Forward smash

A forward smash (officially known as a side smash attack (横スマッシュ攻撃, abbreviated f-smash, internally AttackS4), is a smash attack that any character can perform by tapping the control stick in a horizontal direction and pressing the attack button immediately afterward or simultaneously, or by tilting the C-stick in a horizontal direction (except in Melee's single-player modes). After tapping the control stick forwards, there is a 3-frame window (5-frame in Ultimate) where a forward smash can be performed. If the attack button is pressed too late, a dash attack will be performed instead. Pressing the attack button on the last possible frame results in a small step forward smash. In all games except Super Smash Bros. Brawl, forward smashes can be pivoted.

Like forward tilts, certain forward smashes can be angled in up to 3 directions; a select few forward smashes in Smash 64, however, can be angled in up to 5 directions. In Smash 64 and Melee, the control stick or C-stick must be tapped in the desired angle at the start of the move to angle it. From Brawl onwards, however, the attack can be angled by holding the control stick or C-stick in the desired angle as the move's charging period ends.

Starting in Melee, forward smashes can be charged for a maximum of one second (or 60 frames), multiplying their damage by up to 1.4×. In Ultimate, with some exceptions, full charges can be held for two seconds (120 frames), for a total of 3 seconds (180 frames).

Forward smashes are typically powerful strikes with a hitbox directly in front of the character, being the strongest type of smash attack on average, but also tending to have the highest startup and/or ending lag. As a result, most forward smashes are situational and reserved for hard reads or hard punishes, often being a character's strongest shield break punish when fully charged. Some forward smashes shift the user forward a significant distance, and some have various armors under certain conditions.

List of forward smashes

Notable forward smashes

• King Dedede's is the strongest unmodified forward smash in Ultimate, and is the 4th strongest attack in the game without special conditions, behind Mr. Game & Watch's 9 Judge, Ganondorf's Aerial Reverse Warlock Punch, and Roy/Chrom's fully charged Flare Blade. Alongside Snake's, it is also one of the only two forward smashes with a startup of over 40 frames.
• Link's is the highest damaging in Ultimate when fully charged.
• From Super Smash Bros. Melee onward, Link's, Young Link's and Toon Link's (in Brawl and Smash 4 only) are the only ones that comprise a natural combo.
• Mega Man's, Olimar's, and Villager's, as well as Link's 0% sword beam in Ultimate, are the only four forward smashes that use projectiles. Of them, Mega Man's and Link's are the only projectiles to increase in hitbox size as the attack is charged.
• Ness's and Lucas's have reflectors. Along with Min Min's up smash and Kazuya's Left Splits Kick, they are the only non-special attacks with this property.
• Peach's three variants each use a different weapon with differing power and launch angles, but their access varies by game. It is random in Melee and Brawl, fixed to a cycle in Smash 4 and angle-dependent in Ultimate.
• Little Mac's uniquely has completely different properties for each of its three angles. Like Little Mac's other smash attacks, it also has super armor frames during the startup, with a Special Zoom in Ultimate if he is hit during the armor frames.
• Mr. Game & Watch's is notable in all games for its disjointed range, high power when sweetspotted, and low ending lag. In Melee and Brawl, its ending lag was relatively very low due to having a long-lasting late hit.
• Wolf's is by far the longest reaching forward smash in Brawl, covering nearly half of Final Destination.
  • In Ultimate, Wolf's new forward smash is a much slower and smaller single hit, but is much stronger with lower cooldown. It is infamous for being very difficult to punish and largely safe on shield.
• Pit's in Brawl is the fastest in the series by a considerable margin at frame 6. In every other Smash game, the fastest forward smashes are frame 10.
• In Brawl, Wario's has both transcendent priority and super armor with a frame 9 startup, making it nearly impossible to intercept.
  • The only other forward smashes to possess super armor are Squirtle's in Brawl and Little Mac's.
  • Sephiroth's (in Winged Form), Bowser's and Kazuya's are the only ones to have damage-based armor.
• Palutena's uniquely has a large windbox after the main hit.
• Corrin's is the only forward smash to have a hitbox while charging.
• The pattern of the gunshots in Duck Hunt's forward smash, as well as the angles at which they launch, are slightly randomized. They will also become spaced farther apart, and therefore reach farther when charged.
• In Ultimate, Sonic's is notable for its deceptive disjoint and range, with the down-angled version being a devastating two-frame punish when charged.
• Ganondorf's new forward smash in Ultimate, commonly referred to as "doriyah" after the move's voice clip, covers a large arcing range, although not completely covering the sword trail effect. It is one of the strongest of its kind, but has slow frame data.
• Wii Fit Trainer's is the only one with a hitbox placed behind her.
• Min Min's is extremely atypical for a number of reasons:
  • It has multiple variants depending on which ARM she uses.
  • Min Min is able to use either the attack button or the special button to perform a smash attack. She can use them consecutively.
  • It is the longest ranged forward smash in the entire game with her Dragon ARM laser.
  • Min Min's forward smash changes properties when charged for at least fifteen frames, causing it to deal more base damage along with a larger hitbox and elemental effects.
  • As of update 11.0.0, it is the only smash attack in the series that can only be held for 30 frames.
• Pyra's, named Flare Smash, is spotlighted in her debut as a counterpart to Mythra's Foresight character ability as well as in the Move List. Despite this, it has no unique traits aside from an aesthetic hit effect.

Gallery

• 👁 Mario using his forward smash in Melee
  

  Mario using his forward smash in Melee

• 👁 Lucario using its forward smash against King Dedede. Notice the high range of Lucario's forward smash.
  

  Lucario using its forward smash against King Dedede. Notice the high range of Lucario's forward smash.

See also

• Down smash
• Up smash