Movement

Understanding and mastering movement in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is perhaps the most important aspect to feeling comfortable in combat.

Walking

Walking is accomplished by gently nudging the control stick left or right. The speed is variable depending on how much you press the stick. The key is not to flick the stick at first, which produces a dash instead.

Walking forward is slower than other forms of movement, but allows a measured approach and instant access to tilt attacks (since you’ve already nudged the stick off-center, you can easily tap the Attack button for a side tilt or rotate the stick to up or down first for an up or down tilt).

Dashing

Flick the stick quickly in either direction for a dash. This is a quick lunging movement that covers a little bit of ground. Dash in one direction repeatedly for jerky, fast forward movement, or dash back and forth in place to seem erratic and unpredictable (see dash dance).

Dashing fighters cover ground much more quickly and suddenly than by walking. Across a short distance it’s also faster than running. Lots of ground combat is about making the opponent guess whether you’ll dash in and out, dash in and attack, dash in and grab, or dash in and try to bait them somehow (like by rolling backward or through them, or by simply stopping and shielding).

New to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, any action except shielding can cancel a dash. You can dash forward and dash away as mentioned, or dash in with neutral attack, or a tilt or smash, whatever. The old backturned pivot tricks players used to need for varied dashing offense are still possible if you continue to a run.

Running

After starting a dash, keep holding the control stick to run. The fighter sprints across the stage as long as this is held. Pressing the Attack button while running produces a dash attack. Like with dashing, letting the control stick go back to neutral first allows you to cancel the run with anything but immediate blocking.

Tapping the opposite direction while running results in a sliding pivot, a sudden change of direction and inertia. See reverse rush.

The speed grades listed here take each fighter’s max run and dash speeds into account. Sonic on the ground is simply unrivaled, in a class of his own.

Ground Speed

Jumping

Jumping is accomplished by holding down the Jump button until takeoff ends, four frames after input starts. Releasing the Jump button earlier than that causes a short hop.

Moving around on the ground, walking/dashing/running/rolling left or right, is inherently more predictable than being in midair. But while jumping, you might use all sorts of air moves and specials along all kinds of trajectories, especially with everyone being able to jump in midair at least once. Shielding isn’t possible, but air-dodging is (both neutral and directional).

Keeping track of the direction a fighter faces as they jump is crucial. For most fighters, they’re locked in to the direction they face on takeoff until they touch down again (with exceptions for techniques like special-reversing, and floaty fighters like King Dedede and Kirby, and those with an extra wing flap like Charizard and Ridley). This can be somewhat inconvenient to deal with, like when launched backturned and forced to ward while descending with a down air attack that’s hard to aim. Or it’s something to employ on purpose, like backturning (see reverse rush) to jump at people with a terrific, far-reaching back air.

By default, upward presses on the control stick are set to trigger jumps as well. Unless you’re really fond of it, it’s recommended to disable control stick jumping, since it makes it harder to do up tilt and up air moves on command, and to move around in midair without inadvertently wasting midair jumps. It might seem intuitive at first for upward motions to cause jumps, but it results in sloppier play and is best unlearned unless you use some quirky personal control scheme or controller.

Midair Jumping

Everyone is capable of a single midair jump, basically a double jump. This is great for keeping air movement unpredictable midstage, reorienting when launched into a tumble, and as an extra movement tool when recovering from offstage. Double-jumping can facilitate some juggle combos, especially if your fighter has up air attacks that pop foes up without much end lag.

Midair jumps, after use, are unavailable again until either landing or hanging off a ledge. A few fighters have more midair jumps available to them per airborne period than usual. Naturally, this improves their midair mobility and recovery, and becomes one of their main strengths.

Extra Midair Jumps

Hopping

Short-hopping, or just hopping, is an invaluable and challenging maneuver to master. Hop by tapping the Jump button for under four frames. Basically, you have to release the Jump button before a fighter’s “squatting” pre-jump frames end. You perform a regular jump, not a hop, if you’re still holding Jump on the fourth frame after input, as you’re taking off.

A new shortcut allows easier short hops, with an instant rising air attack attached. Input the Attack+Jump buttons together for a short hop attack.

A hop gives the same air time as a jump, but with much lower altitude. Short-hopping air moves are a staple of both offense and defense. On defense you can short-hop repeatedly in place with your best quick air moves, walling opposition to discourage them from advancing. A hopping fighter is less predictable and less susceptible to combos and grabs than a standing one.

Short-hopping forward drives lots of offense. Air moves with long active periods are fantastic for hopping forward, sticking them out, then fast-falling back to the ground, for a rapid ascent and descent covered by an attack the whole time. This covers both anyone ahead in short-hopping airspace and anyone below standing on the ground, and is particularly effective with attacks that have high shield-stun and low landing lag (fighter-specific; for details, see the fighter chapters). Short-hopping sequences are superb for edge-guarding, too. With your back facing a ledge, you can threaten short-hopping back airs against recovering foes, a highly effective, low-commitment option. Short-hopping down air attack is often perfect for slapping at foes grasping at ledges, attempting a two-frame punish.

Defensively, short hops are a great out-of-shield option. For instance, if an opponent performs a cross-over jumping attack and ends up behind you, on the wrong side for typical pokes, you can short-hop right after blocking and strike them with back air.

When enemies catch on and start shielding against hops, you can “empty-hop” without using an air move, fast-falling to grab the moment you land.

Air speed is for fighters jumping, hopping, or drifting as fast sideways as possible. Downward falling is a separate set of ranks.

Air Speed (Sideways)

Wall-Jumping

Wall jumps are special jumps that many fighters have access to, allowing them to bounce off a surface without using up their midair jump. Wall jumps are performed near a wall by pressing the control stick in the opposite direction of the wall—no Jump button press is necessary. Consecutive wall jumps can be performed in the same airborne period as long as two vertical surfaces are close enough together, like the space between tall buildings in certain stages. While there are no limitations in terms of amount of wall jumps one can perform in a single airborne interval, each successive wall jump incurs a jump-height penalty, diminishing returns until the fighter stops gaining altitude altogether. Like wall clings, wall jumps are commonly used during a fighter’s offstage recovery to stall and mix up edge-guarding foes.

Wall Jumpers: Bayonetta, Captain Falcon, Cloud, Dark Samus, Diddy Kong, Dr. Mario, Duck Hunt, Falco, Fox, Greninja, Inkling, Little Mac, Lucario, Mario, Mega Man, Mewtwo, Mii Brawler, Mii Gunner, PAC-MAN, Pichu, Pikachu, Pokémon Trainer: Squirtle, Samus, Sheik, Sonic, Toon Link, Villager, Wii Fit Trainer, Wolf, Young Link, Zero Suit Samus

Wall-Clinging

Wall-clinging is the ability to stick to walls. It’s usually used during a player’s recovery to stall, messing with an edge-guarding opponent’s timing. Wall clings are performed by holding the stick toward a nearby wall, making the fighter rest against it for a while. Anyone who can wall-cling can also wall-jump.

Wall Clingers: Bayonetta, Diddy Kong, Greninja, Lucario, Pokémon Trainer: Squirtle, Sheik

Rolling & Directional Air-Dodging

While these are not explicitly movement options, they relocate a fighter and should be thought of as dashes that are much better at the beginning, but much riskier at the end.

Falling

Falling is important and inevitable. Whether jumping or tumbling, you’ll end up airborne eventually. Different fighters drift down at different speeds, depending on weight and buoyancy. Faster falling can be easier for enemies to juggle in close-range combos, but harder for them to catch you off launches farther away. Slower falling can make it easier to drift back to the stage during recovery, but harder to land without being harassed by quicker airborne enemies swinging with up air attacks.

Fall Speed