain much altitude, but it covers quite a 
lot of horizontal distance, so if you want to knock out Bowser, it is 
unlikely that you can knock him out without sending him out of the sides 
of the screen, as he usually can make it back on the stage when given 
the change. As for damage, this move deals about 11% damage if it hits 
the enemy while Bowser is on the ground. However, if you use it while 
you are jumping, then you may be able to perform a combo that can exceed 
20% damage.

Down B Move: Bowser Bomb
Type of Attack: Physical Attack
Consider this the ultimate version of the 3 "body" bomb attacks. Bowser, 
like Yoshi, will get into position in the air, and slam down on the ground 
on this bum, like how Mario did the butt stomp in Super Mario 64. Bang! 
Of course, Bowser's bottom is larger and harder than that of Princess 
Peach Toadstool, and hence can deliver the most amount of damage. In fact, 
to be precise, The Bowser Bomb can deal a whopping 21% damage on an enemy, 
as well as sending him/her/them. This move is best in intercepting people 
in a midair jump, as they usually cannot air dodge in time to avoid the 
Bowser Bomb! Even if they do manage to dodge in time, they will still 
remain vulnerable to any other moves Bowser can perform on them! Consider 
this as an alternate finishing move for Bowser, as it does have the 
potential to knock enemies out!  

----------------------
b. Realistic Division
----------------------
That's right folks, there are another 5 characters in the Realistic 
Division for comparison.

------------------------------------
Short Introduction of the Characters
------------------------------------
Fox:
This Fox is actually known as Fox McCloud. He is a leader of a squadron 
of Arwings who fly around the Lylat System, maintaining peace. Having 
arrived in the original Starfox game for the SNES, Fox McCloud has 
reappeared in the Nintendo 64 game Starox 64, or Lylat Wars, as known 
in the UK. Fox also starred in Star Fox Adventures of the Gamecube which 
is probably the last game Rare made for Nintendo. How sad. Anyway, being 
a Fox, Fox McCloud is rather sly and nimble, and he can move quite quickly 
and boasts a variety of fast attack moves.

Learning Curve: Easy

Captain Falcon:
Captain Falcon is the driver of the F-Zero Race Car, the Blue Flacon. 
Having appeared in the original F-Zero for the SNES, and F-Zero 64 for 
the Nintendo 64 a whole 7 years later in 1998, no one has ever seen Captain 
Falcon in person. It was only until the release of F-Zero GX for the Nintendo 
Gamecube that we can finally see Captain Falcon in person. Captain Falcon 
used to be a secret character in the original Super Smash Bros. but he 
is now playable at the start. Like Fox, Falcon is a very fast mover. Possibly 
as fast as Batman! Maybe it is something to do with the hood that he wears 
over his eyes!

Learning Curve: Hard

Samus:
Samus Aran is the female intergalactic warrior that is responsible for 
the destruction of the energy consuming Metroids. She has starred in 
Metroid for the NES, Metroid 2 for Game Boy, Super Metroid for SNES For 
some strange reason, she did not receive any Nintendo 64 titles. Instead, 
she made a comeback in the Nintendo Gamecube in Metroid Prime. As Samus 
uses a lot of blasters to kill the Metroids, she would have a wide variety 
of ballistic weapons with her. Another notable things is that, Samus never 
talks! She only makes those weird robotic sounds in Super Smash Bros. 
Melee. I guess that's the disadvantage of her wearing such a thick suit. 

Learning Curve: Medium

Link:
Yes, the all favorite Hero of Time, Link! This Santa's elf reject, as 
I always call him is probably the second most popular character in Nintendo. 
Link's job is to protect the Triforce of Wisdom which is owned by Zelda, 
the Triforce of Courage which is in his heart, and to recover the final 
Triforce, Triforce of Power from the evil Ganon, alias Ganondorf. Link, 
our humble swordsman, appeared in numerous titles in the NES, SNES, Gameboy, 
Gameboy Color, Gameboy Advance, Nintendo 64 and the Nintendo Gamecube, 
and his looks have changed ALL the time. I guess we can soon an organization 
called the Confederation of Links featuring all those Links! Tee hee hee!

Learning Curve: Medium

Zelda:
Why, oh, why? Why isn't the Legend of Zelda series called the Legend of 
Link, if Zelda is almost always the victim? Sigh... Anyway, Zelda is the 
holder of the Triforce of Wisdom, and to rule over Hyrule, she is Ganon's 
prime target for capture. Of course, if he does capture Zelda. The Score 
would be 2 to 1 for Ganondorf, and he would easily win. Of course, Zelda 
has her own measures to evade capture by Ganondorf. She has the ability 
to transform herself into another character, Sheik. In fact, this Sheik 
was consistently assisting link in the game Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina 
of Time, without Link knowing it all along! I guess she is not so useless 
after all, nah!

Learning Curve: Easy

-----------------
Basic comparisons
-----------------
Weight:
Fox may be nimble, but he is also the most vulnerable when you consider 
his weight. He tends to be the easiest of the 5 to be sent sky high into 
the air for a KO. Besides, Fox falls so quickly! Zelda is also vulnerable, 
but not as light weight as Fox. Samus is about in the middle in the Realistic 
Division, while Captain Falcon is the second heaviest, and of cause, the 
heaviest character in the Realistic Division is the Green Santa's Elf 
Reject that is Link!

Fox: 1	Captain Falcon: 5	Samus: 3	Link: 8*	Zelda: 2

Versatility:
I personally find the comparison for the versatility of the characters 
of the Mario Division rather unreliable, so I decided to use a new benchmark 
system to compare the characters in this respect. I will compare the 
characters based on how quickly they finish in certain stages in the 
Adventure Mode. Mainly in the level where you have to escape from Brinstar 
before it blows, and the level where you have to run through part of the 
Big Blue Race Track of F-Zero 64. Here are the times remaining upon 
completion of the levels for the 5 characters:

Fox:
Brinstar: 22.46		Big Blue: 3:23.11

Samus:
Brinstar: 16.34		Big Blue: 3:08.27

Captain Falcon:
Brinstar: 23.20		Big Blue: 3:30.17

Link:
Brinstar: 13.59		Big Blue: 3:06.31

Zelda:
Brinstar: 11.94		Big Blue: 2:53.31

To be versatile, a character has to be fast AND precise. So, as Zelda 
took the longest to complete the 2 courses, Zelda is the least versatile, 
while Captain Falcon is the most versatile. 


Fox: 5	Captain Falcon: 8*	Samus: 3	Link: 2		Zelda: 1

Cumulative Score:
Fox: 6	Captain Falcon: 13*	Samus: 6	Link: 10	Zelda: 3

Jumping Abilities:
The jumping abilities of the 5 characters of the Realistic Division are 
very "quantized". In fact, I can easily separate them into 3 groups, with 
Fox and Link in the back, Samus and Zelda in the middle, and Captain Falcon 
in the lead! For your information, I tested their jumping distances on 
the Giant Fox in the Corneria Stage. Where I compare how far each character 
could jump.

Fox: 2	Captain Falcon: 8	Samus: 5	Link: 2		Zelda: 5

Cumulative Score:
Fox: 8	Captain Falcon: 21*	Samus: 11	Link: 12	Zelda: 8

----------------
Standard Attacks
----------------
Standard A Button Attack:
Fox:
Attack: Punch-Punch-Combo Kick
Fox will punch his enemy twice, and then follow up with a combo kick that 
can last as long as you like so long as you continuously press the A button. 
Quite a nice attack really, as it basically can go on forever if you are 
lucky enough. As for damage, this move deals 4% damage for the first two 
blows, and the damage will accumulate slowly for any consecutive kicks. 
I say accumulate, because sometimes I scored more consecutive hits than 
the percentage damage when I tested this move in Training Mode!

Strategy:
To maximize your chances of getting multiple hit combos with this move, 
consider backing an enemy against a wall before you begin your combo.

Captain Falcon:
Attack: Punch-Punch-Combo Punch
Captain Falcon just likes to act like the gangster/common bar drunkard 
when fighting. He punches twice, then makes a third blow at the enemy 
before going nuts and punch continuously in a combo, chanting a funny 
phrase that sounds like "tut-tut-tut-tut-tut" while he does! How funny. 
This attack deals 13% of base damage for the first 3 hits, and the 
"tut-tut-tut-tut-tut" combo deals damage progressively, percent by 
percent like how the fares increase in a taxi meter. As simple as that.

Strategy:
To maximize your chances of getting multiple hit combos with this move, 
consider backing an enemy against a wall before you begin your combo.


Samus:
Attack: Alternate Arm Bash
Samus having worn a heavy armor suit, does not punch, instead, she will 
use those cannons on her arms to bash people. She bashes people alternately 
with both of her arms. This move is incapable in pulling off a massive 
combo like those of Captain Falcon and Fox. This move deals about 3-6% 
damage per blow. That's all.

Link:
Attack: Sword Slash with or without combo
Our Santa's Elf Reject of the Hero of Time is armed with none other than 
the Master Sword. Of course, he will use it! Link will swipe his sword 
at his enemies in a 3 hit fashion. It is also possible for Link to pull 
off a combination of slashes if you press A repeatedly and have the correct 
timing, Link can continuously jab the sword out of a combo. The first 
3 slashes deal up to 14% damage, while the rapid sword jab deals progressive 
damage on an enemy.

Strategy:
To maximize your chances of getting multiple hit combos with this move, 
consider backing an enemy against a wall before you begin your combo. 
But still, the enemy is more likely to be caught in the combo as the Master 
Sword is rather long.

Zelda:
Attack: Spell Shock
Zelda sorts of shocks the enemy with some sort of jolt in her standard 
A button attack. Each shock delivers up to 5% damage, and can be used 
repeatedly, but not as frequently as Samus as Zelda has to pause for a 
while before hitting the enemy again.

Sheik:
Attack: Punch-Punch-Combo Punch
Sheik also has a punch combo similar to that of Captain Falcon's. She 
also punches twice, then punches the enemy very rapidly and continuously. 
This attack deals a base damage of about 7% and does progressive damage 
thereafter. There is nothing much to say, really. Just like the way Captain 
Falcon does it, but without the cries.

Comparison:
Factor: Frequency, Hit damage
All characters' but Samus' attacks can be performed in a rapid combo. 
So I must place Samus' standard attack in the last place. As for 
Zelda/Shiek's standard attacks, only Shiek's will be taken into 
consideration. To compare the other 4 characters' attacks, I will just 
compare them by the base damage to see which one is more powerful. The 
base damages are as follows:

Fox: 8%
Captain Falcon: 13%
Link: 14%
Shiek: 7%

So, the results are obvious. Link's standard attack is the most powerful.

Fox: 3	Captain Falcon: 5	Samus: 1	Link: 8*	Zelda/Shiek: 2

Cumulative Score:
Fox: 11	Captain Falcon: 26*	Samus: 12	Link: 20	Zelda: 10

Running Attack:

Fox:
Attack: Running Kick
Fox simply just runs very quickly over to the enemy and gives him/her/them 
a quick kick. That's all. There is nothing too special is there? This 
moves does rather average damage. It deals up to 7% to the enemy hit, 
and has little impact force, so don't count on this move to send your 
opponents flying into the air. I used this attack against stationary Ice 
Climbers in training mode, and all they did was get knocked up a little, 
but not too much. Use for blitz attack purposes only.

Captain Falcon:
Attack: Charging Tackle
Captain Falcon fancies himself to be one of those American Football players, 
when they ram into each other. Yes, what strong muscles you have, Captain 
Falcon! It does decent damage of 10%, and is capable of sending the enemy 
flying back mostly horizontally. I can tell there is a certain degree 
of force applied, as I heard a loud "bang" sound when he hit Ice Climbers 
with 100% damage in training mode. Again, as Captain Falcon is such a 
versatile character, you can use it in a blitzkrieg all you want.

Samus:
Attack: Charging Tackle
Although Samus runs slower than Captain Falcon, she will also imitate 
one of the meanest moves done by American Football or Rugby players! That's 
right, that's the tackle! Boy, with such a heavy suit, being hit by this 
tackle really hurts! In fact, as much as 13% damage can be dealt to the 
character upon impact, and he/she/them will be sent flying even higher 
and further than when hit by Captain Falcon's charging tackle! My guess 
is that Samus is trading versatility for offensive power at this point.

Link:
Attack: Quick Sword Slash
Link will run, or I should say, jog to the enemy, and give him/her/them 
one quick slash with his Master Sword. This move also deals decent damage, 
as it can deliver up to 12% damage to the enemy, as well as send him/her/them 
flying. Note that the angle of trajectory of the hit enemy is about 70 
degrees, so he/she/they will fly more vertically than horizontally. Again, 
I tested this move on stationary Ice Climbers in training mode, at 100% 
damage each to verify the result.

Zelda:
Attack: Charging Shock
No, the two words above are not in any way, related to each other. IT 
is just that Zelda will charge at her enemy, and use her magic spell to 
deliver a quick shock to the enemy. This shock is not very powerful really, 
as it can only deliver up to 9% damage to the enemy. However, it does 
not have a weak impact force, as it is still possible to send the enemy 
flying in a trajectory that is more horizontal than vertical direction. 
I wonder if Zelda's alter ego, Sheik can do any better.

Sheik:
Attack: Charging Cut
Sheik will run over to her enemy, and deliver a quick cut at them. I was 
right above. Sheik can do better than Zelda when the running attack is 
concerned. After all, she can deal 1% damage, that's 10% damage with her 
attack while Zelda can only deal 9%. This move can send the enemies flying 
back more vertically than vertically back.

Comparison:
Factor: Hit Damage
It seems that for all of the running attacks, the Hit Damage and Impact 
Force are proportionally related, so it is OK if only the Hit Damage were 
compared. So, I will just list all the damages dealt by the 5 characters' 
running attacks. For Zelda/Shiek, I will take the better of the two results 
into the comparison.

Fox: 7%
Captain Falcon: 10%
Samus: 14%
Link: 12%
Sheik: 10%

Fox is the underdog, or I should say the underfox in respect to this attack, 
while Samus is the queen.

Fox: 1	Captain Falcon: 3	Samus: 8*	Link: 5		Sheik: 3

Cumulative Score:
Fox: 12	Captain Falcon: 29*	Samus: 20	Link: 25	Zelda: 13

Grabbing Attack:

Fox:
Fox grabs his enemy, and hits him/her a few times, dealing him/her about 
3% damage per hit, before throwing them away. Having thrown him/her away, 
Fox will usually take out his blaster gun and shoot him/her a couple more 
times while he/she is airborne. I think Fox will shoot exactly 4 times 
as indicated by the consecutive hit counter in training mode. A total 
of 7% damage will be dealt to the enemy character. The enemy can usually 
be held for 8 hits before he/she manages to break free of Fox's hold. 
(if they are having 100% damage to start with.)

Strategy:
For all throws, consider throwing your enemy at the following things: 
Motion Sensor Bombs, Pits, off the stage, other characters. Other 
characters that let hit by the character who is thrown will be hurt as 
well! If you throw an enemy just before he/she breaks free, you will get 
a "Close Call" Bonus. If you fail to grab enemies too many times, you 
get a penalty "Butterfingers". If you only hit someone but did not throw 
him/her you get a "Fists of Fury" bonus. If you knock someone out by throwing, 
you get a "Throw Down" bonus.

Captain Falcon:
Captain Falcon grabs his enemy, and smacks him/her a few times, also 
dealing him/her about 3% damage per hit, before throwing him/her away. 
Before throwing him/her away, Captain Falcon usually will kick the enemy 
twice before he sends him/her flying. A total of 7% more damage will be 
dealt to the character as Captain Falcon kicks them away. It seems that 
Captain Falcon has a similar grip on the enemy, as he can usually hit 
an enemy 8 times before he/she breaks free of Captain Falcon's hold. (Same 
conditions as in Fox's case apply.)

Samus:
Samus has the most high tech grab of all the 5 characters in the Realistic 
Division! In fact, she uses some ionic rope thingy to pull the enemy towards 
her from a considerable range! Like Captain Falcon and Fox, Samus smacks 
the enemy while dealing him/her about 3% damage per hit. Again, Samus 
will swing him/her away with her ionic rope, while dealing him/her about 
7% damage. Samus has a slightly tighter grip than the enemy, and she can 
usually hit an enemy 9 times before he/she manages to break free of Samus' 
hold. (Same conditions as in Fox's case apply.)

Strategies:
It is possible to fire the beam at the enemy even while Samus is airborne. 
Only that it will damage, not grab the enemy.

Link:
Link does things the medieval way, but still is quite potent in the art 
of grabbing and throwing. Link will use one of his gadgets, that is the 
Hookshot, to hook an enemy over to him so he can beat him/her up. Link 
beats up an enemy while dealing up to 3% a hit, similar to the 3 characters 
already mentioned above. When he has had enough, Link will slash his enemy 
twice before sending him/her away. This deals him/her 6% more damage. 
Link's grip is similar to that of Samus, as he can also hit someone up 
to 9 times before he/she breaks free from Link's hold. (Same conditions 
as in Fox's case apply.)

Strategies:
It is possible to fire the beam at the enemy even while Link is airborne. 
Only that it will damage, not grab the enemy.

Zelda:
Zelda just loves to use her magic to give people a shocking experience! 
I am serious here! I mean, Zelda will grab an enemy, and deliver a lot 
of magic shocks to her victim! Each shock does up to the same amount of 
damage the others would have inflicted on their targets, to be more precise, 
it is also 3%. However, it is the throw that is most noteworthy of Zelda. 
Zelda will sort of propel her target into the air, very high up, and deal 
up to 11% damage as she does this! I also find Zelda's grip to be even 
tighter than that of Link's, as I can score up to 10 hits before the 
character breaks free of her hold! (Same conditions as in Fox's case 
apply.)

Sheik:
Sheik grabs her enemy, and knocks him/her for up to 2% damage per hit. 
Then she will throw him/her away, dealing him/her 8% more damage. Her 
grip is worse than that of Zelda, and can only hit an enemy up to 8 times 
before he/she breaks free of her hold. (Same conditions as in Fox's case 
apply.)

Comparison:
Factors: Range, Throw Damage, Grip
To compare the grabbing attacks of the 5 characters, I tested them all 
on a stationary Pikachu with 100% damage in training mode. Here are the 
noticeable differences in the grabbing attacks of the characters. A 
Component Score will be awarded to make it easier to determine the final 
score of each attack.

Range:
Fox: Close Contact (0)
Captain Falcon: Close Contact (0)
Samus: Ranged (1)
Link: Ranged (1)
Zelda: Close Contact (0)

Throw Damage:
Fox: 7% (1)
Captain Falcon: 7% (1)
Samus: 7% (1)
Link: 6% (0)
Zelda: 11% (2)

Grip:
Fox: 8 hits before enemy breaks free (0)
Captain Falcon: 8 hits before enemy breaks free (0)
Samus:  9 hits before enemy breaks free (1)
Link: 9 hits before enemy breaks free (1)
Zelda: 10 hits before enemy breaks free (2)

Component Score Result:
Fox: 1	Captain Falcon: 1	Samus: 3	Link: 2		Zelda: 4

Hence I arrive at the following results for the cumulative score:
Fox: 2	Captain Falcon: 2	Samus: 5	Link: 3		Zelda: 8*

Cumulative Score:
Fox: 14	Captain Falcon: 31*	Samus: 25	Link: 28	Zelda: 21

---------------
Strong Attacks
---------------
Horizontal Strong Attack:

Fox:
Attack: Light Kick
Fox will give his enemy a rather light kick, with very little impact force 
at his enemies. This move deals average damage of 9% when it hits.

Strategy:
Use it often, that's all. There are not really many strategies involving 
a simple kick.

Captain Falcon:
Attack: Medium Kick
Captain Falcon, much like Fox will also deliver a single kick at his 
opponent when using this move. However, this move is more powerful than 
Fox's as it deals 11% damage upon impact, and can send the enemy flying 
much further than it does for Fox.

Strategy:
Use it often, that's all. There are not really many strategies involving 
a simple kick. Use this to send an approaching enemy away if they are 
running towards you.

Samus:
Attack: Medium Kick
I guess the characters in the realistic division really love to get their 
kicks around here. Samus just kicks her enemy, dealing him/her/them up 
to 10% damage, and sending them flying, but they will not fly as high 
as when they were hit by Captain Falcon.

Strategy:
Use it often, that's all. There are not really many strategies involving 
a simple kick.

Link:
Attack: Horizontal Sword Slash
Link does not need to kick as he already has his Master Sword in hand. 
He delivers a stronger slash on his enemies, dealing him/her/them 14% 
damage. This attack also has a rather large impact force.

Strategy:
If someone is falling or jumping towards you, this will be a great move 
to send them on their way as the Master Sword is rather long. The tip 
of the Sword deals more damage. Remember this.

Zelda:
Attack: Spell Attack
Well I'll be spellbound! Zelda will release a Spell on her enemy, and 
deal up to 13% damage on them! This move taunts a large impact force, 
but the enemy will be sent flying in the direction behind Zelda.

Strategy:
Consider cutting into someone while they are busy in a brawl or when they 
have their backs turned to you. Then this could prove to be a surprise.

Sheik:
Attack: Horizontal Kick
Yep, Sheik also kicks her enemies, sending them flying and dealing 7% 
damage. What more is there to say?

Strategy:
Use it often, that's all. There are not really many strategies involving 
a simple kick.

Comparison:
Factor: Hit Damage
It seems that the impact forces of the 5 moves are directly proportional 
to their hit damage. So comparing the hit damage is enough.

Fox: 9%
Captain Falcon: 11%
Samus: 10%
Link: 14%
Zelda: 13%

Yep, having a Master Sword does help. Not only it increases the range 
of your attack, it also increases the damage itself!

Fox: 1	Captain Falcon: 3	Samus: 2	Link: 8*	Zelda: 5	

Cumulative Score:
Fox: 15	Captain Falcon: 34	Samus: 27	Link: 36*	Zelda: 26

Upward Strong Attack:

Fox:
Attack: Up Kick
This is simple. Fox simply kicks upwards into the air, sending any enemies 
up to the air sky high. This move deals a modest amount of damage, namely, 
9%, which is average in standards for the Realistic Division.

Strategy:
This move works even if the enemy is on the ground next to Fox. However, 
it has limited range. So, time your kick so that Fox kicks just as the 
enemy runs up to him.

Captain Falcon:
Attack: Vertical Slam Kick
Captain Falcon really has flexible legs. He can lift one of them up so 
high into the ground, until it forms a straight line perpendicular to 
the ground with his other leg. Then he slams it down on the enemy. This 
move is rather awesome. It deals a whopping 13% damage, and is capable 
of knocking out Kirby with 100% damage in training mode. Now you will 
know its impact force.

Strategy:
This move taunts a considerable range as Captain Falcon does have long 
legs. Then you can hit your enemy prematurely before he can even get close 
enough for a brawl.

Samus:
Attack: Vertical Slam Kick
Samus does practically the same thing as Captain Falcon. I'd wish my legs 
would be flexible enough to do that! However, wearing a heavy metal suit 
does not seem to help Samus much, as it also deals 13% damage, and the 
enemy is sent flying behind Samus with a medium impact force. Oh well... 
That's tough I guess.

Strategy:
This move taunts a considerable range as Samus does have long legs. Then 
you can hit your enemy prematurely before he can even get close enough 
for a brawl. Another thing to note is that, this move is a Meteor Attack. 
If you knock out someone with this move, you get the Meteor Smash bonus. 
To increase the success rate, hang around the edges of a stage and when 
your enemy is approaching, let her rip!

Link:
Attack: Up Slash
Link simply uses his Master Sword to slash upwards into the air. This 
move also deals 9% damage on an enemy, and has enough impact force to 
send him/her/them into the air.

Strategy:
As the Master Sword is longer, the need for a precise timing of the slash 
will be lower in Kink's case. Use this to your advantage, particularly 
when someone is falling towards you.

Zelda:
Attack: Up Spell
Zelda sweeps her arm majestically at the air above her, releasing a spell. 
This spell really is shocking and will cause the enemy to be really 
SPELLBOUND! It sends them flying high upwards, and can deal up to 11% 
damage on the enemy.

Strategy:
This move cannot be used on enemies that are on the ground and next to 
you as the spell is rather high in the air. Don't bother trying. It works 
on enemies that are a platform higher than Zelda though.

Sheik:
Attack: Up kick
I don't really know what Sheik is doing, but she sorts of kicks into the 
air and deals 7% damage. This move has a medium impact force.

Strategy:
Not much can be said here, pal. Just use it often. As there is nothing 
so special about this kick.

Comparison:
Factor: Hit Damage
It seems that the impact force of the 5 moves are directly proportional 
to their hit damage. So comparing the hit damage is enough.

Fox: 9%
Captain Falcon: 13%
Samus: 13%
Link: 9%
Zelda: 11%

Again, it seems that the damage is quantized by 2% intervals.

Fox: 2	Captain Falcon: 8*	Samus: 8*	Link: 2		Zelda/Sheik: 3

Cumulative Score:
Fox: 17	Captain Falcon: 42*	Samus: 35	Link: 38	Zelda: 29

Downward Strong Attack:

Fox:
Attack: Low Kick
Fox performs a low kick on his enemy, sending him/her/them up into the 
air and dealing 10%. Nothing more to say.

Strategy:
If someone taller than Fox is trying to attack him, counter him by ducking 
and then giving him a low kick. However, do not try this on characters 
smaller than Fox as they can still hit him easily.

Captain Falcon:
Attack: Low Kick
Captain also performs a low kick on his enemy, and this attack deals up 
to 13% damage and has a large impact force.

Strategy:
As Captain Falcon is the most versatile character in this division, this 
move makes a decent combo starter because low attacks often have some 
power to stun enemies.

Samus:
Attack: Low Blast
Samus does not kick when she performs a downward Strong Attack on her 
enemies. Instead, she uses her cannon! Samus will deliver a single blast 
downwards at her foes! BOOM! Explosive! This move deals a whooping 14% 
damage and of course, being an explosion, has a very large impact force!

Strategy:
This move, being explosive has an area effect and this makes it easier 
for Samus to hit multiple targets at once. So, when you are near a brawling 
crowd who is down a slope, you'll know what to do.

Link:
Attack: Low Slash
Link will use his Master Sword to slash downwards at his foes. This move 
deals 11% damage and has a medium impact force.

Strategy:
Have you played Resident Evil: Code Veronica X? If you did, you would 
notice many similarities between this move and the downward knife slash. 
Both are effective, and the length of the Master Sword makes it easy for 
Link to perform multiple slashes at his enemies before they can come close 
enough to attack.

Zelda:
Attack: Low Kick
Zelda sort of leans a little backward and then performs a series of low 
kicks at her enemy. This move does not have a high impact force, and delivers 
about 7% damage per hit.

Strategy:
This move has the ability to jam enemies in the same spot after the kick. 
So, always repeatedly low kick at the enemies and it would be at least 
3 hits before he/she/they can break free. Or accompany this move with 
a Smash Attack.

Sheik:
Attack: Low Kick
Sheik also performs a low kick on her enemies and deals them 8%. Nothing 
so special is there? 

Strategy:
This move also can jam an enemy in the same spot, allowing for multiple 
kicks. That's nothing more to say.

Comparison:
Factor: Hit Damage
It seems that the impact force of the 5 moves are directly proportional 
to their hit damage. So comparing the hit damage is enough.

Fox: 10%
Captain Falcon: 13%
Samus: 14%
Link: 11%
Sheik: 8%

Fox: 2	Captain Falcon: 5	Samus: 8	Link: 3		Zelda/Sheik: 1

Cumulative Score:
Fox: 19	Captain Falcon: 47*	Samus: 43	Link: 41	Zelda: 30

---------------
Air Attacks
---------------
Neutral Air Attack:

Fox:
Attack: Neutral Kick
The people of the realistic division really like to get their kicks! I 
must say again! When you press the A button while Fox is airborne, Fox 
will simply kick his enemy in the air, sending him/her/them flying 
backwards. This move deals about 12% damage and has medium impact force. 
Not bad for a versatile character like Fox.

Captain Falcon:
Attack: Double Kick
Captain Falcon really IS trained with the finest essence of street fighting 
Bruce Lee style! Only that he does not make those high pitch "ninja" sounds 
Bruce Lee makes! That's right, captain Falcon will play Bruce Lee, and 
perform two kicks, one with each leg while airborne. Each kick deals 7% 
damage, making up a total of 14% damage! Cool! This move also as a 
considerable impact force, but it will only take effect after the second 
kick.

Strategy:
ALWAYS try to land the second kick on the enemy, as it is the second kick 
that delivers the impact force. In this respect, this move is much more 
effective against larger characters like Bowser and less effective on 
characters like Ness as they are so small.

Samus:
Attack: Air Kick
Samus would make another Bruce Lee like character if she were a man. But 
as she is a woman, I can only say that she is like Michelle Yeoh, one 
of the star actress of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and the first ever 
Chinese Bond Girl! That's right folks, Samus also performs a kick while 
airborne to her enemies. This single kick deals 14% damage and has a rather 
high impact force. It is possible for Samus to knock out Ness at 100% 
in the Onett stage while he is on a ledge! I guess it does help to wear 
a large metallic suit with her!

Link:
Attack: Neutral Air Kick
Link, being the Hero of Time can sometimes fight without using his Master 
Sword. In this attack, Link will simply perform a single kick on his enemy 
while in the air! This attack ain't too bad. It is just about average, 
I must say. It deals 11% damage and has a moderate amount of impact force. 
What a pity Link would not use his Master Sword in this move.

Zelda:
Attack: Arm Spin
Zelda is such a show off. She will spin around in the air, sparkling like 
there's no tomorrow. Any enemy that's hit will be trapped in her spinning 
arms. Unfortunately, you cannot judge a package by it's looks. Although 
it looks cool, it does sort of progressive damage like 2% per spin, and 
usually the enemy can only get hit 5 times before they are sent flying, 
so it only deals up to 10% damage, besides, the impact fore is not go 
good.

Strategy:
This move makes a good stunning move. As Zelda spins, you can stun the 
enemy for a short moment, and you can quickly follow up with a second 
move. Therefore, it is better to use this move on an enemy standing on 
a ledge above rather than in the air itself.

Sheik:
Attack: Horizontal Kick
Sheik will perform a horizontal kick on the enemy that deals 9% damage 
and is not even capable of knocking a 136% damage Ness out when I tested 
it in training mode! Not good, use Zelda's instead, at least that has 
progressive damage.

Comparison:
Factor: Damage, Impact Force
Hit Damage Comparison:
Fox: 12% 	
Captain Falcon: 14%    
Samus: 14%    
Link: 11%	
Zelda: 10%

Impact Force:
Fox: Medium	    
Captain Falcon: Large    
Samus: Very Large         
Link: Medium    
Zelda: Low

The Impact Force Comparison helped break the tie between Captain Falcon 
and Zelda in terms of damage.

Fox: 3	Captain Falcon: 5 	Samus: 8*	Link: 2		Zelda: 1

Cumulative Score:
Fox: 22	Captain Falcon: 52*	Samus: 51	Link: 43	Zelda: 31

Upward Air Attack:

Fox:
Attack: Upward Flip Kick
Ahhh... Fox also will imitate Jackie Chan and maybe the late Bruce Lee 
with this move. In fact, Fox will do some sort of a 360 degree flip in 
the air and perform a series of kicks while spinning! This move deals 
a whooping 16% damage maximum and has the impact force to send someone 
flying and sometimes even knocking them out with this move if they have 
taken enough damage! Wow-eee!

Strategy:
It is possible to keep an enemy airborne in the air for a considerable 
amount of time. If you manage to do this, then you get the Juggler bonus 
after the match. Of course, the enemy will try to drift away from Fox, 
and this is where Fox's versatility will come into use to give the chase!

Captain Falcon:
Attack: Flip Horizontal Kick
Go Jackie Chan! Show the bad guys all you've got! Captain Falson will 
also perform a flip in the air before kicking his does. This move has 
a more horizontal trajectory than a vertical one. Its damage rating ain't 
too shabby either, as it can deal up to 13% damage on the enemy, as well 
as sending him/her/them flying in a horizontal trajectory. But the impact 
force is moderate.

Samus:
Attack: Up Corkscrew Kick
Samus this time will turn herself upside down and straighten up her body.
Then, she will twist her legs around and drill the into her enemy above, 
much like how Popeye performed his famous Twister Punch only that it's 
a kick, not a punch! This move deals up to 10% damage, as it is some sort 
of drilling move, don't expect it to have to much impact force.

Strategy: 
The good thing about this move it that once after Samus has finished with 
this move, the enemy will not really be able to counterattack, as Samus 
will drop back down after the attack. To speed up the process, press and 
hold down on the Control Stick.

Link:
Attack: Up Stab
Now, what does our good old Karl-Bonhoeffer-Nervenklinik have in his hands 
now? That's right, Link will take out his Master Sword, and hold it 
vertically with the Blade pointing upwards and stab anyone who's in the 
air above Link. Now, it's a nice SHARP blade! It deals up to 16% damage 
and can have the impact force to knock out the enemy with a Star KO! 
Destruction Guaranteed.

Strategy:
Remember that the tip of the Master Sword is the sharpest, so try to stab 
the enemy with the tip of the sword for maximum damage.

Zelda:
Attack: Up Spell
Zelda will make use of her magic spells once again. This move will cause 
Zelda release a rather explosive magic spell on anything above her while 
she is airborne! This move deals up to 13% damage and also has quite a 
high impact force. It is not explosive for nothing, I must SAY!

Sheik:
Attack: Corkscrew Kick
Sheik also will try a corkscrew kick on her enemies, and this time it 
is slightly weaker than that of Samus. It only deals 9% damage. Give me 
Zelda's Upward Air Attack anyday.

Comparison:

Factors: Hit Damage, Impact Force
The impact force must also be considered when I am comparing the upward 
air attacks, as some of these moves have the potential to knock out the 
enemy.

Hit Damage:
Fox: 16%
Captain Falcon: 13%
Samus: 10%
Link: 16%
Zelda: 13%

Impact Force:
Fox: Large
Captain Falcon: Large
Samus: Very Low
Link: Large
Zelda: Medium

Ah... It seems that Fox and Link and tied when the upward strong attack 
is concerned.

Fox: 8*	Captain Falcon: 3	Samus: 1	Link: 8*	Zelda; 3

Cumulative Score:
Fox: 30	Captain Falcon: 55*	Samus: 52	Link: 51	Zelda: 34

Downward Air Attack:

Fox:
Attack: Downward Drill Kick
Hmmm... It seems that the Drill Kick is one of the most common moves in 
Super Smash Bros. Melee. So many characters have this move! It seems that 
ox will also sort of kick or stomp the enemy a few times as he dives down 
on them. The stomping is carried out rapidly, and I happened to notice 
that 3-5 consecutive hits were scored each time dealing a maximum of about 
10-12% damage. Of course, don't expect this to have a high impact force. 
It makes a great stun move though.

Strategy:
It seems that the damage dealt by the move is directly proportional to 
the size of the enemy, so consider using this move more on large enemies 
to maximize damage, as there is a larger volume or surface area for Fox 
to drill through. Sort of, I say.

Captain Falcon:
Attack: Air Stomp
Captain Falcon will cry "Hup" and then straighten his legs and stomp them 
onto any unsuspecting victims below. This move is a meteor attack, so 
if you use it, the enemy will most likely be hammered into the ground 
and stunned. This move deals up to 16% damage and has quite a large impact 
force as the target will sometimes bounce off the ground and fly quite 
high up if they are close to the ground or on the ground in the first 
place! Enjoy your Meteor Smashes, Captain Falcon!

Strategy:
I would consider using this when an enemy character has very high damage, 
as they will almost always be sent flying up into the air and to their 
doom! Of course, this move is also a must use in those 1-P mode matches 
where you face 10 lightened enemies. It is just so easy to get the Meteor 
Master bonus with this move there. (Knock out an enemy with every Meteor 
Attack you give out.)

Samus:
Attack: Downward Cannon Pound
Samus will dive towards her enemy, and take out her right arm where she 
has the cannon, and then pound the cannon arm onto the enemy! This move 
is another Meteor Attack, and it is just so hard to stop. The enemy will 
be dealt 16% damage, and would be sent flying into the sky! (If they are 
on the ground, otherwise they would just fall and crash into the ground 
or into a hole.)

Strategy:
Timing is rather important here, as it takes a short moment for Samus 
to swing out her cannon arm. So, always press Down+A when Samus is about 
half a character's height from the enemy to make it work.

Link:
Attack: Downward Stab
Wooee! Link will again take out his Master Sword and hold it with both 
hands and sort of sits on it. Then he lets himself fall with the sword, 
and he will also let the blade stab into the tender meat of anything below 
Link! This move deals a whooping 19% damage and has an impact force with 
such awesome knockout abilities! In fact, of the 6 moves mentioned, this 
is the only move that can knock out Ness at 100% damage.

Strategy:
It seems that this move is rather bouncy, upon impact, Link will bounce 
off his enemies, and can then continue to stab other enemies. Press and 
Hold Left or Right to make Link bounce in the desired direction. Besides, 
larger enemies can be hit more than once if you use this trick!

Zelda:
Attack: Light Stomp
Zelda will do a rather weak stomp on her enemy, dealing him/her/them up 
to 7% damage only. Not so worth it, right?

Sheik:
Attack: Downward Punch
Sheik will punch downwards in the air, dealing the enemy 11% damage upon 
impact. This move does not have a very high impact force at all. There 
is nothing too special about this move, is there?

Comparison:

Factors: Hit Damage, Impact Force

The respective hit damages of the moves of the 5 characters are:

Fox: 8-12%
Captain Falcon: 16%
Samus: 16%
Link: 19%
Sheik: 11%

Impact Force:
Fox: Low
Captain falcon: Large
Samus: Large
Link: Very Large
Sheik: Low

There is a simple moral to this comparison. It is better to fight with 
sharp instruments than bare handed or I should say, bare footed. Heh heh...

Fox: 2	Captain Falcon: 5	Samus: 5	Link: 8*	Zelda: 1

Cumulative Score:
Fox: 32	Captain Falcon: 60*	Samus: 57	Link: 59	Zelda: 35

Horizontal Air Attack:

Fox:
Attack: Horizontal Light Kick
Fox will lunge towards his enemy, and then swing his leg out to deliver 
a rather light kick at his enemy. I mean light because, this move deals 
only up to 9% damage, and has very low impact force. So, I can only say 
this is a rather average move, and only use it to accumulate damage on 
someone, but not finish someone off. That's all the strategy I can think 
of for this move. Yawn...

Captain Falcon:
Attack: Knee Nudge
Captain Falcon will lunge toward his enemy, and bash the enemy with his 
kneecap! Of course, the knee cap is a rather hard bone, and when someone 
gets bashed by a hard bone, they will be sent flying! This move deals 
a whooping 18% damage maximum and will send the enemy flying backwards 
with a rather horizontal trajectory! That's right! It is a good finishing 
move, as well as a good edge guarding move. See the strategy below to 
find out I am talking about.

Strategy:
When an enemy is jumping back on to the stage after you have hit him/her/them 
off, stand by the edge and when they are close, perform the Knee Nudge 
on them and they will be sent back. Then wait for him to come back before 
sending him off again! This is what edge guarding is all about.

Samus:
Attack: Cannon Barrage
This is another move that involves Samus' cannon on her arm! When you 
press A while holding left or right on the control stick while Samus is 
airborne, Samus will take out her cannon and fire a barrage with her cannon. 
I think she will fire five times, as I heard 5 BOOMS when I used this 
move. Each hit deals 3% damage, so I can say that this move can deal up 
to 15% damage. But do not expect the enemies to be sent flying when you 
use this move.

Strategy:
Samus fires her cannon in an arc. Use this to your advantage. IN general, 
this move should be used against a large bunch of enemies or a single 
enemy that is very big in size, like Donkey Kong or the Master Hand boss.

Link:
Attack: Horizontal Slash
This move is self-explanatory isn't it? Link will simply lunge towards 
his enemy and slash him/her/them with his Master Sword horizontally! This 
move deals up to 13% damage and has about medium impact force. But still, 
it can be used as a finishing move if the enemy has taken enough damage.

Strategy:
This move also makes a good edge guarding move. Particularly if your enemy 
is higher up than Link.

Zelda:
Attack: Jump Kick
For some strange reason, Zelda gets a rather powerful Jump Kick. In fact, 
once after impact, it can deal up to a massive 20% damage which is amazing 
for a horizontal move. After all, mid-air attacks rarely an exceed 20% 
in damage! This move has such a high impact force that I can knock out 
Ness with 100% damage in the Onett Stage! Now, you know what to do with 
this move, don't you? No strategies needed! It's all brute force!

Sheik:
Attack: Horizontal Slap
Sheik sort of hits the enemy with her hand in mid air, creating a "slap" 
sound. This move deals only 13% damage and has medium impact force. I 
would prefer Zelda's move anyday.

Comparison:

Factors: Hit Damage, Impact Force
Here are the Hit Damages of the moves of the 5 characters of this division:
Fox: 7%
Captain Falcon: 18%
Samus: 15%
Link: 13%
Zelda: 20%

Here are their respective impact forces:
Fox: Low
Captain Falcon: Large
Samus: Low
Link: Medium
Zelda: Large

Well, Zelda is the queen when horizontal air attacks are concerned.

Fox: 1	Captain Falcon: 5	Samus: 3	Link: 2		Zelda: 8* 

Cumulative Score:
Fox: 33	Captain Falcon: 65*	Samus: 59	Link: 61	Zelda: 43

---------------
Smash Attacks
---------------
Horizontal Smash Attack:

Fox:
Attack: Charging Rolling Kick
This is really some sort of tackle move. Fox will sort of coil up and 
then unwind. Then he sorts of rolls over and delivers the smash kick on 
his enemy, sending him/her into the air and up to space. Well... But does 
it deal a lot of damage? Nah... When I tested it on a pair of stationary 
Ice Climbers with 100% damage on the Corneria Stage, they did get knocked 
out, but, only 20% damage were dealt! Not a very damaging attack, I must 
say. After all, only 20%! You ought to be kidding me.

Strategy:
The good thing about this attack is that Fox will charge forward while 
performing this Smash Attack, so perform this move repeatedly and Fox 
can sometimes force an enemy into a wall or over a cliff if they are not 
very damaged. Use your imagination!

Captain Falcon:
Attack: Fiery Elbow Smash
Yes, this attack IS hot! Captain Falcon will withdraw both elbows and 
then smash them horizontally on the enemy, causing a spontaneous 
combustion and sending the enemies sky high while they are burning to 
a crisp! Of course, as it is so fiery, it is just expected for it to deal 
a lot of damage. In fact, it can deal up to 27% damage on the enemy, and 
of course, they will be sent so high to become shooting stars! Literally, 
I really mean it! (Again, I tested this move on a pair of stationary Ice 
Climbers with 100% damage in the Corneria Stage in the Training Mode.)

Samus:
Attack: Cannon Smash
What does our woman in a can Soapy Sam up her sleeve, or I should say, 
cannon? That's right, she has her cannon up her cannon! Samus will withdraw 
her cannon arm before she smashes the life out with her heavy cannon. 
However, the cannon must be made of synthetic polymers or something like 
that, as it literally deals very very little damage! Well, not that little, 
but it is poor. Only 19%! This is really pitiable for such little damage! 
Oh well, anyway, the trajectory of this move is just about 45 degrees 
to the horizontal, so the enemy will not escalate very quickly, and the 
knock outs will usually be off the two sides of the screen. (Again, I 
tested this move on a pair of stationary Ice Climbers with 100% damage 
in the Corneria Stage in the Training Mode.)

Link:
Attack: Sword Slash Smash Attack
Try to pronounce the name of this attack as quickly as possible! It may 
be a tongue twister! Tee hee hee! Anyway, let's get back to the main point. 
You guessed it. Link will perform a Smash Attack with his sword. As simple 
is that. However, I guess Link's sword bust have been blunt after all 
the wear and tear it has endured after battle with all the enemies. After 
all, it can only deal up to 19% damage when it is fully charged. This 
is really sad, but fortunately, I have found some other use of this move. 
(Again, I tested this move on a pair of stationary Ice Climbers with 100% 
damage in the Corneria Stage in the Training Mode.)

Strategy:
As the Master Sword is rather long, it can be used for edge guarding. 
But this time it is effective against enemies that are jumping towards 
Link at the same height as Link. You know the drill. When the enemy is 
almost within reach of the edge, slash him!

Zelda:
Attack: Arm Spin Smash
Zelda sorts of spins her arms around, trapping her foe in her spinning 
arm, dealing him/her/them progressive damage before sending them off to 
their doom. Boy, and I will be spellbound! First, when the enemy is caught 
in her spinning arms, they will get hit 4 times and receive 5% damage, 
then they will be sent flying and receive another 17% damage. So, the 
damage of this move totals up to 22% damage. It isn't too shabby for an 
attack in this group, unlike some other characters...

Sheik:
Attack: Double Charge Kick
Sheik will wind up, then charge upon her foe, kicking them twice. The 
first kick deals up to 7% damage, while the second can deal up to 12% 
damage, totaling up to 19% damage. The sad thing is, this move is the 
only smash attack that failed to knock out a pair of Ice Climbers with 
100% damage in the Training Mode in Corneria Stage. So, The impact force 
is rather poor, and I would prefer Zelda's Smash Attack any day.

Strategy:
The good thing about this attack is that Sheik will charge forward while 
performing this Smash Attack, so perform this move repeatedly and Sheik 
can sometimes force an enemy into a wall or over a cliff if they are not 
very damaged. Use your imagination!

Comparison:
Factor: Hit Damage
As all Smash Attacks in this category are capable of sending enemies sky 
high to their doom provided that they receive enough damage, I might as 
well just compare them by the damage dealt.

Fox: 20%
Captain Falcon: 27%
Samus: 19%
Link: 19%
Zelda: 22%

Well, it seems that the F-Zero race driver has a big lead over the other 
characters, leading to the following conclusion:

Fox: 3	Captain Falcon: 8*	Samus: 2	Link: 2		Zelda: 5

Cumulative Score:
Fox: 36	Captain Falcon: 73*	Samus: 61	Link: 63	Zelda: 48

Upward Smash Attack:

Fox:
Attack: Upward Rolling Kick
Wow, Bruce Lee has reincarnated as a Fox! Nah, not really, but it seems 
that Fox is imitating Bruce Lee again in this smash attack. Fox will sort 
of perform a 360 degree vertical spin on his body, and then use both of 
his legs to kick his enemy up into the sky! Wham! Boy! This move is totally 
cool! It deals 24% damage and can send any foe close enough to Fox directly 
upwards into the air. Who needs to wait for someone to fall down on Fox 
to use this move??? (This time, I tested the move on a stationary Pikachu 
with 100% damage in the Corneria Stage in the Training Mode. The same 
goes for all the other characters for their respective move.)

Captain Falcon:
Attack: Vertical Double Kick
Wow! Another cheap imitation of Bruce Lee's moves in the movie "Fist of 
Fury! I must say! Captain Falcon will go on guard, and then stretch one 
of his legs to scoop the enemy a little bit into the air, and then he 
will use the other leg to send them flying. I could have sworn that Captain 
Falcon's legs were form a straight line perpendicular to the ground while 
he performed that move! Two consecutive hits will be dealt. According 
to the interface of the Training Mode, the first hit dealt 11% damage, 
while the second dealt 16% damage! That's right, a massive total of 27% 
damage is dealt to the enemy! What else could be better?

Strategy:
When someone is falling towards Captain Falcon, getting the second kick 
hit will be sufficient to send him/her/them to Valhalla! Ha ha ha!

Samus:
Attack: Upward Cannon Barrage
Samus does not use her cannons to smash in this move. Instead, she just 
uses it to blow up people. This move will cause Samus to fire her cannon 
in an arc above her head. A total of 5 shots will be fired. When I tested 
it in Training Mode, I managed to deal up to 4 consecutive hits, dealing 
up to 21% damage, so I estimate that if all 5 blows connect, about 26% 
damage will be dealt. One big minus of this move is that it lacks impact 
force even if it is explosive! So, use this move as a damage accumulator 
anytime.

Strategy:
For maximum effects, I suggest you use this move more on large enemies, 
then it will be more certain that all 5 hits will connect.

Link:
Attack: Multiple Upward Sword Slash
Link will slash rather aggressively at the air with this move. In fact, 
Link slashes a total of 3 times. It is hard to test this move on Pikachu, 
as the 2nd slash never seems to connect, so I would have to test it on 
Bowser. It seems that the first slash deals 5% damage, the second deals 
3% damage, and the final one deals 12% damage. Therefore the damage dealt 
will total to 20%. The enemy will only be knocked around by the first 
two slashes, and will be sent flying to the sky by the third!

Strategy:
When someone with heavy damage is falling towards Link, time this attack 
so Link would just be able to hit the enemy with the third slash, then 
it will be enough to send him/her/them to the stars! As the Master Sword 
is rather long, it's easier than you think.

Zelda:
Attack: Upward Spell Smash
Zelda, will wave her hand gracefully in the air, giving out little sparks 
of light. Meanwhile, her opponent will be trapped in the spell, and dealt 
progressive damage in a series of shocks before being sent to his/her/their 
doom! I do mean progressive damage here, after all, the interface of the 
Training Mode told me that 12 hits were dealt to the enemy, giving out 
a total of 20% damage. To be more precise, the first 11 hits dealt 14% 
damage while the last one dealt 6%. It takes quite a while for Zelda to 
send her foe flying, so the only strategy I would recommend using is good 
timing. That's it.

Sheik:
Attack: Dual Hand Ground Pound
This has ought to be the only upward Smash Attack of this division that 
hits downwards, then upwards. The only thing related to the upward 
direction is that Sheik will raise her hands into the air before slamming 
them down onto the ground. Slam! Of course, as both hands are involved, 
damage can be dealt against enemies surrounding Sheik. This attack deals 
about 17% damage, for your information.

Comparison:

Factors: Hit Damage, Impact Force
All Smash Attacks in this category have a large impact force, with the 
exception of Samus', so I would have to deduct some points from Samus 
as a penalty.

The Hit Damages for the 5 Smash Attacks are as follows:
Fox: 24%
Captain Falcon: 27%
Samus: 26%
Link: 20%
Zelda: 20%

Although Samus deals the 2nd most damage, I would have to give her one 
ranking lower than Fox as a penalty for having little impact force.

Fox: 5	Captain Falcon: 8*	Samus: 3	Link: 2		Zelda: 2  

Cumulative Score:
Fox: 41	Captain Falcon: 81*	Samus: 64	Link: 65	Zelda: 50

Downward Smash Attack:

Fox:
Attack: Double Leg Split Kick
Fox will stand and straighten up his legs, and then sort of perform a 
leg split downwards, kicking anything around Fox. This attack sends the 
enemy flying in a rather horizontal trajectory, and has a medium impact 
force. This move deals up to 20% damage to any enemy that gets hit. However, 
this move lacks in impact force. When I tested this move on a pair of 
stationary Ice Climbers at 100% damage standing on the middle of the plane 
in the Corneria Stage, they were just sent flying, but not out of the 
screen. 

Strategy:
So, I suggest you only use this move when the enemy is rather close to 
the edge of the screen, then it can be used to knock him/her/them out. 
Otherwise, use it when you are surrounded in order to break free. Get 
my point?

Captain Falcon:
Attack: Low Forwards-Backwards Smash Kick
Captain Falcon will be the Captain of a football (I mean soccer) team 
while using this move. He will put his leg back and then swing outwards 
for a free kick, and his enemies are the ball! That's not all, not only 
does Captain Falcon kick the enemies in front of him