Bowser (Super Smash Flash 2)

Bowser is a veteran starter character in Super Smash Flash 2. He was originally shown during the initial planning phases of the game, going through several different design iterations before finally resurging after being revealed at the end of the second McLeodGaming Direct. His sprites are custom-made and based on his appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and his moveset and voice clips are taken directly from the same game. His color and dash animation come from.

Bowser is currently ranked 26th on the current tier list. Bowser's moves have great range and strength, with all of his moves either dealing large amounts of damage, KOing his opponents early or generally putting his opponents in a disadvantageous position, most notably his up special Whirling Fortress, which can easily break shields. Bowser also possesses an incredibly strong grab game: he possesses a combo throw in the form of his up throw and his forward throw, which can KO opponents at high percents. His down throw can situationally chain grab and lead into damaging follow-ups and his back throw can be used to position foes offstage and set up for an edgeguard. In addition to this, he possesses Flying Slam - a powerful command grab which can be used to equalize stocks via a sacrificial KO, and a hitbox which can set up for good combos. Finally, Bowser has extremely powerful edgeguarding tools, with his forward air, back air and Fire Breath being especially powerful for edgeguarding and Bowser Bomb being able to powerfully punish opponents who do not sweetspot the ledge.

However, Bowser suffers from terrible mobility, as he has the second worst dash speed in the game, and a poor initial dash which gives him no reward for using the foxtrot or dash-boost techniques. This, alongside his mediocre frame data, gives him a poor attack as his grab range is short and Fire Breath is not a reliable projectile. Furthermore, his disadvantage state is terrible - his combo breakers are not particularly reliable, and his landing options are generally poor, leaving him vulnerable to characters with good juggling ability. Adding to that, his status as a heavyweight makes him easy combo fodder. Finally, his offstage game is one of the worst, as his only reliable recovery, Whirling Fortress, does not gain much vertical distance, and does not guard break very easily, meaning Bowser is very easily gimped.

While Bowser does have certain top players who use him, such as Gax and Miracle--7, Bowser's representation is not particularly spectacular due to the nerfs in patch 1.0.3 and the advent of being a much more powerful character in the metagame. Bowser's representation mostly revolves around him being used as a counterpick character for specific matchups.

Attributes
Bowser is a heavyweight that has attributes that deviate from other fighters who would be in his weight class, with a moderately fast dashing speed for his size and weight, allowing him to quickly approach his victims.

One main attribute of Bowser is the power he boasts in his moves. Some of the moves in his moveset deal large amounts of damage in a single move, making them good finishers, or deal multiple hits, allowing Bowser to quickly rack up damage to prepare his victims for a finisher, such as his forward smash. His moveset also grants him good anti-air options, mainly courtesy of his up tilt and up smash, which cover a large portion of his upper body and allows him to deny aerial approaches.

His grab game is also incredibly prominent. His forward throw and up throw are both combo throws, letting Bowser start or extend combos, and they can also double up as KO options at high percents. His down throw has the ability to chaingrab, allowing Bowser to trap his opponents and rack up damage without retaliation from them. Finally, his back throw allows him to position his opponents offstage, setting them up for edgeguarding.

This leads into his powerful edgeguarding game, courtesy of his aerials. All of them have moderately fast startup for their speed, and allow Bowser to quickly accumulate damage, or deny aerial approaches, potentially KOing fighters in the process, due to his aerials having respectable power for their speed, most notably with his up aerial.

His special moveset also retains this utility: his standard special move: Fire Breath, is a very powerful projectile and moves very quickly, a quality invaluable to his edguarding game. His side special, Flying Slam, is a command grab, allowing him to bypass shields and use the move as a KOing option, or if he's near a ledge, as a way to equalize stocks by way of a sacrificial KO. Whirling Fortress, his up special move, is a very potent out-of-shield option thanks to its quick startup. Additionally, it deals multiple hits, allowing Bowser to pressure shields easily. He can also move left or right during this time. Lastly, his down special, Bowser Bomb, functions as an incredible KOing option and a useful edgeguarding option against careless recoveries.

However, one of Bowser's major flaws is his status as a heavyweight: despite him having a good dash and air speed for his weight, his dash is the second slowest in the game, and his initial dash is slow, preventing him from benefiting from the foxtrot or dash boost. Coupled with his tall frame and high gravity, Bowser is only sub-par when approaching, and is heavily susceptible to combos and chaingrabs himself. Additionally, his main combo-breaking moves are not very reliable when up against a fighter with good combo ability, such as Sora.

His special moveset is also not as useful either: Fire Breath is rather predictable despite its speed, allowing opponents to easily absorb or reflect it, denying Bowser's main approach or edgeguarding tool, as many of his other moves have terrible range. Despite Flying Slam being a command grab, Bowser suffers moderate endlag, allowing opponents to easily punish him if he misses. Additionally, despite Whirling Fortress having fast startup, it also suffers moderate endlag, much like the rest of Bowser's special moves. Lastly, Bowser Bomb is very predictable, allowing opponents to easily avoid it. His recovery options also worsen his offstage survivability, as his low jumps and the relative lack of vertical distance Whirling Fortress provides do not give him much vertical recovery, leaving him open to gimps.

Overall, Bowser is a heavyweight character with respectable power and speed. However, his susceptibility to combos, which were increased through nerfs in demos, hinder his ability to become a formidable fighter.

Tier placement history
Bowser has been ranked 18 of B+ on the first Beta tier list due to taking down stocks easy from his brute strength, combo throw, and a decent kit. However, in 1.0.3.2, Bowser has been significantly dropped, due to his matchups being less powerful, and some nerfs like his running speed. In the current tier list, Bowser is ranked as 26 of B-.

Trivia

 * Steven stated that Bowser,, and were his hardest character projects and that Bowser is his proudest accomplishment.
 * In v0.9a and v0.9b, there exists several files relating to Bowser. He has an unused announcer's call, two different variations of a character select portrait (one in the pre-v0.9 style), palette data, and is referenced numerous times in the character code. This is shared with.