SSBM/Dr. Mario

Introduction

Dr. Mario is a clone character of Mario. Outside of SSBM, Dr. Mario originates from the Dr. Mario series of puzzle video games made by Nintendo, beginning with "Dr. Mario" that first appeared on the NES. He ranks 9th on Melee’s tier list, higher than the original character of Mario. His tier placement is for his great combos and overall uniqueness as a fighter, such as an unusual sex kick. His approach options are also very good, with a long wavedash and a good air game, as well as a very good SHFFL. Dr. Mario also has a good projectile, which itself can be used to aid his approach. However, Dr. Mario's primary weakness is his abysmal recovery, which is one of the worst in the game, due to its predictability and few methods of increasing its distance.

Strengths	Weaknesses

"A" Moves Analysis

Normal

• Neutral attack- Dr. Mario does a weak punch forward, followed by a second weak punch before a stronger kick forward. Similar to Mario's from Super Mario 64. Damage in respective order: 3-4%, 2-4%, 5-6%
• Dash attack- He slides on the ground feet first, has slightly more range than Mario's. Launches foes in a random trajectory. 9% damage.
• Side Tilt- A kick forward, stronger than Mario's. 8% damage.
• Up Tilt- Dr. Mario punches upwards. Slightly more knockback than Mario's with a different trajectory based on where it hits. If the player hits them while they're in front of the player, they will sent forwards. If the player hits them when they're above the player, they'll go upwards. 10% damage.
• Down Tilt- While crouching, does a quick sweeper kick in front of him. Sends foes behind him, unlike his clone counterpart. 9% damage

Smash attacks

• Side smash- Launches a somewhat short ranged electrical shock from his palm, in a very similar fashion to his clone. 19% sweetspotted uncharged, 25% fully.
• Up smash- Dr. Mario headbutts upwards. Slightly more speedy and a little weaker than Mario's. 16% uncharged, 21% fully.
• Down smash- A very sudden break-dance like sweep, which is very fast and powerful.18% uncharged, 24% fully.

Other attacks

• Ledge attack - Does a somersault and then kicks upwards. 8% damage.
• 100% ledge attack - Gets up then does an attack similar to his forward tilt. 10% damage
• Floor attack -Gets up then punches behind him, then in front of him. 6%.

Aerial attacks

• Neutral aerial- Does a "sex kick". Oddly, the move's power increases the more it's out, unlike other sex kicks. 10% when first out, 14% at the very last frames.
• Forward aerial- Winds up and punches in a downwards angle, though cannot spike. However it is very powerful. 16% damage
• Back aerial- Mario kicks backwards. Good for edgeguarding. 8%
• Up aerial- Flip kicks upwards, which is good for juggling fast fallers. 10% damage
• Down aerial- Does a drilling kick. 12% if all hits connect

Throws

• Pummel- Headbutts opponent. 2-3% per pummel
• Forward throw- spins opponent once, and tosses them forward with decent knockback. Good for an edgeguarding follow up. 9% damage.
• Back throw- Spins around three times and tosses the foe behind him, with impressive knockback. One of the strongest back throw in the game. 12% damage.
• Up throw-Dr. Mario heaves his opponent upwards, can lead into a combo against fast fallers. 8% damage.
• Down throw- Slams opponent to ground, good for a short-hopped neutral aerial follow up. 6% damage.

"B" Moves List

Move Analysis

• Neutral B

The megavitamins are similar to Mario's Fireballs. However, they have a unique bounce arc, fall faster, do more damage, and have distinctive sounds used from the original Dr. Mario game. They are also used in Dr. Mario's taunt, in which he tosses a non damaging Megavitamin up and catches it. The Megavitamin appears as a sticker in Brawl.

• Up B

Super Jump Punch:When Dr. Mario performs the attack, coins fly out of the enemy, and the foe receives about 12% damage. Dr. Mario's version of the attack is the same as Mario's, but is more powerful, and scores fewer hits. Also, the sound effect is different than the usual sound made when Mario grabs a coin. Using the cape to aid his version of the recovery is less noticeable and less helpful than Mario's because of its lag, sending Dr. Mario up and forward only once.

• Side B

Super Sheet is a move used by Dr. Mario in Super Smash Bros. Melee. This attack is almost the same as Mario's Cape attack - the differences are that Super Sheet is longer and does slightly more damage than the Cape (up to 12% rather than 10%); but has less lag and moves Dr. Mario up only once, making it less useful for recoveries. The attack can also be used to shift the direction of a player who is trying to get back on the field. In this case, they will be turned around, and will instead jump back on air, rather than jump on the field.

• Down B

Dr. Tornado is one of Dr. Mario's special moves in Melee. Dr. Tornado has the same effect as the Mario Tornado, except that it is a little stronger. The special attack traps the victim into a tornado, punches them constantly, and then smashes them up into the air when the move is done. The attack can also very lightly pull someone near into the Tornado. Unlike Mario Tornado, Dr. Tornado throws them in a random direction, rather than straight up. Dr. Mario is able to hover in the air when using this attack by repeatedly tapping the B Button while using it. Also, Dr. Mario doesn't yell "Yahoo!" or "Yee-haw!" when performing the attack, unlike Mario, but for some reason, the "Yee-haw!" effect can still be heard as one of Dr. Mario's sounds in the Sound Test menu and when he uses his back throw.

Frame Data

General gameplay

• Pill Rush: Bombard the enemy with a wall of Pills exerted after a short jumped into a fast fall and at ground point. Repeat this three Pill fire sequence while approaching the opponent to render them almost stunned. This technique does not work as well for Mario, due to the Pills added weight and higher bounce.
• Wall of Pain: Use of backward aerials to effectively keep the opponent off the edge. Doctor Mario can use multiple back aerials off the edge making him an excellent edge guarder.
• Super Jump Punch cancel: Dr. Mario is the only character able to cancel his up special move. Within the first four frames, the player must activate the move so that Dr. Mario moves in the backward direction of where he's facing by quickly moving the control stick in the opposite direction. The opponent will be sent up at a trajectory based solely on their weight and Doctor Mario will be able to move. Another way the player can do this is by using Super Jump Punch so that Dr. Mario would jump backwards and then tilting the control stick downward during the first few frames of the animation. This can be used to shield cancel and punish the opponent for approaching or for trying to break the player's shield
• Taunt cancel: Dr. Mario is the only character that can taunt cancel, along with Young Link and Pikachu (although for Pikachu, the player has to do it a different way than Dr. Mario and Young Link). To taunt cancel, the player has to run towards a edge and right before they reach the edge and do the edge animation, taunt and Dr. Mario will just about to throw his pill but he will have it canceled and he would do the edge animation so Dr. Mario can still move after he taunted. This doesn't really help, but the player can use it to show skill.

Throw combos

Down throw

• Down throw + Dr. Tornado - a reliable and basic combo. Dr. Mario's version of the Mario Tornado sends foes on a random trajectory, making it hard for the foe to counter it.
• Down throw + up tilt + up tilt - A basic up tilt and up tilt, where the first up tilt usually doesn't launch the foe in a random trajectory due to close range, but the second one does.
• Down throw + up smash- reliable against fast fallers between low to mid-high damage percentages, good for leading into aerial follow ups.
• Down throw + Super Jump Punch - a near-useless combo, but doable nonetheless, where Dr. Mario can use his up special after his down throw, though usually only hits once or twice, and sends him and the foe in opposite directions.
• Down throw + neutral combo - a situational combo where Dr. Mario can just barely connect his neutral attacks with a fallen foe.
• Down throw + Cape- another situational combo where Dr. Mario can assume the foe will try to dodge roll away from him when they try to fastfall and land, only to have them rolling the other way into a combo.
• Down throw + Down smash- this combo usually works at low damage percentages. The foe is almost always hit before they can escape due to the down smash's speed

Up throw

• Up throw + up tilt- a basic combo, where the foe is sent at a random trajectory due to his up tilt physics.
• Up throw + Super Jump Punch - if the foe DIs slightly just right immediately after, his up special can be used for good damage.
• Up throw + Dr. Tornado - a DI-able combo, similar to one of his down throw combos.
• Up throw + up smash - a basic combo, good for setups and low to mid-low %s
• Up throw + any aerial - a multi-purpose setup for aerials.

Match-ups

Serious Advantage Match-ups

Bowser, Kibry, Pichu

Advantage Match-ups

Pikachu, DK, Link, Y.Link, Zelda, Roy, Mew2, Yoshi, G&W, Ness

Fair Match-ups

Puff, Ice Climbers, Samus, Mario, Luigi

Disadvantage Match-ups

Fox, Falco, Sheik, Peach, C.Falcon, Ganondorf

Serious Disadvantage Match-ups

None