Sandbag (Super Smash Flash 2)

Sandbag is a newcomer unlockable character in Super Smash Flash 2. It was first revealed in SSF2 Dev Blog #5 on April 1, 2016, and initially thought to be an April Fools' joke. However, a special blog, SSF2 Dev Blog #5.1, was released two days later confirming Sandbag's inclusion as the game's "joke" character. Sandbag was a pet project by SSF2 developer, James TSON Hadden and its development was completed in a week's time thanks to the character using only three sprites in all of its animations which were then rotated, stretched, and distorted in Flash to create over 70 unique animations.

Attributes
Sandbag, true to its playstyle, is a highly unorthodox character in function, utilizing moves that normally would not be seen on any other fighter in the series.

One of Sandbag's biggest strengths is its damage racking capability. Most of its moves deal good amounts of damage and have very fast startup, letting Sandbag increase its opponents' damage quickly and efficiently. Because of this, it also boasts good setups into many different finishers, such as his forward smash and dash attack. He also possesses one of the fastest dodges in the game.

Its aerial game is also very prominent. All of his aerials have good startup and can be used as combo starters or extenders, such as his neutral and back aerials, or as finishers, most notably with his down aerial, which is the strongest meteor smash in the game to date.

Sandbag's special moveset also reflects its absurdity and unorthodox playstyle. His neutral special, Capsule Spawn, allows it to use any item currently active in the item switch, and has a chance to explode, dealing high damage and knockback, making it a situational finisher. Sandgrab, its side special, is a command grab, allowing it to bypass shields, and it can also provide good horizontal recovery in midair. Its down special, Sanddash, is a controllable burst of movement that can be directed anywhere, and it can cancel into any of his attacks. Lastly, his up special, Bomb-omb Toss, can potentially turn the tide of battle if a player touches the Bomb-omb first.

However, as Sandbag is a joke character, its useful qualities are overwhelmed by an abundance of weak points, especially concerning its mobility, as it possesses some of the slowest raw mobility in the game, although by using Soaping and Sanddash, it can then move extremely fast; covering the entire Waiting Room in about two thirds of a second. Most of its ground moves, even though they have a fast startup, also have medium to heavy ending lag, making Sandbag open to attacks if it misses said moves.

Most of its special moveset isn't as reliable either. Though Capsule Spawn has a chance to spawn an explosive capsule, the chances of this happening are very rare; additionally, the move only has use as a "get-off-me" option if all items are turned off. Despite Sandgrab being a command grab, Sandbag will undergo heavy ending lag if he misses, making him open for punishment much like some of his ground moves. Additionally, though Sandbag has an infinite recovery in Bomb-omb Toss, it requires Sandbag to damage itself to actually gain any height at all, making the move risky at high percentages, and if Sandbag is under the stage, he may have the risk of stage-spiking himself on the underside or the sides of the stage, completely obliterating his offstage survivability.

Overall, Sandbag is a very powerful fighter who has a very unorthodox playstyle. However, his multiple strengths are drastically outnumbered by his abundance of flaws, preventing him from being a top-tier or high-tier character.

Changes and revisions
Sandbag had his combo game and KO power nerfed, and his neutral game buffed, as patches passed. Below are the major changes done to him in the latest demo.



Trivia

 * Sandbag,, , , , and are currently the only true "silent characters" in the game.
 * Sandbag's reveal trailer highlighted the revamped item sprites that would later be shown in Dev Blog #7.
 * Sandbag cannot grab the ledge and can only move in hops instead of full sprint. It is the only character with these traits.
 * Despite this, Sandbag actually has seemingly unfinished move data for a tether, despite having no ledge data or animations, as seen here in this image. The move has no animation and no actual hitbox, only being able to grab the ledge.
 * Sandbag is currently the only character in the game to have a unique forward tilt and dash attack when using battering items.
 * In v0.9b, a glitch in the early online made it possible for Sandbag to win against a player if they self-destructed. Because Sandbag was not playable at the time, at the results screen, the announcer and victory theme remained silent, and Sandbag itself stood still.

External link

 * Sandbag's reveal video.