The 'Shroom:Issue LXXI/Brawl Tactics

Brawl Tactics by

Welcome, Brawlers, to this month's edition of BRAWL TACTICS! For this month, I will be covering Mr. Game & Watch!

G&W is a small sized character who has above average strength but average speed. His jumps height is not too bad because he isn't all that heavy. You will almost never be able to get a good picture of him, though, because he is 2D. Such is life.

G&W's Standard Special is Chef. Activate this move, and you will be able to fling an infinite number of delicious but deadly sausages at your opponent. This is a great move to use when you are at a disadvantage and you want to keep your opponents away from you. You can adjust the height and trajectory of your food, and hit foes that are close up or further away. If you get a good rhythm going, you can keep up an endless supply of sausages firing at your opponent. Your fingers will get tired of throwing sausages before he runs out.

G&W's Side Special is Judge. By far, this one is probably more famous, simply because you get to run around and whack people with a hammer. Be advised, though, that this move takes time to warm up, and your opponent could get away from you if you're not careful. Judge is a good move to use when you need to do damage fast. The varying levels of hammer smashing give you a wide range of possibilities to get when you are looking to bash some enemies. With 1 as the weakest and 9 as the highest, give this a try and see what you get.

G&W's Up Special is Fire. He will get a fire crew to come out and give him a jump on their trampoline, and he will get that little bit of distance that he misses from his second jump. Like Peach Parasol, G&W will get a parachute to cushion his fall a little. It can provide you with the time you need to get over to the side of the stage, or it could slow you down when you are trying to land properly. Either way you go, just be careful with it. If you cancel the chute, he doesn't get it back. Once it's gone, it's gone. This move doesn't have a huge amount of non-jump potential, so I wouldn't recommend it for much else during battle.

G&W's Down Special is Oil Panic. I must admit that I don't know much about this mythical move and its power. I'm not a Down Special-using brawler. But I will tell you that this move is difficult to get right. Timing is one thing. Press the button too early and you'll get a weak shot. Press it too later, and you'll get a weak shot. Basically, you want to get good at using this move so you can shoot out full damage all the time.

G&W's Final Smash is Octopus. This move is great to be on the controlling end of. The receiving end? Not so much. G&W turns into a giant octopus and wreaks havoc all over the stage. Interestingly enough, it's only the tentacles that do damage. If you jump on his head or his body, you won't get hurt. Odd. But anyways, avoid this move if you can on the battlefield. It will hurt, and you will be sorry. This Final Smash has a lot of power, and it will send you flying if you get too close. One tragic flaw with this move, however. Game & Watch gets to move around, even jump, and he can switch between stage levels as well. You'll want to be careful when doing so, because if you miss and use up your jumps, it will be a KO. He will fall, and, Final Smash or not, lose a life. Just a word of caution.

That's all for me this month, Brawlers! Hope I've inspired you to pull out your classic controllers and give Mr. Game & Watch a little love. See you next month, on BRAWL TACTICS!