Mr. Game & Watch inSuper Smash Bros. Melee
Universe	Game & Watch
Other playable appearances	inBrawl inSSB4 inUltimate
Availability	Unlockable
Tier	C- (19) (North America) G (19) (Europe)

Mr. Game & Watch (Mr. ゲーム＆ウォッチ,Mr. Game & Watch) is a character inSuper Smash Bros. Melee. He was designed as a composite representation of various generic characters featured in theGame & Watch series, created byGunpei Yokoi in 1980. He is the last character to be unlocked in the game.

Mr. Game & Watch is currently ranked 19th out of 26 inMelee'stier list, at the bottom of the C- tier, which is his worst placement in the series. Mr. Game & Watch's positive attributes includedisjointedhitboxes, and powerfulKO moves, with most of his aerials having respectable power, and hisJudgement andOil Panic being able toone-hit KO in certain situations. Mr. Game and Watch's unusual animation style also makes his moves difficult to react to, especially his throws. This trait, combined with access to multiple throws withchaingrabbing andkill confirm potential, makes for a solid grab game.

Mr. Game & Watch was shafted byMelee's rushed development; Mr. Game & Watch cannotL-cancel most of hisaerial attacks, and has some of the worst defensive options in the game, hisshield is easilypoked, as even a full shield fails to fully cover his body, unlesslight shielding is used, and his spot dodge has more lag than intangibility. These factors and how easy he is to hit as a result are exacerbated by his very low weight and offset the benefits of his small hurtbox. What's more, he has a badapproach due to his slow overallspeed and unsafe aerials, and because of his limited approach options and lack of a properzoning tool, hisneutral game is rather predictable.

All of this gives him generally poor matchups against higher-tiered characters, low usage rates, and lackluster tournament results, and makes Mr. Game & Watch an unviable character at the highest level of play. Despite this, players such asDireOnFire,Qerb, andglock in my toyota have attained some good results over the years, with some of the fighter's best performances coming more recently.

How to unlock[edit]

Mr. Game & Watch must be defeated in battle before he can be unlocked. There are two ways the player can encounter Mr. Game & Watch:

• One way is to clear Classic Mode, Adventure Mode, Target Test, or All-Star Mode with all other characters. If the player fails to defeat Mr. Game & Watch, they can re-fight him by clearing any of those modes again with any character.
• Another way is to play 1,000 VS. matches to completion. If the player fails to defeat Mr. Game & Watch, they can re-fight him by playing another VS. match to completion. Mr. Game & Watch will not appear with this method until all the other characters are unlocked.

Mr. Game & Watch is fought on theFlat Zone stage.

Attributes[edit]

Mr. Game & Watch's shield, which fails to cover all of his hurtboxes even at full power.

Mr. Game & Watch generally acts as a speedy, weak character; however, he does have some incredibly powerful KO moves, most of which are slow (with the exception of his down tilt). Mr. Game & Watch's attributes tend to be scattered; he has an average falling speed, an above average air speed, an average traction, and the second lightest weight in the game. As a result of these attributes, Mr. Game & Watch has a wavedash that grants decent distance and speed, interestingly, most of his mobility stats were actually copied off ofMario.

Mr. Game & Watch is notable for having unusual properties in most of his attacks; his forward tilt and forward smash, for instance, havesex kick properties, harming others even after the primary hitbox dissipates. Additionally, his up smash and neutral aerial have long hitboxes that do not run out of power, making them good KO options. Additionally, Mr. Game & Watch has many disjointed hitboxes in his attacks (particularly his down smash), giving him deceptively decent range.

Mr. Game & Watch's aerial game is his strongest asset, as his aerials have large disjointed hitboxes, evident with his neutral aerial, often KO'ing opponents under 125%, while having a very large hitbox that covers him. His forward aerial is his best approaching tool as it can be L-canceled and has fast startup, though it has heavy landing lag when not L-canceled. His back aerial is multi-hitting and has a disjointed hitbox, making it somewhat unpredictable to counter. His up aerial is a two-hit attack, with the second hit having high KO power. It can also be used to juggle fast fallers and heavy characters. Lastly, his meteor smashing down aerial is effective at countering foes from above and KO'ing (the sourspot is slightly weaker than the sweetspot and sends foes on a diagonal trajectory). The down aerial's landing hitboxes add 5%-6% more damage, for a total of 19%-20% if the primary hitbox strikes first.

Mr. Game & Watch's specials also allow for significant power; Oil Panic can absorb projectiles and result in a powerful resulting projectile, and his Judgment has a very slim one-hit KO potential. Mr. Game & Watch also has a rather good recovery fromFire; despite a lack of options and general predictability, it grants him significant vertical distance. The low hitstun and knockback, as well as an unpredictable trajectory givesChef some edgeguarding potential. Chef when spaced well may also combatledge camping against some characters.

Mr. Game & Watch's grab game is also decent, despite his below-average grab range. The resulting trajectories of his throws gives him solid chaingrab and combo potential, and as all his throws look identical, he can perform mindgames on opponents by challenging the player's perception of where they will end up. His up throw and down throw, depending on weight and percent, can also lead to a KO move in hisneutral air and Judgement.

Mr. Game & Watch's main flaw, however, is his frailty and awful approach. An awkward dash, mediocre wavedash, and slow, weak tilts on the ground (except for his down tilt) results in him heavily struggling on the ground, causing him to be reliant on dashdancing and foxtrotting to traverse stages. His aerial approach is just as poor; despite an above average falling speed and an average short hop, he has among the worstSHFFLs in the game, primarily due to the fact that his aerials have significant ending lag, and that his neutral, back, and up aerials have the dubious distinction of not having the ability to be L-cancelled due to a programming error that lists them as special moves.

Mr. Game & Watch's defensive game also suffers; despite a relatively small size and a very low crouch, he is very easy toshield poke due to having the smallest max shield in Melee due to a coding error, and his remaining defensive capabilities are poor, with short, slow rolling dodges and an equally short sidestep dodge and the only spot dodge in the game with more lag than invincibility. Due to his slow tilts and smashes and mostly situational specials, he has poor out of shield options. His recovery also suffers; despite its respectable vertical distance and average horizontal distance, Fire is very predictable and easy to read, inviting edgeguarding or edgehogging. His above-average fall speed makes him a viable target for combos and juggles, and his light weight also makes him very easy to KO, only making him more vulnerable.

Version history[edit]

NTSC 1.02

• Fixed theItem pickup glitch.
• Bucket and oil from Oil Panic no longer turn invisible upon landing on the ground.

Moveset[edit]

For a gallery of Mr. Game & Watch's hitboxes, seehere.

Mr. Game & Watch's aerial attacks

Stats[edit]

NTSC

PAL

Announcer call[edit]

Taunt[edit]

• Leans forward and rings his bell in front of him.

Idle pose[edit]

• Looks back with an opened mouth.

Crowd cheer[edit]

Victory poses[edit]

• Rings his bell to the right, then to the left, then faces the right.
• Bows to the right, then to the left.
• Jumps in the air twice.

Incompetitive play[edit]

Most historically significant players[edit]

See also:Category:Mr. Game & Watch players (SSBM)

•  DireOnFire - An old-school Mr. Game & Watch player from the Golden Age; he retired fromMelee, and later reappeared in theSmash 4 andUltimate scenes. He was the best Mr. Game & Watch player during the 2000s, placing 9th atCataclysm 3 andEVO East, the former being the highest placement from a Mr. Game & Watch player at a major.
•  glock in my toyota - The best Mr. Game & Watch player in the post-Slippi era. He notably wonMass Madness 46 over several ofNew England's best players, includingKalvar andbonfire10, making this one of the best tournament wins from a Mr. Game & Watch player. In addition, he had also defeatedAgent atProdigy Classic III to place 2nd and had also placed 33rd atSupernova 2024 and 49th atWavelength 2024. He was on the ballot forSSBMRank 2024, becoming only the second Mr. Game & Watch player to be in contention for a global top 100.
•  Kuya - Co-mains Mr. Game & Watch withLink. He made his breakthrough after placing 17th atDreamHack Atlanta 2019 and 33rd atCEO 2019. He is considered to be one of the best Mr. Game & Watch player in the post-Slippi era, placing 25th atTipped Off 14: Resurgence and 33rd atShine 2023; though both results were primarily with Link, they were nevertheless some of the best Mr. Game & Watch performances during this era.
•  Qerb - The greatest Mr. Game & Watch player of all time. He was the first Mr. Game & Watch player to win a legitimate tournament, having wonSuper Smash Sundays East Coast #3 andComboed on Flight 5. In addition, he has the best Mr. Game & Watch major results in the modern era, notably placing 17th atGet On My Level 2019, 25th atPound 2019, and 33rd atSuper Smash Con 2019, and was an honorable mention on theMPGR 2019, the only Mr. Game & Watch player to receive such a distinction on a global ranking. He went on hiatus in 2022.
•  Squeachu - The best Mr. Game & Watch player in Europe. They are the sole representative at certain European regionals such as 1st atStorm, 7th atMyth, 9th atShort Hop Pear 5 with notable wins such asSkerzo atFête 2 and top European players such asFat Tino andSharp. They were previously ranked 41st on theEURank 2025.

Tier placement and history[edit]

Mr. Game & Watch has historically been considered to be a poor character in competitive play, with negative traits ranging from poor endurance, susceptibility to chaingrabs and various KO setups (despite his light weight), inconsistent approaching options, lag in his many of his attacks, and the inability to L-cancel some of his aerials. While many players noted Mr. Game & Watch's raw power, flashy combos, and strong punish game, his poor defensive game and approach have hindered such showings at the highest levels of play. As a result of his flaws, he has consistently remained in the lower ends of tiers, failing to make significant rises.

In recent times, however,Qerb has been noticeably successful with him, placing well in many major tournament series such as Super Smash Con as the sole representative of his character. Qerb achieved an honorable mention in the2019 MPGR, indicating that he was considered close to Top 100 level even with a low-tiered character. Since many of the characters around Mr. Game & Watch on the tier list do not have many comparisons to contend with Qerb's level of results, some argue that he deserves to be placed slightly higher than his current rank. Other players such asMew2King disagree, believing that his matchup spread overall is still much worse than those characters. As it stands, however, he is generally agreed to be a low-tiered character who still possesses significant difficulty contending against many matchups. With a noticeable rise in Game & Watch players, as well as a still developing metagame, he currently ranks 19th in the current tier list.

In 1-P Mode[edit]

InClassic Mode[edit]

Mr. Game & Watch can appear as an ally in the team battle and the giant battle. However, he only appears as an opponent in the multi-character battle, where he is fought onFlat Zone.

InAdventure Mode[edit]

Adventure Mode makes no concessions to Mr. Game & Watch when he is unlocked.

InAll-Star Mode[edit]

In All-Star Mode, Mr. Game & Watch appears as the final character the player fights against; his battle is the only one guaranteed to occur at the end, and he does not ally with any other character. The player must fight against a team of twenty-five Mr. Game & Watches, five at a time, onFlat Zone. Defeating all of them allows the player to complete the mode.

InEvent Matches[edit]

Mr. Game & Watch appears in the following event matches:

• Event 40: All-Star Match 4: Mr. Game & Watch is the last opponent fought in this series of staged battles. The selected character battles him on theFlat Zone stage with a stock of 2 while Mr. Game & Watch has 1. With a timer of four minutes, the player must defeat him and the other four characters one-by-one with the overall time and damage:Marth,Luigi,Jigglypuff, andMewtwo.
• Event 45: Game & Watch Forever!: Mr. Game & Watch is the player's character, going up against twenty five other Mr. Game & Watches, similar to the final battle of All-Star Mode. However, the player's Mr. Game & Watch, while having three lives, is also light, allowing him to be KO'd easily.

Congratulations Screens[edit]

Trophies[edit]

In addition to the normal trophy about Mr. Game & Watch as a character unlocked by completingClassic Mode as Mr. Game & Watch on any difficulty, there are two trophies about him as a fighter, unlocked by completingAdventure Mode andAll-Star Mode respectively as Mr. Game & Watch on any difficulty. Each of the trophies can also be unlocked by playing 100, 200, and 300 versus matches respectively as Mr. Game & Watch:

Classic Mode trophy

Mr. Game & Watch

First appearing in 1980, the Game & Watch series is the father of all portable liquid crystal games. The main character is simple and monochrome but has a timeless individuality. There are 39 different games in the series and they've sold over 43 million units worldwide. Pictured at left is the particularly popular Fire model.

Game & Watch (1980)

Adventure ModeSMASH trophy

Mr. Game & WatchSMASH

A resident of a totally flat world, Mr. Game & Watch's frame-by-frame movement is distinctive. His image is known far and wide, and respected by gamers everywhere. In Super Smash Bros. Melee, he hurls sausages with his Chef technique. The random strength of his Judgment is determined by the number displayed; food appears on lucky 7.

B: Chef

Smash B: Judgment

B: Chef

Smash B: Judge

All-Star ModeSMASH trophy

Mr. Game & WatchSMASH

A man of great stature in the world of Nintendo characters, Mr. Game & Watch is a comparatively light fellow and doesn't feature many powerful attacks. When he's in danger of falling, Fire calls out a rescue brigade to send him skyward once more. He can also catch missile weapons with Oil Panic; once he's caught three, he can dump the bucket on his foes.

Up & B: Fire

Down & B: Oil Panic

Alternate costumes[edit]

Gallery[edit]

Trivia[edit]

• Mr. Game & Watch's and Jigglypuff's "head sprites" are the only ones to show their entire bodies.Melee also marks the only time Mr. Game & Watch's head sprite shows his whole body. Starting withBrawl, his head sprite only shows just his head.
• Despite his animations looking like 2D sprites, Mr. Game & Watch actually uses a fully-rendered 3D model, with the values for the z-axis set to zero, thus flattening him (the same method which flattens other characters on Flat Zone.) Mr. Game & Watch's dimensions can best be seen when he's turning while using aHammer or when he is being grabbed and pummeled.
  • However, even when he does appear to be 3D, he is still flattened out, and moving the camera will not give the player a three-dimensional view of him.
• Mr. Game & Watch,Captain Falcon and Young Link are the only characters inMelee that don't finish their defeat noises upon being KO'd horizontally orfalling.
• Despite not being aclone, Mr. Game & Watch curiously shares many movement attributes withMario, namelywalking speed,falling speed,fast falling speed,traction, andgravity. Other than sharing Mario’s attributes, he shared a similarUp smash with him, though he’s wearing a scuba helmet.
  • Coincidentally, multipleGame & Watch games such asDonkey Kong;Mario Bros.; andMario's Cement Factory featured Mario in a form more closely resembling Mr. Game & Watch, and theGame & Watch Gallery series featured alternate versions of classicGame & Watch games with Mario characters.
• Melee marks the onlySmash game where Mr. Game & Watch's down tilt is rendered in 2D instead of 3D.
• Mr. Game & Watch is the only character to use their default color in All Star mode, as well as the only character to use their default color in their Smash Blue trophy.
• OnTournament Mode'scharacter selection screen, Mr. Game & Watch appears white rather than the default black. This was likely done to make him visible on the dark background.

External links[edit]

• Mr. Game & Watch's page at Smabura-Ken
• Mr. Game & Watch's moveset page at Smabura-Ken
• Translation
• Moveset Translation
• Nintendorks' page on Mr. Game & Watch (archive)

v • d • e Game & Watch universe
Fighter	Mr. Game & Watch (SSBM ·SSBB ·SSB4 ·SSBU)
Stages	Flat Zone ·Flat Zone 2 ·Flat Zone X
Other	Stanley
Trophies,Stickers andSpirits	Trophies (SSBM ·SSBB ·SSB4) ·Stickers ·Spirits
Music	Flat Zone ·Flat Zone 2
Related content	Luigi

• Characters (SSBM)
• Game & Watch universe
• Mr. Game & Watch (SSBM)
• Trophies (SSBM)