Ranking EVERY Dash Attack Animation In Smash Ultimate 

Thanks for watching everyone! I streamlined this episode just a bit compared to previous ones and am curious to hear what your thoughts on it are, let me know! This was a fun one to do, physics play a huge role in dash attacks and a lot of my favourites/least favourites are completely made or broken by them, was interesting to dive into for me! *Main channel:* ru-vid.com *Twitter:* twitter.com/MrMockRock *Patreon:* www.patreon.com/mockrock *Twitch:* www.twitch.tv/mockrocktwitch *Teespring:* teespring.com/stores/mockrock *TimeBolt affiliate link* (excellent software I use to speed up editing on my videos, use code "MOCKROCK" for a discount): mockrock--timebolt.thrivecart.com/order-page/

When is the spicy curry animation tier list

Minor point about King DDD is that his dash attack is directly from source material as its one of his most iconic moves in his boss fights, especially in the early games. So bringing that in as a dash attack was perfection

I personally prefer the more long-form approach to these videos. I feel like if you're making a video about a subject this niche you might as well go all-in, y'know? It's always fun hearing you really break down animations too.

I personally vastly prefer Squirtle’s new design philosophy with his animations. With Brawl he relied on his shell way too heavily, when I think only with moves like withdrawal it’s really necessary. Nowadays Squirtle seems like he’s just having a blast fumbling around in an adorable way, and for dash attack specifically I think a double kick makes more sense than rotating 180 degrees to bonk you with his shell.

I just want to make a small note of Robin's dash attack, and that's that the way they shift their body around looks to partially be for the sake of keeping the book stable. The way they move the book to around the center of their torso is what really sells that for me. It's like they know that despite the need to lunge forward with an attack, they still need to keep the book ready at a moment's notice. Just something that I thought might be a neat detail. Edit: it's at around 32 minutes for anyone who wants to have a look at it

Minor point, you corrected yourself from referring to Dark Samus as "her" to "it," but the first is correct; she is referred to that way consistently in both metroid games and smash games. Presumably because she used to be the genderless Metroid Prime but took a bunch of Samus's DNA to become Dark Samus and became female as well

I've been absolutely loving these animation tier list videos and this one's no exception, they definitely help me learn some neat tricks and future guidance as an aspiring animator Also, 100% biased here, but I'm likewise loving how Dedede has earned top ranking in every single video thus far, I main the big guy and I gotta tell you, man is he a damn wonder to watch (and play as too)

The one sort of missed opportunity for Sora's Sliding Dash (His dash attack is a reference!) Is that in KH, he actually propells himself into the dash by using his Keyblade like a pole vault and launching himself forward, which is such a good detail. I guess it might have made the start up animation too long, but still, I love unorthodox weapon uses like that and wish Sora got more of those in his moveset, like Strike Raid.

Would you ever consider making an alternate costume tier list? You don’t have to rank each costume individually but rather each characters costumes overall. I think that’s be a fun list!

I kinda like the Snake aspect of just a tuck and roll. Always felt like a real military attack from my Grandfather who was veteran. Ness and Lucas, I kinda wish they used their Bat and Stick as sort of a homage to how they’d attack in their home series with a run up bash for their attack in the games running up to their enemy.

Man, I can't wait for when we get to the "Smash throw item upwards while in the air" tier list in 10 years. Edit: also, I imagine this idea is already on your list, but do you intend to make a video discussing smash 4 custom moves that should've been carried over into Ultimate? I recall you mentioning something about how you wish some of the smash 4 customs would have been incorporated into Ultimate, like Toon Links hurricane spin, and I feel like that might make for a fun video.

I personally really enjoy the more meticulous style of analysis, which definitely requires more time being put into editing and gathering footage but I actually don't really mind not having zoom-ins or cuts to shorten up dead space. I already see these videos as more of just a casual experience with stream-highlights vibes compared to your other MRT content- which are already basically just a more casual version of your main channel videos. And when the videos you put on here are already good enough for the main channel, having looser less-edited stuff is what I'd expect from a second channel anyways.

I like how that dash attack made all of Luigis personality in Smash 64

I personally like longer analyses, but for the sake of people you could alternate, either from video to video or depending on which specific animation has more to talk about

We live in a world where an hour+ MockRock video is a casual occurrence

I’m excited to see the down-back tilt tier list! I bet Kazuya will do well.

I still can’t see mega knight doing a full spin on his dash attack at full speed. It just looks like he’s tapping u with his toe

Dedede is on a roll! He's getting S tier for every video so far.

I think when it comes to episode pace, the more varied the moves are, have more depth so there's more to talk about. For example more depth for special moves than tilts

I know it'll definitely take a long time because of how semi obscure the move is but I'm looking forward to the Up throw tier list just because Ike's up throw is so raw imo

For Plant's dash attack, it's a little difficult to see but they actually also use one of their hands/leaves to propel themself into the attack, as well as their head.

I personally like the longer detailed videos, very entertaining

One thing I never really noticed about Roy’s until now is that he looks like he’s trying to club you over the head with the hilt of his sword, rather than slicing with its blade. Really fitting for his concept and helps this attack feel very distinct from Marth’s finesse-y sword swipe.

Hey, please keep these videos longer, I love hearing you talk and you always are able to explain yourself better the more you talk about the moves.

Personally, I prefer the more meticulous approach to videos like this. When even the more trimmed down and streamlined approach to the concept is well over an hour long, you're already committing to watching a long video, and with that in mind, you having more to say simply means more MockRock content for the viewer, which in my opinion is nothing but a positive aspect. I can see the argument of a streamlined approach seeming more focused, but at the end of the day, this is your more rambly second channel, so being overly focused and straightforward isn't really a huge concern to me as a viewer.

I often find that, while the momentum-halting dash attacks (Palutena and Cloud’s come to mind) feel less good to throw out on their own, they often feel very impactful if you do manage to land them. It almost feels as though whatever body the character is striking with their dash attack is pushing back on them, which causes the slowdown

I definitely like your longer-form videos to wind down to and enjoy as background noise or just as something to play before going to bed. You're doing a wholly opinions-based video on the entire roster of Smash Bros, I want your opinions in their entirety and I want it to take two hours minimum. If people don't have the attention span for it, they can watch something else.

love these videos. been listening to them on long drives or long work nights. in terms of length vs brevity I think you found a good balance in this video matching similar moves and then ranking them. much appreciated! it's very good! although i'm not sure if it's my headphones but every time you said "legs" it felt like you were saying "lags" and it took me several times before realizing it

Definitely prefer the longer form more details, feels more relaxed and shows appreciation for all the little aspects that sakurai and his team went through to put in

Ikes dash attack could be so cool if he hurled ragnel over his head and behind him to make it a 360 hitting move and maybe with the strength close to his uncharted up-smash.

Big fan of all these huge, analysis binge videos, keep them up!

Here are some ideas I had on how to make some of these moves better/change them for the better of the character (PART 1): ~ I agree, the Jump Slash would make for a great forward smash for _BotW_ Link, all you'd need is to incorporate the Sword Beam into his forward tilt, giving you a chance to shoot two at once. As for a replacement dash attack I would personally suggest either the Shield Bash from _Skyward Sword_ or the Helm Splitter from _Twilight Princess._ As for Young Link, I actually think Link's current Jump Slash would fit him better, as it would make sense for Young Link to travel such a short distance and it could retain that off-kilter aspect with Young Link putting so much into the slash itself. I'm actually surprised that the literal Dash Attack from _Minish Cap_ is not Toon Link's _Smash_ dash attack. Just have him briefly wield the Pegasus boots and run in the air for a second before charging forward a fair distance with above average end lag to compensate. ~ K. Rool's dash attack is pretty much perfect I would just have him flail his arms out with a crazed expression as he leaps to reflect the attack from _Donkey Kong Land._ I don't know, when you actually look at the move it's based on and then look at the dash attack again the pose and expression before he lands looks kinda off. ~ I wouldn't really change Banjo and Kazooie's dash attack, but their dash instead. Have it so a regular dash is just Banjo running and then if you input a dash again while Banjo is already running Kazooie pops out and transitions into the Talon Trot. Maybe you could even make the Talon Trot dash attack slightly stronger due to the momentum and have both Banjo and Kazooie rolling, but at the very least Kazooie wouldn't be popping in and out quickly if you had to manually activate the Talon Trot. ~ For Samus and Dark Samus if they're including the Speed Booster at least do them justice and have them travel a farther distance while covered in a glowing aura. You could even have Dark Samus' include the afterimages the Speed Booster has in some games to increase the hitbox and reference Dark Samus' own clones. Why not properly include the Shinespark as Samus' up special instead and move the Screw Attack to her up aerial? You could even apply the same logic to Dark Samus since she does use a dive bomb attack similar to the Screw Attack/Shinespark in her battles in _Echoes._ ~ I've said before I'd just want ZSS to be a temporary transformation for Samus, but to put it simply I'd just change her neutral attack, neutral aerial, and dash attack to be a simple non-charged shot of the Paralyzer. All her special move inputs would just cause her to automatically charge it, just in different directions. ~ Ridley's dash attack should be more based on his lunging attack as Meta Ridley in _Metroid Prime,_ where he actually leans back and put everything into that strike before skidding on his heels a bit. Have him reach out and bite before skidding to a sudden stop. ~ Mewtwo's dash attack I would change to Zen Headbutt, looking similar to its portrayal in Pokkén by Shadow Mewtwo: a strong headfirst tackle while surrounded in a cone of psychic energy. ~ If you wanted to declone Simon and Richter and make them game-accurate, I would have replace Simon's current dash attack with either his Dancing Whip or Sudden Impact from _Castlevania: Judgement,_ the former being a simple dash whip strike and the latter being an upward spin followed by a hard smash down with the whip. An unfortunate source but it works. ~ I would personally just change the animation of Falcon's dash attack so he's literally performing a sideways football tackle while flashing red, as a way to reference the Side Attack from _F-Zero._ Have it also not kill all his momentum and be decently strong and it'd be much better. And hey, if the space animals are designed to reflect the Arwings, Falcon should be designed to reflect the Blue Falcon. ~ If any character should have a dash attack similar to Sephiroth, it would be Ganondorf. Just like have his fist become engulfed in darkness and explode on contact. ~ Ivysaur has a lot of options, I mean you could change the current animation to have white streaks or a cone around it to represent Take Down or Double Edge more (even have it take self damage if you wanna go that far), have it jump up and then belly flop on opponents to represent Body Slam, or just have it lash out with one of its vines coated in a white aura to represent Cut. With Squirtle I'm actually surprised it doesn't have Skull Bash as its dash attack in either game. Have it slow down momentarily while withdrawing its head before leaping forward in a completely horizontal head strike before landing on its belly and jumping back up to its neutral stance. You could even have the start up with the withdrawing give Squirtle super armor to reference the move's Defense raising quality. Charizard actually has the perfect move for a dash attack and that's Fire Punch. Charizard uses this attack in Pokkén as an attack while moving, might I add, *IN THE AIR.* Allows for a much more natural transition from the dash and utilizes its hands in a way that isn't a claw strike. ~ Bowser's dash attack should honestly be the Spike Ball from _Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story_ where he curls into a ball and rolls into opponents. You could even have a Pac-Man style transition in and out of the move. It likely wouldn't be as powerful but would be much quicker. Plus we need more shell attacks from Bowser. ~ Now that I'm thinking about it, you could change Sonic's dash attack to the Light Speed Dash. Just have a short trail of rings appear before him and have him dash straight forwards through them before skidding to slow himself down to normal speed. You could even have it be interruptible if you strike Sonic while he's using it referencing how Sonic is vulnerable while using it if you so wanted. ~ Marth should have a thrusting sword strike like you said but I feel both Lucina and Chrom should have their dashing stab from their battle in _Awakening's_ Chapter 4 movie cutscene. Come to think of it their up specials should be based on that jumping spin slash from that cutscene too. ~ Yeah it would be cool if Roy actually used the reverse grip for his dash attack. That and simply flip Byleth's dash attack so the arms are consistent. ~ Just make Egg Roll Yoshi's dash attack and give him a more fitting side special like Egg Throw. ~ With the space animals I would have them slide while firing a weapon from _Assualt._ Fox the Plasma Cannon, Falco the Sniper Rifle, and Wolf dual wielding the Machine Guns. They're not martial artists, they're pilots, and their playstyle is meant to reflect the Arwings after all. Just change their neutral specials to be chargeable and to home in on opponents and you've got yourself a great way to attack from a distance.

i love these ranking videos i always binge watch them and i always watch this in the background while playing

I just thought about this, but Sonic's dash attack could easily have been that lingering punch he throws out in that one intro cutscene for Unleashed. Of course, we could have made the rest of his kit interesting and based off other source material, but I guess the developers saw his ball form on like 6 different moves and were like "Nah, it'll be fine."

Definitely as long as you can reasonably make them. These are really chill and it's fun seeing you talk about animations. You point all these little details that make me realize the sheer effort the devs put into this game.

Just wanna say I appreciate that you choose stages that correspond with the characters on display. It’s a nice little touch that adds to the quality of these videos

I like your more meticulous approach to these attack animation tier lists because I don’t see any other Smashtuber do it this way. So you’re one of a kind in that sense, LOL. Not to mention that I enjoy watching these super long videos in parts, so more content to digest overtime is always a good thing for me in this case.

I quite enjoy the detail you go into with those videos. I’m fascinated by animation, especially video game animation, but there’re so few RU-vid channels that talk about animations I really appreciate the detail that you go into.

I always thought Mario’s dash attack was a reference to Mario Super Sluggers and baseball lol

Absolutely loving this series so far. One category I expect to be surprisingly good is the Down Specials (excluding Hero, I don’t want you to have to judge every single command attack.)

I love your videos man their really relaxing to watch. Btw I prefer the videos with lots of detail.

What would elevate dark samus' dash attack aside from the excellent idea for the dark particle effects would have been if they had tweaked its physics just a little imo. I'm thinking kinda akin to the difference between upperdash and electroshock. Samus still had a relatively strong pose in smash 4, but the dash attack hit like a wet noodle. Dark samus' dash attack animation, however, would work perfectly with the combo-starter role the dash attack took on in smash 4, so I wish they had kept that knockback for dark samus'.

You should do a character entrance animation tier list!

Another great video as usual, this series is so unique and interesting, I can't wait to see more!

Wow, I never knew Meta Knight did a spin, it's literally too fast to be noticed. Makes me wonder why they even bothered, tbh, but hey, at least, it's conceptually cool. Would like it better if it was slower tho this is exactly why I like your more "methodical", if slower approach at this, it's a really good opportunity to not only hear your thoughts with the tier list format, but also just discover stuff like this. Really good content as usual

Keep up the awesome work on these! They're amazing! Also I did wanna say, since you did a retrospective on the Best of every Smash fighter change a bit ago, are you planning to do a retrospective for the Worst of every fighter change? I think it'd be cool.

I absolutely love how long and detailed these vids are, it’s the perfect thing to throw on while doing other things. I hope we gets tier lists for all the obscure animations lol.

I love when you meticulously explore each move and break down why you feel each one gets its specific rating

Thank you mockrock for giving me another really good tier list to listen to at work! If I could suggest a tier list, I’d like to hear your opinions on which characters have the best alt colors, or maybe an up special/freefall list. Keep it up brother, your videos make my day

Wow I really appreciate how deeply you look into these. Smash animations, or at least Ultimate especially, are just so well done and full of character while also being both satisfying and understandable.

I think the long-form videos are more fun, there wasnt much to talk about for dash attacks so it worked great, but I loved all the depth you went into the neutral special and down air vids. Keep it up!

I really love your vids you rank everything so well literally just rating off of what you like and not being to biased

I really enjoy the longer videos. These kinds of videos are perfect to watch while eating or falling asleep.

As soon as I noticed Dedede being left out I knew he'd be the last, introduced like "and this is S tier" with not much more needed

After watching the part about Inklings Dash attack... now that I think of it, Inkling DEFINITELY would have been one of those characters that would greatly benefit from having their animations mirrored when you face the opposite direction, like Kirby and Mario do.

I honestly like both the shorter and longer format. But imo you can make some really long in depth videos. Its a really Subjective video idea in general so why not go as in depth as possible. I am watching videos like these on my second monitor anyways so the more playtime the better! Anyways, that were my 2 cents, great content mock, been subbed for many ears and am always more than happy to hear your rants and opinions! Cheers ♥

If it means anything... I personally really like the feel of Sonic and Yoshi's dash attacks. You can really feel the momentum behind it. Sonic's does lose a smidge too much momentum compared to his dash but its still really good in my opinion.

Re: Bayo's dash attack. It's so jerky because of the move it's based on. Stiletto is a direct expy of Stinger from DMC - they're input moves activated by either double tapping towards an enemy + attack or locking on, tapping towards and attacking. They're meant to be instant burst options and they've ALWAYS looked kinda wonky - probably owing to the fact that they need to function at so many different ranges and that they originated on the PS2. Just a little history on it!

I was surprised Banjo-Kazooie didn't use the rolling attack variant from Tooie, where Kazooie uses her wings to shield Banjo as he rolls. It would have blended into their dash a lot better since Kazooie is involved in the move.

I love these videos a lot! Honestly I do like the longer and more detailed vids, and I think your delivery here feels a bit rushed, but I do like your exploration of the animation concepts here. Also since it seems you're unsure; Dark Samus is she/her, according to the home games. She was only called "it" in a single blog post for Ultimate that was later corrected

With Terry I would have loved if they could have made a motion version that let's you cancel special to special. The motion could have been 41236/⬅️↙️⬇️↘️➡️/half circle/Ryus red Fireball motion

seeing you gush about piranha plant's dash attack was so special, i love piranha so much and its moveset is so well done

Absolutely correct with King Dedede. Best dash in the game. For Kirby's, though, it only makes sense to have it as a dash attack, because it's literally a dash attack IN KIRBY SUPER STAR

what really gets me about banjo's: if they really needed to use the same animation regardless of wether kazooie was already out, why wouldn't they use the roll from banjo-tooie? (with kazooie's wings wrapped around banjo)

i just wanna say that i love how meticulously you dissect these animations 👏

Disappointed that Charizard's dash attack isn't the flying dropkick from Godzilla vs. Megalon

I like the meticulous detail personally but I’ll always like and watch the content! Great video!

I really think that Captain Falcon could use a dropkick as his dash attack. They tend to be more committal attacks after all.

I really like the longer videos going into a lot more detail. There's a lot I never would've noticed. I don't know about any other channels that go into as much detail for Smash animations so if the analyses got a lot shorter, people's appreciation for them wouldn't be as much with almost no one pointing them out

I would say, burning/Fireball (kirby adventure NES) feels best when used for movement in the air.

personally. i prefeer the longer, more meticulous approach.

My therapist: Limbless Pac-Man isn't real. He can't hurt you. 4:07

Another banger analysis, can't wait for the all-encompassing umbrella / universal move animation tier list.

I haven't seen the video yet but i know i'm gonna have a blast watching it, i love talking about animation.

Idk why i like watching long content so much lately but its nice for background stuff

Mewtwo dash attack: Who are you? Sephiroth dash attack: I'm you, but better.

If you do side specials for the next one, there is an interesting fact I learned about Mythra’s while doing some photography. Mythra has more models for side special because of her disappearing throughout the move. I like little details like that in animation, and that is why I love Smash so much.

Just to let you know, Charzard’s dash attack is probably Mega Kick which is a move that he could learn in the very first Pokemon game. That’s probably why they’ve kept using it.

This series continues to be great! I am in the camp of preferring the quicker format here -- I think you're still providing plenty of meat with each ranking!

So I _assume_ you know this but you didn't mention that Snake's dash attack is also a reference to his home series, and part of the reason the Roll -> Prone exists is because holding X through the dash attack in MGS2 onwards causes you to end the roll prone.

don't be afraid of the long videos, i love them. do whatever is easier for you but i definitely don't mind watching a 2 hour video on this stuff

54:50 Look at him, he's so happy when he's bonking you with his head. He's just playing! (Which might also give a reason for the extra bounciness, Pikachu knows he's headbutting someone, Pichu is just happy to be here)

1:00:20 This is the first one I really disagree with. I love how he stops running to focus everything into the palm strike, which really sells the impact

great work as usual!

Belmonts consistent high ranks have been great to see. As far as audio I wanted the dash attack and down tilt for Belmonts to use the sotn sound effects since it's just funny sounds to me. A fun fact is the original move was 34 frames with 33 of them being invincible which would be disgustingly op in smash lol.. For Sonic I think his dash attack should have been Rocket Accel from Sonic Heroes as a way to use more source material and give it more purpose than a get off me tool that's very weak.

ivysaurs is funny because they’re usually using their vines and longer disjoints to fight so when they’re throwing themselves at you they have a slight expression of like “oh fuck why’d I do that”

Keep the videos long!! I love animation and I love hearing you talk about animation so please keep them long

I really like that these 1 hourish videos come out each week. so I can enjoy more of my free time.

I like the long format because i can keep watching it for many days while having lunch

Idk why but your intro is just perfect

Time to watch this in one go then have nothing to watch for a week lol

I have a feeling that piranha plant was one of the dev's passion project, and after months and months of begging Sakurai _finally_ let him into the game 😂

I wish they put armor on dedede's dash attack so that animation couldn't get interrupted by mere attacks

Love these videos a lot. Pump for the algorithm.

Ganondorf is totally using his nose to hurt the opponent in his dash attack

I like the videos longer. it helps me when I’m cleaning for a while

I think a great dash attack for Inkling would be the Kracken twirl from Splatoon 1. I can imagine it would be super satisfying dip in and out of the ink for an attack like that, plus it would be super unique. The Kracken twirl is also the only attack I can think of with the squid form Inkling.

You're doing God's work. I love the animations of this game, but the characters are always too small to see the fine details, and I don't ever feel like going into training mode and looking for myself haha.

Babe wake up, new feature-length animation video just dropped