Ness has come a long way since Smash 64, where players would always ask “who is this?” to now being a fan-favorite used by players new and old. Ness plays very differently from other characters, able to float around and throw annoying projectiles with his PK abilities.
He’s certainly a unique fighter, but what makes him so great? He has a mixture of close-range combo potential and long-range offensive pressure, which makes him able to deal with some trickier characters with ease. What are the best and worst aspects of our favorite PK boy?
10 ASSET: Kill Power
This small child is…surprisingly deadly. All Smash players since the original game know his infamous back-throw that KOs at ludicrous percents, but most of his moves have the potential to deplete a stock in the blink of an eye.
Every one of his aerials can send you to the blast zone with some impressive force, as well as his rad yo-yo tricks and a baseball bat. Ness won’t have any hard times taking your stocks, as making one mistake in front of this terrifying child will lead to your demise.
9 FLAW: Floaty
Ness uses his PSI ability to enhance his aerial capabilities, having him magically double jump and float around like a balloon. Although, this can pose some issues at points, especially regarding how slow Ness’s double jump is.
It can be difficult to reach your desired height as Ness, and if hit out of his slower double jump, his recovery isn’t always enough to save him. It might be for the best this way, though, because imagining a fast-falling Ness able to rapidly spam walls of aerials with no care in the world is terrifying.
8 ASSET: Projectiles
Anyone who has experienced Smash 4’s For Glory or Ultimate’s Elite Smash has met a PK Fire-loving Ness once or twice. This move isn’t just spammed because it’s fun, but because it’s so effective at forcing opponents to play around Ness, and getting hit by it leads to big damage or a lost stock.
PK Thunder is also a great option for harassing opponents from virtually any distance, and it’s especially good at sending opponents to the top blast zone. PK Flash is mainly used as a funny move to hard-read your opponents, but it can also have some utility with edgeguarding.
7 FLAW: Projectile Counters
While a Ness throwing PK Fire after PK Fire is pretty intimidating, any fighter with access to a reflector or absorption moves will have a far easier time. Ness will have to watch out versus these opponents, as getting too overzealous with projectiles will backfire.
Falco and Rosalina are two characters that immediately come to mind, as Falco’s frame 1 reflector works wonders on Ness’s attacks, and Rosalina can absorb any and all projectiles from afar with the quick press of a button.
6 ASSET: Combo Game
At first glance, Ness doesn’t scream, “combos,” but learning the ins and outs of his moveset will reveal the potential for some extremely damaging strings of attacks. While many of his combos consist of a simple three forward-airs in a row, that doesn’t make it any less effective.
Many of his combos can be achieved out of a throw as well, making Ness a fairly grab-heavy character. Bigger opponents like Bowser and Donkey Kong have to fight Ness with the utmost caution unless they want to take 60% or more in just a few seconds.
5 FLAW: Stubby Limbs
In Earthbound, Ness is canonically 13 years old, and this stubby child isn’t going to be reaching too far without some PSI help. He gets pretty easily outranged by characters with disjoints like swords and can struggle to get past them.
Since he can be forced to rely on projectiles to create openings, Ness can have a bad habit of becoming predictable with projectile usage, only adding more insult to injury. It’s best to wait for openings to exploit, as recklessly running in with Ness might not end too well.
4 ASSET: Edgeguarding
Getting back to the stage versus Ness is the equivalent to trying to plug in a phone charger in the dark. After Ness inevitably carries you off stage with a few forward-aerials, he has a multitude of different options to ensure your downfall.
First, and the most useful, would be down-smash. Charging this smash attack by the ledge will essentially create an unstoppable hitbox under the stage, making it nigh impossible for some characters to recover. He can also utilize PK Fire, PK Thunder, or his various long-lasting aerials to confidently end stocks.
3 FLAWS: Exploitable Recovery
Since Smash 64, Ness has consistently struggled with launching his way back onto the stage. Not only does PK Thunder take quite a bit to circle around Ness, but it can be interrupted even before it connects, rendering Ness completely helpless.
Counters and windboxes are also great ways to completely obliterate Ness off the stage, and he can’t do anything about it after committing to using up-special. One of his redeeming factors is having one of the longest air-dodges in the game, which should be used in place of PK Rocket whenever possible.
2 ASSET: Flashy Combos
If you’ve ever seen high-level Ness players like FOW or Awestin engage in various antics with this destructive child, you’ll know how stylish he can end up being. Ness’s down-special seems like nothing more than a tool for absorption at first, but can actually heavily extend combos.
Ness is also one of the best characters to make use of jab resets because of his rapid down-tilt and PK Fire, allowing his to pull off lengthy combos that’ll really hurt.
1 FLAW: Which One?
The two characters from the Mother series both take on similar fighting archetypes, but couldn’t feel any more different. Lucas differs from Ness by having different normal attacks, slightly altered specials, a tether grab, and some fundamental changes to recovery and playstyle.
Lucas is far more combo heavy and a bit more complex overall than Ness, making him take a bit more time to learn. If you prefer a faster-paced floaty character with some seriously early killing potential, then you may want to carefully consider which character to sink your time into.
NEXT: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: The 10 Most Boring Characters
