- Game Versions
- Smash 3DS
Okay so I’d like to clear some things, first, i don´t feel like I’m a very good Pac-Man player, however i do think i have an idea of how does Pac-Man needs to be played this being said let’s begin.(Note: All testing was made on FD with Mario as the sandbox on the middle of FD, this means the kill % may vary mostly because of the position, so you don’t have to build those % exactly if you get a better positioning to land the also with Mario having a somewhat balanced weight among the rooster it would give you an idea about other kill %)
First i would like to start with the special moves, because i think this are the ones people are most confused about every time, if not then good for you.
First let´s talk about his Neutral B called Bonus fruit, this is the special move with the most characteristics from Pac-man, but don’t feel overwhelmed, once you catch up you will not need this guide for much longer.
First the cherries.
This fruit goes kind of slow and when tossed bounces one time then after touching the ground for the second time it will slide just a bit and then disappear, this move does 4% dmg, and has almost no knockback whatsoever, however it´s somehow spam able, so it´s not useless.
The second fruit on the move charge it´s the strawberry.
If i had to pick a less favorite fruit it would be this, i mean it´s not useless it bounces one extra time comparing it with the cherries and deals 6% dmg, but i just don´t like this at all, the cherries are more spam able, in time comparison, and the extra bounce isn´t that big of a deal, but if you have any kind of use to this, don’t forget to comment so i can edit this section.
The third one it’s the orange.
This fruit, omg, i love it, it travels about 5/8 of FD (Final Destination)
deals 8/5 AND has (even though its low) kill potential, of course when i say that it means you need about over 200% to actually kill, but on team fights if you go to Sudden death it’s a cheap "fast" killing projectile that travels far enough to touch an enemy (Note: the strawberry and cherries were tested to see if those killed at 300%, no tested further because if something can’t kill at those percentages then it should be use to raise % nothing else), i recommend spamming this when enemies are approaching and are not so close to you, also if you start charging this move and start running against you this is the fruit you want to use to interrupt the charge.
Coming up next, the apple.
The apple it’s that one fruit that i feel uncomfortable with, don´t get me wrong though, this fruit is amazing, it bounces 3 times, deals 9% dmg, AND kills at 149% which is a much more reasonable kill % that 200%, also this fruit will launch the enemies up, so you can kind of use it for combos or to set up another fruit.
After the apple comes..... This? I mean those are supposed to be grapes but they look like a grenade, which in this game they might be, whatever.
Okay so this fruit it´s a bit weirder than the others, it bounces only once and disappears in about half trajectory of the second bounce, this fruit also deals 12%, which is great, it’s fantastic, but you know what else is? It’s slow, and that makes this projectile so powerful, the enemies are usually moving, constantly, which is great for slow projectiles, because they have more chances to get hit by this, so take advantage from that, also this thingie kills at 157ish%.
Danger Galaxian Boss approaching.
This um..... fruit?, it’s one of the strangest Pac-Man projectiles (oh yeah Pac-Man has even stranger projectiles) it goes straight forward for about 1/3 of Fd, bit more distance than that i think, and then it does a flip, people forget this most of the time and end up being hit two times, which does 11% each hit, so 22%, which is pretty great, also i have been able to follow up combos with this so don’t be afraid to stop the charge on this guy, or fruit, or spaceship, or whatever........, also this kills at 191% not sure if that info works for anything that isn´t Sudden death, but it´s good to know.
The next fruit is a, um, bell? Is it just me or every old arcade game was weird, i mean i love weird, but a yellow dot eating a bell just feels odd, whatever let’s move on.
So this projectile, damn, it’s so hard to land, it deals 8%, so what’s good on an item that deals the same than the orange but is twice as hard to land, well the answer it’s the stun, that´s right, this thing stuns, a stun kind of zero suit beam stun, but, it´s a bell, and, gets thrower not shot........ anyway if you manage to land this be sure to be quick because you can get a golden opportunity, maybe a kill, or a grab to build more dmg, this has lots of possibilities, use them wisely, oh and this kills at 191%, so yeah....
Okay so now at the final door, we only need to use the key.
Man, this is your bread & butter with Pac-Man, it deals 15% goes straight forward, no tricky trajectories, no bounces, nothing but a single good old´ projectile that goes forward, this thing is amazing, it hit´s multiple enemies, deals as i said 15% which is good being such a fast projectile that goes through units, and also has a good knockback, it can kill at 139%, which is of course a number that can be lowered a lot if you use it correctly, so that´s about it for the key, it´s the best projectile for Pac-Man, but not every single time, there will be moments when you will need to use the orange or the grapes, even the Galaxian boss & the bell has important utility too.
Okay so you finally understand his neutral b, so much info coming from one single move, but don’t worry, the other ones are much easier to understand, like the side B, The power pellet.
This is another strange move from Pac man, he starts releasing pellets, among a power pellet, after the hush, maximum distance is reached Pac-Man transforms to his arcade form and starts dashing? Through the pellets until he eats the big one, after that he gets a speed boost among side a dmg boost.
he deals 10% just when he starts the move, if he hits while eating pellets he deals4%, after he eats the entire thing he deals even more dmg, if calculated property he might even hit two times, but the dmg may change, you see you can charge this move to change the trajectory or do it straight forward with almost no range, of course that is a faster move, so use the way it better fits for you however the longer the charge is the more dmg output he will do, the shortest charge will do 6% after eating the big pellet, with the 4% earlier (if you land both of the hits) you will get a nice 10%, not bad right? well, if you charge it at max, you will have better movement and possibilities, also it deals 12%, plus the 4%, which is 1% more than the key, not bad i say, also you can use this to recover because you will not change to free fall state, (Free fall state for those that don´t know it´s when you use an Up b, and can move after it, there are exceptions like sonic of course, but you get my point) do you can use it and then use his Up b for even further recover (Oh do i mention that Pac man can perform a wall jump?, no? well, now you know).
Well, now the Down B, the Fire hydrant.
This move it´s pretty much what you see on the trailer, Pac-Man puts his hydrant yes and it starts pumping water pushing everybody (even you) with the water, this move also does dmg in two different ways, while you use your Down B if you are jumping or returning to the stage or anything else and there’s an enemy under you, by "calling" the fire hydrant it will fall and dmg anyone that hits, dealing 9% dmg and killing at 220%, you can also attack the hydrant you´ll send it against enemies, bit be careful they can sent it to you too, if you manage to throw the hydrant and hit them too, you will do about 13%, and kill at 165%ish, also if you spawn it and stay for a certain amount of time (about1.5 sec) the hydrant will pump water up instead of the sides, which will push Pac-Man up, i don’t have any uses to this, so if you have some don´t be afraid to share it,
Now his Up B the recovery move called Pac-Jump.
He bounces as he spawns a blue trampoline, if Pac bounces a second time the trampoline will turn yellow and Pac-Man will bounce much higher, if you bounce a third time the trampoline will turn red and Pac-man will bounce a pretty high distance, about three Pac-Man jumps in a single bounce, however when the trampoline turns red anything that tries to bounce on it will make it break making the character fall, also other characters can use the trampoline, so be aware of that.
Okay so we finished all his special moves, now let’s talks about his A moves,
Dash attack, this move it´s awesome, not only the animation but the dmg and the knockback, it hit´s three times, the first two deal 2% while the last one deals 5% this move it’s not that punishable because you will push your foes even if they shield, be aware of counters though, doesn’t kill under the 300% range.
Jab- Pac-Man does a Punch, punch, kick combo dealing 3% on the first punch 2% on the second and dealing 4% with the kick, it has pretty good knockback in terms of follow ups, also the jab doesn’t kill under the 300% range, so yeah.
Side Tilt, okay so, his side tilt does 8% being his most powerful tilt, but it’s not that great for follow up or kill potential, so the best use for this move its spacing on the ground kills at 232%.
Down Tilt, this move does 6% its fast and reliable also you move a little to the direction you are facing, this move can be used after the Pac-Man dash attack almost immediate, that way you don’t get so exposed and space yourself from the enemy doesn’t kill under 300%.
Up tilt, Pac-Man does a kind of a head-butt pushing the enemy up, perfect for follow ups, it deals 7% dmg, and this move kills at 194%.
Side smash, Pac-Man uses Blinky (The red ghost) to attack towards him, this move has a sweet spot (part of the move that does more dmg) and a sour spot (the opposite of a sweet spot), the move does 9% on the sour spot and 16% on the sweet spot uncharged, and fully charged it deals 18% on sweet spot and 11% on sour spot, the sweet spot it’s the ghost while spawning, this move kills uncharged at 117% hitting the sweet spot, while it takes only 77% to kill fully charged, also hitting with the sweet spot.
Down smash, like the side smash Pac-Man summons pinky and Clyde on both sides, they deal 13 on the sweet spot & 7% on the sour spot uncharged, and 18% on sweetsop & 11% on sour spot fully charged, this move kills at 153% on the sweet spot uncharged and kills at 107% fully charged hitting on the sweet spot.
Up smash, now Pac-Man summons inky and attacks um, up, this move deals 14% on the sweet spot & 8% on sour spot uncharged, and hits 19% on the sweet spot & 9% on the sour spot while fully charged, this move kills at 117% uncharged & at 77% fully charged both hitting with the sweet spot.
Now his throws
His Up throw deals 5% and kills at 223%
His Forward throw deals 6% and doesn´t kill fewer than 300%
His Back throe deals 11% and doesn´t kill either but has the most dmg output among every other throw, keep that in mind
His down throw is by far my favorite one because he smashes the enemy on the floor transforms on old Pac-Man and starts munching it, it´s so cool, it also deals 8%
Finally every hit you apply while grabbing him will deal 3%, its quite good, you hit two of those and you transform your 5% up throw into an 11% one,
Let’s finish with his aerials
His nair (neutral air) has two dmg outputs, one is at the start of the animation and it deals 10%, the other one is at another point of the animation and deals 3% this move also has 12 lag frames, if you don’t know what that means it means you can move fast after doing the move and landing while still doing it, perfect for combos it doesn’t kill on the 300% range.
His Bair (Back air) also has a sweet spot and a sour spot, the sweet spot has kind of good knockback and deals 11%, the sour spot leaves you somewhat vulnerable because it has not that much of knockback and deals 7% so be sure to aim it properly, this move has 22 landing lag frames, and its punishable, a lot, so be careful while using it, it kills at 180%.
Now his Dair (down air), it hits four times dealing 9% in total, the first three hits deal 1% and the last one deals 6% so try to hit that one the most alright?, this move has 10 landing lag frames, so it’s also punishable use it with precaution this move kills at 225%.
His Fair (forward air) deals 5% and has 16landing lag frames, it´s not that good but it can be used for spacing while fighting on the air because its fast, this move doesn't kill on the 300% range.
Now the last one of his moves, his Uair (up air), deals 10% has great knockback and can be useful for spacing on certain situations and sometimes can be a strong combo finisher, this move kills at 190%
This is my Pac-Man guide, hope you learned something new also i wish you improve as a Pac-Man main, if you have any tips, questions gifs, videos or tips feel free to comment them and i will add them under this with the name of the one who helped so everybody participates on this Pac-Man guide, thanks for your time.