by TCS

Hello there! If you’re reading this guide, you’re interested in Super Smash Flash 2 and want to get into the game competitively. You’re coming from a Melee background (or maybe just know something about the game and want an intro to SSF2 from that base), and you’re unsure about the changes from Melee.

The goal of this guide is to explain the main differences between SSF2 and Melee a Melee player needs to know to be competitive in SSF2. In the future, this will include character changelists and stagelist information, but for this part we will be focusing on the core engine and physics of the game. What can you expect, picking up a new title? We at the SSF2 Back Room, the group that makes the official tier list and competitive ruleset, compiled a list of important engine changes that should ease the transition. It by no means covers every single change, but it covers the most important things that people should know when learning the game. Hopefully, with this guide, you can integrate into the competitive scene of one of the best Smash games out there!

If you have no idea what this game is and want to see what the fuss is all about, check it out here.

In no particular order, here we go:

Melee airdodging is gone.

SSF2’s airdodge is directionless, and feels most like Smash 4’s. However, it is a lot more punishing and requires much more selective use. You cannot airdodge out of tumble, and the ending lag is rather large. To escape combos, double-jump airdodge and aerials are usually your best options.

Wavedashing has been replaced by dash-canceling as the main movement tool besides normal dashing and jumping.

This is a corollary to the above, but worth mentioning. A common gripe with SSF2 from Melee vets is the lack of wavedashing. While this makes certain characters’ combo games less fluid, it also makes shielding less safe and ledges less advantageous, creating a faster, more aggressive game.

To replace wavedashing in your movement, use SSF2’s dash cancel: that is, crouching and then standing up to interrupt the run state. Crouching and standing from run are near-instant, and holding down allows for consistent pivoting. For micro-spacing, applying these techniques will more than compensate for the lack of wavedashing, as well as hopefully feel faster due to the relative speed of dash-canceling compared to a 14-frame option. This also allows you to do tilts, jab, specials, and smashes from run very precisely: run, tap down, and then input whatever you want.

One particularly important use of dash-canceling is quickly grabbing the ledge. In Melee, this requires facing backwards or using character-specific options. However, in this game, if you dash-cancel right before the ledge, the residual speed will carry you over the edge and allow you to grab it. This is worth practicing until it is perfectly consistent even very close to the ledge, or with characters that have poor dash-cancels and high traction. In rare cases, you might have to dash towards the stage first, and then dash back to give yourself room.

L-cancelling is done automatically.

The game’s landing lag is roughly half of Melee’s, but L-cancelling is removed. This can produce some erroneous shields while you are getting used to SSF2, but it makes the game much more technically accessible.

Ledge invincibility ends immediately upon dropping from the ledge. The ledge-grab animation takes longer than in Melee.

SSF2 takes a harsh approach to the problem of balancing ledges. There are no invincible ledge-stalls, and no ledgehop move is safe from counterattack. It is wisest to take a nod from Smash 4 and buffer an option immediately upon grabbing the ledge: invincibility runs out quick after the ledgegrab animation finishes!

SSF2 does not have crouch-canceling.

In SSF2, there is no crouch-canceling and the game is balanced around that. This makes weak aerials such as Sheik’s weak nair or Fox’s weak nair much stronger in neutral, as the only way to beat them is to counterattack through them or commit to a defensive option.

SSF2 has digital inputs.

This game is designed to be playable on keyboard. As such, there are the 8 cardinal directions and that is all. This significantly weakens teleport moves and Firefox-like recoveries, and makes DI a little less optimal.

SSF2 runs at 30FPS.

This is not a huge problem, but it means that you should be careful when comparing frame data and that one-frame windows like JC shine are much easier to land consistently. Multishines are a very large part of the SSF2 spacie meta, and you should prepare for most spacie opponents to be comfortable with multishines.

SSF2 has no walljumping.

Similarly, there is no tech-walljumping either. This makes offstage stage spikes much more deadly.

Traction is generally lower.

SSF2 is fairly slippery, which makes ledge cancels easier. This also means that very powerful moves are often safe on shield, and that slide-off DI is very common. Characters with good GTFO aerials should aim for sliding off platforms and breaking combos quickly. Be careful shield-grabbing or spot dodging near the edge: if you get hit off before you react, you might fall to your doom.

That’s all for today! In future parts, we will analyze how the Melee top-tiers are different in the face of these changes, and look at the stagelist and how it affects competitive play.