Aerial attack

An aerial attack is a set of attack sets that a character will automatically use when he/she/it is in the air.

There are normally five forms of Aerial Attacks - The neutral aerial, the forward aerial, the back aerial, the up aerial, and the down aerial. Each attack is usually set so that the hitbox of the attack will hit in the general direction of that aerial attack.

Neutral aerial usually are a simple bat-away hit, which usually hits very fast but at a lower power compared to that character's other aerials.

A forward aerial is usually more powerful than a neutral, it usually only hits forward, and it is usually the slower aerial attack.

Up aerial obviously hits upwards, and can be useful in hitting higher-up opponents or an hapless target on a platform from below; it is also very useful when trying to chase down a pesky Smash Ball.

Back aerial are usually the fastest/strongest/best ranged attack that a character has. This is because a back aerial only works when a user presses the attack button and a directional key opposite to the direction that the character is currently facing while in the air. Back aerials are useful for counterattacking another airborn opponent who is trying to sneak up behind the character. But due to the inconvience and unpredictibility, deliberately using a back aerial can be impractical in combat for inexperienced users.

And finally, the down aerial usually causes the character to plummet downwards towards the ground, hitting opponents in the way or on the ground. Down aerials usually possess meteor smash abilites, so they are very effective when one is landed on an opponent in the air, especially if they are offstage. Down aerials are useful for hindering jugglers, combos, and sneak attacks, especially if someone is trying to attack from another lower platform. Some down aerials are very powerful and serve as good finishers to use on a downed opponent. Do serve caution, though: some down aerials causes some characters to plummet a very long distance before they can stop, or when they hit the ground. They may be dangerous to use offstage as this can result in a SD.