Dashdance
Dashdancing is an advanced technique in theSuper Smash Bros. games. Performed by rapidly tapping theanalog stick left and right while on the ground, it cancels out the character's initial dashing animation with another animation in the opposite direction, causing the character to quickly and repeatedly dash to the right and left in a short distance.
InMelee, the time window in which a character can dash and then change directions by dashdancing matches the amount of frames in their initial dash animation. After they complete their initial dashing animation, they'll transition to their standard running animation; at this point, tapping the analog stick in the opposite direction will cause the character to enter their turnaround animation, during which no attacks can be performed. InBrawl andSmash 4, characters can only reverse their direction within the first six frames of their initial dash animation, making dashdancing more difficult to perform and also less useful.
In competitive play[edit]
InSuper Smash Bros.[edit]
In the originalSuper Smash Bros., dashdancing takes longer to perform, because no matter how fast it is performed, there is a small turnaround animation (except forCaptain Falcon). This long window leads to generally fewer applications for dashdancing than seen inMelee; however, this also allows forpivoting to be easier to perform than inMelee.
InSuper Smash Bros. Melee[edit]
While dashdancing can be performed in all five games, it sees most of its use inMelee. InMelee, dash-dancing is used primarily to playspacingmindgames with the opponent. By continuously switching directions, the player can confuse opponents in regards to theirapproach, as they can potentially either backtrack or approach while dashdancing; in addition, it can also cause opponents to attempt an attack in the dash-forward animation, only for the player to dash backwards and quicklypunish the end lag of such attacks by doubling-back. As players can also jump out of a dash-dance, it can allow players to quickly useSHFFLs andwavedashes. Dashdancing can also be used in conjunction with low-knockbackthrows to performtech-chases, as the action allows players to quickly run in either direction, allowing for quick pursuit of rolling opponents. Characters with long dashing animations, such asFox,Marth, andCaptain Falcon, make the most use of the technique, and proper use of dash-dancing is important in all of their respective metagames.Sheik has the shortest dash, making her dashdance harder to perform, though this also gives her a fastercrouch cancel out of her run in return.
InSuper Smash Bros. Brawl[edit]
InBrawl, dashdancing is more difficult to perform, as every character now has a short initial dash animation, and the window for reverse dashes ceases before the animation completes, making it difficult to consistently perform. In addition, many throws have increased knockback, which, coupled withBrawl'shitstun cancelling, makestech-chasing more difficult. Randomtripping can also interrupt dashdancing whenever the dash input is performed, leaving the player vulnerable should it occur; as random tripping can occur whenever the control stick is tapped to the left or right on the ground, dashdancing increases the number of opportunities for a random trip. As a result of these changes, dash-dancing is considerably less useful than it was inMelee and therefore sees little use in competitive play. The technique, however, does see some use inSonic'smetagame, as it heavily relies on mindgames andpunishment to garner KOs.
Brawl introduced a new method of dashdancing, calledextended dashdancing. However, this variant also sees little use in competitiveBrawl, as it increases the number of opportunities for tripping.
InSuper Smash Bros. 4[edit]
InSuper Smash Bros. 4, the removal of random tripping allows safer dash-dances than inBrawl. However, no changes have been made to the general length of initial dash animations or the reverse dash window; thus, dash-dances are still difficult to perform as inBrawl, and coupled with throws that are stronger than inBrawl, the technique again sees very little use in competitive play.
Extended dashdancing[edit]
To compensate for dashdancing's continued ineffectiveness, a number of competitive players perform a similar technique known asextended dashdancing, which returns fromBrawl. This maneuver combinesfox-trotting and dashdancing: the player inputs a dash and returns the control stick to a neutral position, and then inputs another dash in the same direction and quickly flicks the control stick in the opposite direction, which causes the character to change directions without going into their turn-around animation. The timing for this varies depending on each character's fox-trot window. In terms of appearance, extended dashdancing is slower than dash-dancing inMelee; this makes it less versatile while being more difficult to perform due to more frequent inputs and tighter timings, but it is still a useful technique that improves many characters' mobility. If one is adept with the inputs, mixing up between the two techniques is possible, potentially confusing opponents and pressuring them to approach ordodge.
InBrawl andSSB4, a dash can be cancelled with a new dash on frame 16. If a character's dash animation is shorter than 16 frames, they must return the control stick to neutral in order to avoid entering their run animation before they can dash again, so characters with longer dash animation have an easier time extended dashdancing.
Extended dashdancing has varying degrees of usefulness on each character:
- Characters such asCaptain Falcon,Little Mac,Lucina,Marth,Roy,Wii Fit Trainer, andDonkey Kong can use extended dashdancing easily as their dash animations last 16 or more frames.
- Characters likeShulk and Wii Fit Trainer benefit from using extended dashdancing over alternating foxtrots because their foxtrots cannot be interrupted quickly.
- Characters such asBayonetta,Corrin,Diddy Kong,Fox,Falco,Luigi,Mario,Sheik, andZero Suit Samus gain little benefit from extended dashdancing without frame perfect inputs because they can simply fox-trot in alternating directions for similar results without any extra effort, due to the lenient interruptibility window after their initial dash.
- Cloud,Lucario, andMr. Game & Watch gain no advantage from extended dashdancing over alternatingfoxtrots even with perfect timing, as their dashes have the fastest interruptibility in the game at frame 18.
InSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate[edit]
InSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate, the dashing mechanics have been altered. In addition to the small window at the start of the initial dash inherited fromBrawl andSSB4, a dash dance can be performed in a similar fashion tofoxtrots due to the interrupt frame for the initial dash animation being universally earlier, occurring on frame 15 for all characters. As such, any character is free to dash back without the laggy skid animation as long as the run phase of the dash has not begun. This revised dashdancing mechanic benefits characters with fast initial dashes the most, such asZero Suit Samus,Little Mac,Charizard,Bowser, andMarth.
Unlike in previous games, however,Ultimate now features a new additional initial dash turnaround animation for all characters which is initiated when performing an initial dash in the opposite direction; this animation is similar to the regular initial dash animation, except that at the beginning of animation, characters visibly turn themselves around to face the opposite direction. While most of the characters are unaffected by it, this new animation has adversely affectedCaptain Falcon more than everyone else, since his initial dash turnaround animation during its initial frames actually slides his model toward the direction he was originally facing. This is especially noteworthy since Falcon, who has the second-fastest running speed, relies heavily on his ground game when compared to other characters.
