Brawler Arsenal

Grounded Attacks

Neutral Attacks

Neutral Attacks

PAC-MAN lunges forward with a close-range one-two punch combo, then completes the sequence with a somersault backflip kick, knocking away foes. PAC-MAN’s first jab has moderate start-up speed, but short reach. His follow-up jabs cause him to lunge forward, extending his reach. Neutral attack combo is best used to quickly stuff enemy aggression or extend low-altitude knock-up combos (such as from a deep up air attack).

Dash Attack

PAC-MAN turns into his 2D wedge-shape form and assaults the enemy with several chomp attacks before launching them into the sky for a potential follow-up.

PAC-MAN’s dash attack is unique in that it’s safe when shielded (you’re actually at a frame advantage!), thanks to its remarkably low lag. You can potentially score a follow-up air attack, depending on the enemy’s shuffle.

You can use dash attack to evade foes by crossing over them, forcing them to turn around to chase you. It also has a short windbox effect, right before the attack begins to hit, allowing you to push around ledge-recovering opponents.

Defensive Attacks

Tilts

Side Tilt

PAC-MAN quickly extends an enlarged boot out in front of him, stopping foes in their tracks. PAC-MAN’s big boot kick can be angled up or down using the control stick. Side straight kick variant of this attack boasts superb reach, with the tip of PAC-MAN’s boot extending a high-priority hitbox that can stuff enemy aggression.

The up-angled version can be used as a situational anti-air (against short hops, for example), as its hit coverage extends slightly above PAC-MAN’s head, at an angle.

Down-angled side tilt can be used to punish recovering opponents just as they grasp a ledge, before their intangibility kicks in, or as a poke against ledge-hangers. You can throw out quick down-angled side tilts to bait the enemy into ledge-rolling or ledge-jumping, and from there, you can follow up with the appropriate punish.

Up Tilt

PAC-MAN drives his giant-sized fist directly above him and launches foes into the air long enough for him to follow up with an attack.

Although the hit coverage of this attack is narrow with no horizontal range, it has very little lag, allowing you to throw it out repeatedly against foes above you. If you manage to hit a fighter out of the air, you can follow up with another up tilt (if hit at a low altitude), up air, or up special.

Down Tilt

PAC-MAN turns into a wedge and chomps at the opponent’s feet, knocking them away. Unlike most down tilt attacks, PAC-MAN’s down tilt isn’t a low-profile type, since he’s still a big circular wedge. But it’s quick, safe from counterattacks when shielded (and safe to most shield grabs if well-spaced). You can poke at grounded foes with down tilt to chip away at their shields safely. On hit, it can cause a tech get-up situation, as it knocks down at certain damage percentages. From there, you can follow up with a safe dashing attack or dashing-grab mix-up.

Smashes

Side Smash

PAC-MAN summons Blinky, a red ghost, in front of him that launches foes away with a high amount of power. PAC-MAN’s ghost attacks have pronounced hit effects, covering large areas wherever they appear. When spaced out, it can be difficult for the enemy to challenge these ghost attacks.

Side smash can be used as an edge-guarding attack to finish off opponents recovering onto a stage. Beware that it’s highly vulnerable on whiff and when shielded.

Up Smash

PAC-MAN whips his fist into the air and conjures Inky above him. Inky launches enemies sky-high. Up smash begins with a point-blank frontal strike. If this hits an enemy, it knocks them up into Inky.

While the attack has poor horizontal range, Inky can KO most fighters around 120% damage.

Down Smash

PAC-MAN extends both hands out to his sides, summoning Pinky behind him and Clyde in front. The ghosts clear out foes nearby, launching them back. Down smash is best saved for free-for-all battles when you’re surrounded by multiple enemies. In one-on-one battles, it can leave you extremely vulnerable due to its high end lag. If you need to defend yourself from enemy aggression, you’re better off using side tilt or side smash.

Grabs

Grabs

PAC-MAN emits a tractor beam with a range that extends farther than his side tilt attack, ensnaring foes hit by it. PAC-MAN’s grab is unique compared to the rest of the cast; it starts up slowly, but has incredible reach.

Down throw deals a good amount of damage while allowing you to go for a mix-up with your amazingly safe dashing attack. If the opponent shuffles up, you can try to punish their air move; if they go for a tech get-up, you can go for your safe dashing attack to punish them. If you think your opponent will go defensive by putting up their shield, you can attempt another tractor beam grab instead.

Aerial Attacks

Aerials

Neutral Air Attack

PAC-MAN transforms into his wedge form and chomps nearby foes in a circular pattern, knocking them up briefly. Neutral air attack starts up quickly and deals the most damage at the beginning of the animation. Neutral air attack is an excellent defensive attack and can be used just after blocking an attack, since PAC-MAN’s shield grab isn’t a viable option. Neutral air attack starts up quickly, and because it’s a circular hitbox, it hits even the smallest fighters if buffered from a short hop.

It has considerable air lag, but a short landing lag, so it’s not easily punishable if you throw it out defensively. Its main drawback is that its hitbox is about the size of PAC-MAN’s hurtbox (i.e., he’s vulnerable to attacks while he’s attacking).

Forward Air Attack

In midair, PAC-MAN performs a swift spinning roundhouse kick in front of him, knocking away foes. Forward air attack is as fast as PAC-MAN’s jab and has an extraordinarily short animation time with very little air lag. You can throw it out twice in a jump and still double-jump, as you become actionable early.

You can go for a jump pre-emptive forward air, then descend on grounded foes with a down air surprise attack. You can also use forward air as a defensive “walling” technique by short-hopping straight up, then fast-fall into an immediate forward air, deterring advancing foes.

Back Air Attack

PAC-MAN drives his legs behind him for a rear-hitting dropkick attack. Back air attack persists for a significantly long time, making it your best air-to-air attack. Back air can be used to defend yourself while your back is facing the enemy, stifling the enemy’s forward aggression. Its extended hitbox makes it a strong tool for harassing offstage foes.

Because back air is more effective than forward air attack in most air-to-air engagements, try to keep your back facing the ledge whenever you have an opponent recovering offstage.

Up Air Attack

PAC-MAN performs a somersault attack in the air that covers a wide angle. He kicks out in front, then arcs the attack up above and behind him. Up air attack can knock foes up for a potential follow-up up air combo. It also causes PAC-MAN to float slightly. Up air is a strong anti-air with decent start speed and great angle coverage, hitting in front and behind.

With its float effect, you can short-hop and fast-fall into up air to hit grounded fighters. Against low-damage foes, you can combo into up-angled side tilt or your neutral attack combo. To make the attack safer, cross over the enemy and hit with the rear portion of the kick.

Down Air Attack

While airborne, PAC-MAN dances on an opponent’s head with a multi-hit stomp attack. The first three kicks cause a dragging hit effect, while the last hit launches the enemy up and away. Down air attack has a high amount of air and landing lag, but it inflicts great damage if all of the hits connect.

Short hop down air can be used offensively against grounded foes. It can be shield-grab-punished, but if you cross over the opponent, you’re likely to land safely (although at a slight disadvantage against turnaround attacks).

Special Moves

Specials

Bonus Fruit Damage

Neutral Special: Bonus Fruit

PAC-MAN cycles through a list of fruits and objects. Once he selects one, he attacks the enemy with it. The first neutral special input begins “charging” Bonus Fruit. During charge, various fruits and projectiles are cycled (like a slot machine). Pressing Attack or Special causes PAC-MAN to grab the item and throw it in front of him. Each item has its own unique effects, varying in damage, trajectory, and range.

Bonus Fruit charging can be canceled and stored by inputting a direction (dodge roll), jumping, or shielding. After you store-cancel the move, the next time you tap Special, you release your stored projectile. So to continue charging, you have to hold Special instead. For example, if you have an apple stored, you can tap Special to throw the apple, or you can hold Special to continue cycling through projectiles, starting at apple (with melon being next).

A large part of PAC-MAN’s game revolves around intelligent use of his Bonus Fruit special, including the item-generation property. Most Bonus Fruit projectiles turn into interactable items whenever they hit an enemy or wall. If you’re quick enough, you can grab these items to throw at the enemy. While Boss Galaxian doesn’t turn into an item when it hits an enemy, it drops from the air as an item if it hits a wall, so in specific situations, you can use it to help you recover offstage.

It’s important to note that, like most interactable items, opponents can pick up your projectiles. This can be debilitating since, while one of your items exists in some form, you can’t activate Bonus Fruit, causing a whiff animation when you try.

Cherry: Cherries are thrown a short distance, bounce once before dissipating, and deal low damage with a low knockback effect. They’re best used if you need to quickly generate an item. Bounce the cherry off a nearby opponent’s head, then jump up to grab the cherry so you can throw it again!

Strawberry: Strawberries are like cherries, except they pack a bit more punch.

Orange: Unlike cherries and strawberries, oranges don’t obey the rules of gravity, and fly horizontally through the air a great distance before they dissipate. They’re good for horizontal stage control.

Apple: Apples are slammed into the ground and bounce several times. They deal much more damage than the other fruits and have more launching power. They make for exceptional long-distance attacks to force the enemy into repositioning.

Melon: Melons float through the air slowly, but deal even more damage than apples. While slow, they’re excellent offense-covering projectiles. You can use a melon’s on-screen presence to cover your follow-up attacks. If a melon hits, you can follow up with a guaranteed forward air attack for a two-hit combo.

Boss Galaxian: Boss Galaxian flies forward, then loops up and around before flying away. The Galaga ship can hit multiple times if spaced out, so that the enemy is struck by the looping trajectory of the ship.

Bell: The bell’s trajectory is unique; it flies up-forward a set distance, then slams straight down. You can use the downward trajectory to obliterate ledge-hanging foes! The bell stuns foes whether they’re hit while midair or grounded, giving you enough time to land a high-powered attack.

Key: Keys are flung forward at a high velocity and deal the most damage out of all of the Bonus Fruit projectiles. A key’s speed makes it difficult to react to, so it can be a powerful KO tool against offstage foes.

Side Special: Power Pellet

PAC-MAN summons a row of pellets, then transitions into his pellet-chomping wedge form, eating up the pellets and chomping on foes in his path. When the pellets are released, you can heavily influence their pathing using the control stick (thus, controlling where PAC-MAN will attack). You can manipulate the pellet path so much that you can cause PAC-MAN’s chomp attack to loop around.

Power Pellet is a vital part of PAC-MAN’s recovery game. It’s flexible, allowing you to launch PAC-MAN in almost any direction as long as you can control the pellet pathing well. When you’re offstage recovering, use Power Pellet to attack your edge-guarding foe. Alternatively, you can direct the pellets toward the ledge or over the opponent, using your chomp momentum to throw you over them.

If an opponent hits your Power Pellet as it’s being deployed, the attack is canceled and PAC-MAN’s chomp attack is interrupted, potentially resulting in you losing a stock. If you’re too predictable with your offstage Power Pellets, foes can take advantage by striking at your pellet, causing you to fall.

Power Pellet cannot be special-reversed, so initiate the move with the direction you want the pellets to go.

Up Special: Pac-Jump

PAC-MAN jumps higher with repeated use of the trampoline. The trampoline has a set amount of health, so astute foes can attack it to stifle your mobility.

With PAC-MAN’s grab having an abysmal start-up time, he doesn’t have access to strong shield grabs that most fighters use to punish shielded attacks. Happily, Pac-Jump can be used as an alternative out-of-shield option; upon releasing your shield, hold the up direction and the Special button to immediately launch an extremely quick launcher attack to punish the enemy’s shielded attack.

Since anyone can bounce off the trampoline, you can use it to set up tricky scenarios. For instance, if an enemy is offstage below a ledge, you can meet them in the air with a Pac-Jump, leaving a trampoline midair and beneath them, forcing them to land and bounce off the trampoline and into your attacks unpredictably. Of course, offstage trampolines can also help your opponent recover.

Down Special: Fire Hydrant

PAC-MAN drops a heavy Fire Hydrant under him. If he throws it out midair, it can land on and damage foes beneath him. PAC-MAN’s Fire Hydrant can be launched away as a projectile if it’s struck with powerful attacks, like side smash and down air attack. While flying through the air, the hydrant becomes a high-powered projectile with high launching power.

The water spouted from the Fire Hydrant affects everyone, including PAC-MAN. You can use push effect to maneuver around in situations where you’d normally be unable to, such as while charging up a smash attack or during a down throw.

If PAC-MAN is above the Fire Hydrant, it spouts water vertically (pushing fighters up into the air), and if PAC-MAN is positioned at the sides of the Fire Hydrant, it spouts out water horizontally in both directions, pushing fighters away. The water-spouting effect is a profoundly powerful tool for PAC-MAN’s edge-guarding game. If you drop a hydrant near a ledge, you can force out mistakes, as the opponent has to avoid the pushback of the waterspouts. An effective tactic is to throw the enemy off the stage, drop a hydrant, then stand guard on top of the hydrant (since it’s considered a solid object). React to your opponent’s predictable movements and meet them in the air with your own aerial attacks to keep them offstage.

Astute opponents can counter your Fire Hydrant tactics by attacking the hydrant as soon as it’s released. While the hydrant is anywhere on-screen, you can’t summon another one, so your Fire Hydrants should be used judiciously.

Fire Hydrant is an incredibly versatile attack, especially when used while you’re airborne. You can drop the hydrant on enemies attempting to juggle-trap you to cover your aerial descent, or to attack ledge-recovering foes (drop it right over the ledge to hamstring your opponent’s recovery!).

Final Smash: Super PAC-MAN

PAC-MAN transforms into a giant PAC-MAN and moves across the screen at high speed. You can adjust the direction a bit with each crossing. The landscape doesn’t affect this giant PAC-MAN, and any opponents he eats are launched.