SSBM/Mr. Game and Watch/Introduction

Introduction

Mr. Game & Watch is currently ranked 19th in Melee's tier list. Mr. Game & Watch's positive attributes include extremely powerful killers that can last a long time and a slew of moderately effective special moves, one of which can give a OHKO. Surprisingly Mr. Game & Watch also has a great wavedash and an amazing fastfalling and traction attributes. However, Mr. Game & Watch's flaws are due to how he was translated to Melee; he has a bad approach due to his slow overall speed, and he generally is rather predictable. His high hitstun and low weight also make him an easy target for combos. Mr. Game & Watch also has the dubious distinction of being the only character in the game who cannot L-cancel most of his aerial attacks (only Fair and Dair cancellable); all of this gives him very poor matchups against a majority of the cast and define his weak points.

Strengths

Weaknesses

Disjointed hitboxes - All of Game & Watch moves can outrange most of the melee cast, with the only exception being Marth and Roy. Good Combo Game - Mr. Game & Watch' moveset mixes well enough to allow him to rack up easy percent combos at low percent, while being notoriously great against fast fallers like Fox and Falco. His combo game is accentuated with his ability to chaingrab all of the cast in vast stages. Decent Kill Power - In combination to his combo game, Mr. Game & Watch can finish off his opponents well enough in good interactions. It can be through a grab combo finisher, EdgeguardThe act of preventing the opponent from safely returning to the stage. sequences, powerful smash attacks, or a straight aerial kill on any stage' corners.

Very Light - Being the second light weight character in the game along with Jigglypuff (both of them being behind Pichu), Mr. Game & Watch has a very hard time surviving against dangerous hits without proper DI. Mediocre Defensive Tools - Mr. Game & Watch has an agglomeration of many wrong, and strange, attributes that results into his mediocre defense on stage. First, he cannot L cancel most of his aerial attacks. Second, he has the worst shield in the game, which only covers the center of his body and leaves his head, feet, and hands exposed. In consequences, he is very susceptible to shield poke in many situations. Light shield compensates for that problem, it has more inconveniencies itself such as prolonging hitlag and having a lot of pushback when hit by an opponent. Linear Toolset - While his tool kit makes his pros, Mr. Game & Watch is very predictable in terms of approaches in many important matchups. His safe, main approaching tools are Fair, Dair, and down tilt. While good, they can easily be avoided and exploited by an experienced player. Below Average Frame Data - Although his moves have amazing range and long lasting hitboxes, his startup frames on many moves are very slow. While forward air and down air can be L canceled, their startup frames are okay to barely bad. His grounded tilts and smash attacks suffers the same, down tilt and jab being the fastest tools available to him. Easy to Combo - His low weight in combination with high hitstun makes him susceptible to also get easy combos on him. Average Speed - Mr. Game & Watch has a good wavedash and traction, but his dash, runspeed, and acceleration is average. Therefore, he can't outrun or keep up with top speed characters like fox, falco, falcon, and jigglypuff in the air.