Before we talk about Mr. Game and Watch, before we talk about Maister, before we even talk
about up specials out of shields, let’s talk about Gunpei Yokoi [Goon-pay Yo-Coy],
the godfather of handheld gaming.
Yokoi is a big part of why the Game Boy got made, why every controller has a d-pad, why
your calculator has games in it, and why Maister has a main.
Nintendo is the oldest company in gaming, founded in 1881.
The card and toy manufacturer didn’t hit it big in electronics until Gunpei Yokoi came
up with the Game and Watch.
Yokoi was on a train in Tokyo when he saw a businessman who was so bored that he was
playing with a calculator.
Yokoi wanted to make a fun, small game that adults could inconspicuously play on their
way to work.
So, he made Game and Watch, a series of small, sleek, 80’s stylish handhelds that had three
or so simple mini-games on them and doubled as a digital alarm clock.
All of the character’s moves were taken from one of the many Game and Watch mini-games.
If you’re ever wondering why Mr. Game and Watch made it into Smash, it’s because the
Game and Watch was historic for Nintendo.
Not only was it a huge success that led to the gameboy, it was also the first system
to use and popularize the d-pad.
Wow, that little 2D dude was more important than you thought, right?
But you don’t want a history lesson on Game and Watch, you want a gameplay lesson!
Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.
Proguides.com has you covered too.
You can find even more awesome resources on our site, ranging from pro courses, to coaching
sessions, to the character videos we’re adding all the time.
The Game and Watch might be a distant memory in
the gaming world but in the Smash world Mr. Game and Watch is more relevant than ever.
Ultimate might have the strongest version of the character we’ve ever seen.
Game and Watch is a great character for anyone who wants to keep opponents on their toes.
Gaming’s foxiest grandpa is finally quick enough to keep up with the youngins and now
has some of the hardest punishes, the strongest defense, and the weirdest hitboxes in the
cast.
This 2D gentleman fits anyone looking for a super unique character that totally confounds
opponents.
In this video we’re gonna cover the basics and the style of the character by focusing
on 3 of his core strengths: incredible defense, great offense, and an unorthodox style.
So, you can’t talk Game and Watch without talking about defense.
And you can’t talk defense without talking about up special out of shield.
In Ultimate, every character can cast an up special without actually dropping shield.
For some characters, like Mr. Game and Watch, this is a huge defensive tool.
Game and Watch’s up special is so good because it’s fast, has a big hitbox, can combo,
and it’s super hard to punish because Game and Watch can act quickly out of it.
It’s one of the best defensive options in the game.
If someone even looks at your shield the wrong way when you’re playing Game and Watch,
you can hit them with an up special and then follow up with an aerial, like neutral air,
or fast fall and juggle with up airs.
At minimum, you knock your opponent away and get out of a bad situation.
It’s possible to out-space and dodge the up special, but it requires good spacing and
good disjoints.
But Game and Watch isn’t up special the character, no matter what the comment section
tries to tell you.
Game and Watch also has some of the best defensive aerials.
His neutral air is another good out of shield option that turns an opponent’s attack into
a combo of your own.
Not to mention, it’s long lasting and controls a lot of space, making it hard to box with.
His forward air has a weird, delayed hitbox that’s very hard to read too.
You can jump into the air and drop forward airs as a way to control a part of the stage.
If they try to hit your forward air, they might get stuck in lag that you can punish
or accidentally make it explode.
Since you can drift backwards after forward airing, you can make this move hard to punish.
After you’re done making the stage look like a warzone with forward air, you can land
with down air.
Game and Watch’s down air isn’t like other spikes because you can move during it and
you can cancel out of it into other moves at the end of its duration.
As Game and Watch, you can use your down air to beat out a juggling option, but you can
also use it to go fast and dodge the enemy while getting down.
You can even use it as a bait by down airing from up high, then catching an opponent with
a different aerial.
If you get knocked off stage, don’t even worry about it!
Game and Watch can recover from super low and his parachute beats most moves.
He can even cancel out of it with an air dodge, adding more mix ups.
If recovering low is tough, you can recover high and use the up special’s drift and
down air to stay evasive.
So, whether it’s off stage or in shield or in the air, you can’t keep a good stick
figure down!
But Game and Watch isn’t all defense, he’s got offense too.
Once Game and Watch knocks an opponent in the air, off the stage, or into disadvantage,
he can do a lot of damage.
Game and Watch has most things you need for a good offense, like combo tools, big hitboxes,
ledgetrapping options, edgeguarding options, and potent, fast kill moves.
Let’s talk those kill moves first.
Game and Watch has some of the best smash attacks in the game, FLAT out.
Get it.
Cause he’s 2D.
Okay, anyways all of Game and Watch’s smash attacks have good uses.
His forward smash is his strongest but riskiest smash attack, something you don’t throw
out too often.
Unlike Game and Watch’s down smash, which has such good speed and range that you can
use it surprisingly often.
This move is huge, covers both sides, has an aerial hitbox, and buries opponents.
At high percents, the down smash leads straight into a forward smash and a kill.
If all that wasn’t enough, Game and Watch has an up smash that’s insanely fast, safe,
and makes him invincible for a few frames.
This move is super hard to punish and great to catch an opponent jumping over or landing
on top of you.
Game and Watch doesn’t need Smash attacks to kill either.
His forward tilt a great grounded kill option because it has a big, long lasting hitbox.
Plus, you get to hit people with a chair and feel like you’re in the WWE.
It works great for attacking opponents coming to the ledge too.
His back air is his best aerial kill option for all the same reasons as forward air, except
this time you get to live out a deranged zookeeper fantasy and hit someone with a turtle.
He also has an infamous down-throw into side special combo that can get early to mid percent
kills if you’re lucky enough to draw a 9.
This kill set up is super RNG-dependent, which makes it unreliable, but also super tilting
if it actually works.
There’s some risk to it too.
If the RNG goes too bad and you get a one, the opponent could even hit you for it.
But pushing your advantage isn’t just about getting kills.
You also want to keep opponents off of the stage by ledgetrapping and edgeguarding.
When it comes to ledgetrapping, Game and Watch brings the fire - literally.
Game and Watch’s neutral special Chef is a surprisingly great ledge trapping tool.
As a kid, you probably just used this move to annoy your friends.
Now you can use it to REALLY annoy your friends.
To use Chef well, you just have to stand out of get up attack range and hit b while the
opponent tries to get off the ledge.
Chef can catch them rolling, get up attacking, or standing up.
When it hits them, it does a tiny bit of knockback, which gives you a window to run up and land
an attack.
Eventually, Chef will force your opponents to jump, setting you up to use up special
or back air or neutral air to catch them.
Chef isn’t unbeatable, but the timing is tricky to learn and catches lots of opponents
off guard.
Once an opponent starts to get Chef down, you can mix things up with different moves
to call out options, like forward tilt for normal get up, downsmash for rolls, or up
airs for jumps.
Or you can jump around the ledge and rain down hell with your forward air.
Your good ledgetrapping will make a lot of opponents want to recover high or dodge the
ledge, but Game and Watch can cover that too.
First, his up ai is built for juggling.
While it rarely kills, it’s a big, spammable hitbox that does lots of damage and makes
it hard to land.
Then, he’s got a back air that kills early and keeps boxes lots of opponents out.
If someone recovers super low, you can catch them with a down air too.
Defense, offense, Game and Watch has got it all.
But the best thing about Game and Watch is that he breaks the rules.
Game and Watch has a super unorthodox kit that gives him an incredibly confusing, hard
to counter style.
To understand this, you have to understand that there are some consistent patterns to
Smash.
For example, most up specials put you in a helpless state where you can’t do much.
Therefore, whiffing most up specials can you get killed.
Most diving down airs go straight down and can’t be cancelled.
Therefore, they’re risky landing options.
Most smash attacks have tons of lag and are very vulnerable.
Therefore, smash attacks are super risky to use.
Welcome to Mr. Game and Watch, the character where none of that is true.
His up special is super fast, doesn’t make him helpless, and is hard to punish!
His down air can be aimed and maneuvered, has a huge hitbox, and can be canceled.
Another tough move to punish.
His up smash and down smash are so fast and strong that he can use them in neutral without
necessarily getting punished.
He can’t keep getting away with this!!
Game and Watch trips up a ton of players because he breaks all the normal and unwritten rules
of Smash character design.
Just like the handheld he came from, he’s a trailblazer that’s doing his own thing.
If you take the time to learn Game and Watch, then you already have a big advantage over
your opponent.
They think you’re both playing Smash.
But you know that THEY’RE playing Smash, while you’re playing Game and Watch.
You can trick people just by playing your own game.
For example, you could charge a down smash in neutral and if your opponent does a low
jump you can catch it with the wonky hitbox.
If they run at you and you think they’ll shield, you can release it early and still
have time to shield or throw out a quick hitbox like forward tilt or up special that’ll
beat their move.
All the moves they could use on shield in other matchups, they can’t use against you
without eating an up special.
On top of all that, Game and Watch has really weird hitboxes that take time to learn.
If you learn them, you can use them to confuse and panic opponents.
Forward air is the best example because it’s a bomb that explodes when hitting the ground
or a half a second after release.
It doesn’t explode when it touches an aerial opponent but it has a sour spot hit on startup.
It can also be cancelled attacks.
That’s a weird move!
Lots of players won’t understand how it works and will either underestimate it, getting
hit, or overestimate it and let you spam it without punishing it.
All this said, you should know that some matchups will force Game and Watch to play a more standard
game.
Swordies and characters with very safe moves and disjoints can punish a lot of Game and
Watch’s moves and space around his out of shield options.
So, Game and Watch is good all around and fits lots of styles, but he’s best for the
person who likes to confuse their opponents and play their own game.
True to the spirit of his creator, he’ll fit you if you’re willing to innovate and
play unorthodox.
Or if you’re willing to infuriate your friends.
Seriously.
This character gets people saltier than Thwack.