Up tilt



Anup tilt (abbreviated"u-tilt"), officially called astrong up (上強攻撃,Up/above/upper strong attack) beforeUltimate, is atilt attack that can be performed by anycharacter by holding thecontrol stick lightly upward and pressing theattack button while on the ground. It can be difficult to pull off an up tilt quickly, as if the player tilts too fast, they'll eitherjump or do anup smash instead. Turning offtap jump can help avoid the former problem, or the player can do some other action and hold up on the control stick before it ends.
Up tilts typically fall into two categories: quick strikes with a narrow range directly above the character's head, or slower attacks that hit a wide arc above the character. More often than not, up tilts are used forjuggling, as they usually lack theknockback to disturb lowdamagecombos outside of a few exceptions such as Ganondorf and Captain Falcon.
Since theWii Remote-only control scheme inBrawl andSmash 4 lacks both a control stick and any other way to jump, up tilts become unusable without first holding up during a prior action, making them the only normalattack which a player may not be able to use for no in-game reason.
List of up tilts[edit]
Character | Description |
---|---|
Banjo &Kazooie | Banjo kicks upward with one leg as Kazooie lifts him up. |
Bayonetta | Twirls her gun while whipping it above herself, hitting twice. |
Bowser | Swings his claw in an arc above himself. |
Bowser Jr. | Deploys a pitchfork from the Koopa Clown Car and uppercuts with it. |
Byleth | Performs an overhead swing with the Sword of the Creator. |
Captain Falcon | Swings his leg up and then down in front of himself for an ax kick. |
Charizard | Shrugs its wings upwards. |
Chrom | Slashes in an arc above himself from front to back. |
Cloud | Slashes from back to the front above himself. |
Corrin | Performs an upwards sword twirl. |
Daisy | Points upwards alongside a flower-shaped magic burst. |
Dark Pit | Throws an upwards-angled butterfly kick. |
Dark Samus | Performs an ax kick in front of herself. |
Diddy Kong | Swats in an arc above himself. |
Donkey Kong | Swings his palm in an arc above himself. |
Dr. Mario | Throws a spinning uppercut. |
Duck Hunt | The dog lies down while the duck thrusts its body upwards, wings-first. |
Falco | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Fox | Throws a scorpion kick behind and above himself. |
Ganondorf | Lifts his leg up, hangs it in the air, and then slams it into the ground in front of himself alongside a massive explosion. |
Greninja | Swipes its tongue above itself in an arc. |
Hero | Swings his sword in an upward arc. |
Ice Climbers | Thrust their hammers upwards head-first while twirling them for multiple hits. |
Ike | Holds Ragnell parallel to the ground and then performs a jumping thrust with it. |
Incineroar | Performs a jumping, arcing headbutt to the area above itself. |
Inkling | Performs a backflipping kick. |
Isabelle | Swipes a broom in an arc above herself. |
Ivysaur | Plants its vines onto the ground and then vaults off of them to tackle upwards with its body. |
Jigglypuff | Swings its leg upwards behind itself. |
Joker | Throws his knife upwards and lets it twirl above him for multiple hits, then catches it. |
Kazuya | Uppercuts twice. A two-stagenatural combo. |
Ken | Tapped: Uppercuts very quickly with his elbow. Held: Throws an upwards punch. |
King Dedede | Headbutts above himself. |
King K. Rool | Throws a quick uppercut. |
Kirby | Swings his leg upwards behind himself. |
Link | Slashes the Master Sword in a wide arc above himself. |
Little Mac | Swipes his fist above himself in a wide arc while crouching. |
Lucario | Throws a sweeping kick upwards. |
Lucas | Flips upside-down and kicks above himself with a PSI spark at his foot. |
Lucina | Swings Parallel Falchion in a wide arc up and around her head. |
Luigi | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Mario | Throws a spinning uppercut. |
Marth | Swings Falchion in a wide arc up and around his head. |
Mega Man | Performs the Mega Upper, a very strong jumping and spinning uppercut. |
Meta Knight | Stabs straight upwards. |
Mewtwo | Performs a psychic-powered backflipping tail strike. |
Mii Brawler | Throws an uppercut. |
Mii Gunner | Uppercuts with their cannon while simultaneously releasing a fiery blast from it. |
Mii Swordfighter | Slashes in an arc above themselves. |
Min Min | Performs a wheel kick. |
Mr. Game & Watch | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Mythra | Slashes the Aegis Sword above herself in a wide arc starting behind herself. |
Ness | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Olimar | Jumps up and spreads his arms out while spinning rapidly for multiple hits. |
Pac-Man | ![]() ![]() |
Palutena | Kneels down and releases her staff, letting it spin above her for multiple hits. |
Peach | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Pichu | Swipes its tail above itself in an arc. |
Pikachu | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Piranha Plant | Gives its head a vigorous shake above itself. |
Pit | ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Pyra | Slashes the Aegis Sword above herself in a wide arc starting behind herself. |
R.O.B. | Thrusts his arms straight upwards. |
Richter | Twirls the Vampire Killer in a circle above his head. |
Ridley | Cuts above himself in a front-to-back arc with his wing. |
Robin | Performs an inwards uppercutting slash with the Bronze Sword. |
Rosalina &Luma | Rosalina: Launches a Saturnian ring a short distance above her head. Luma: Throws a strong uppercut. |
Roy | ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Ryu | Tapped: Uppercuts very quickly with his elbow. Held: Throws an upwards punch. |
Samus | Performs an ax kick in front of herself. |
Sephiroth | Thrusts Masamune directly upward. |
Sheik | Sticks one of her legs straight up and then swings it downwards in front of herself. |
Shulk | Slashes upwards with the Monado for a spinning uppercut. |
Simon | Twirls the Vampire Killer in a circle above his head. |
Snake | Kicks straight up above himself. |
Sonic | Throws a butterfly kick to the area straight above him. |
Sora | Spins his Keyblade three times above his head. |
Squirtle | Hops straight up for a quick headbutt. |
Steve | Swings his axe quickly above himself. |
Terry | Does an uppercut. |
Toon Link | Leans back and slashes in an arc above himself. |
Villager | Twirls a stick upwards for two hits. |
Wario | Thrusts his palms upwards. |
Wii Fit Trainer | Assumes the Triangle pose to swipe upwards with an outstretched arm. |
Wolf | Hops up and swings his leg upwards. |
Yoshi | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Young Link | Slashes above himself in an arc. |
Zelda | Waves her palm above herself in an arc, emitting a magic flash from it. |
Zero Suit Samus | Performs a modified spinning scissor kick out of a handstand. |
Notable up tilts[edit]
- Kirby's up tilt inSmash 64 is considered overall one of the best moves in anySmash game, due to its extremely quick speed (coming out on frame 4 and lasting only 17frames), high damage output, extreme safety onshield and hugely disjointed hitbox. It is notable for its ability to easily and quickly rack up damage andbreak shields, as well as being able to outspace some characters' reliable approach options entirely on its own (such asYoshi's). Its ending lag, power and range have been toned down in later installments, but it still remains a strong combo tool in every game.
- Ganondorf's up tilt, known as the Volcano Kick, has the slowest startup of any up tilt, but it deals high damage and extreme knockback. FromBrawl onwards, it also creates avacuum that draws other characters towards him, and is notable fromSmash 4 onwards for instantlybreaking full shields with itssweetspot (and inUltimate, breaking shields in its entire range, whether sweetspotted or not). Despite its strengths, it is often regarded as one of the worst up tilts in a competitive setting, as its incredibly high startup lag makes it extremely situational compared to other up tilts.
- It is also the only tilt inUltimate to causeSpecial Zoom.
- Marth's up tilt inMelee covers a large area around him, has long-range, and relatively low ending lag, making it one of the best anti-air options in the game, and allowing it to combo into subsequent up tilts, aerial attacks, and even a grab or forward smash againstfast fallers, while it can KO floaty characters at mid-high percentages.
- FromSmash 4 onward,Captain Falcon's up tiltmeteor smashes opponents who are struck with his heel, making it the only up tilt in the series that is a conventional meteor smash. Conversely, fromMelee onward,Samus andDark Samus's shared up tilt is anunconventional meteor smash.
- Snake's up tilt inBrawl is often considered the best in the game due to its high knockback, fast startup, and huge disjointed hitbox. InUltimate, its hitboxes have become smaller, but it still sports a frightening combination of speed and power, causing it to retain its status as one of the best up tilts in the game.
- InBrawl,King Dedede's up tilt has more knockback than his unchargedup smash (being the third strongest up tilt after those of Ganondorf and Snake) along with being not particularly slow and consisting of only a sweespot, making it one of the best up tilts in the game. It also notably grants full intangibility to his body during its first two active frames, which is very rare for a tilt attack. InSmash 4, its intangibility only affects his head and left arm, and its knockback was reduced to the point of being weaker than his up smash; inUltimate, it was buffed to be only slightly weaker than itsBrawl iteration without rage.
- Mario's up tilt inSmash 4 is infamous for several reasons: its speed and wide hitbox (which covers the entirety of Mario's front) makes it easy to both land and initiate combos with, even on grounded foes. More notably, it is extremely effective after a down throw at low-mid percents, which can be followed by multiple up aerials and ending withSuper Jump Punch; withrage, this can be abused to net absurdly early kills due to Super Jump Punch's first hit havingset knockback.Ultimate reduced the effectiveness of up tilt by making its hitboxes start higher, removing its ability to hit most grounded opponents; while its combo ability remains, it is no longer as easily accessible, while the changes to rage remove its unintended interactions with Super Jump Punch.
- Mega Man's up tilt is very fast to start up and incredibly powerful, with among the highest knockback of any tilt (KOing at around 85%, earlier than even some uncharged up smashes), but has extremely high ending lag. Additionally, it is one of only two tilts in the series, along withSimon andRichter's shareddown tilt, that causes the user to functionally leave the ground.
- Steve's up tilt inUltimate can be repeated by holding down the attack button. Steve can also walk and jump while performing the move. It is also overall very fast and combos into itself and aerials.
- Sephiroth's up tilt has the longest vertical range of any up tilt in the series, being able to hit characters standing onBattlefield's top platform.
- Kazuya's up tilt is the only one in the series to be anatural combo.