Mr. Game & Watch

Mr. Game and Watch in Super Smash Bros. Melee.
Mr. Game & Watch
Base	Flat Zone
Debut	Super Smash Bros. Melee

Mr. Game & Watch is a character who was created for Super Smash Bros. Melee. He is a living homage to Nintendo's Game & Watch games, was specifically designed to resemble the monochromatic sprites of the early Game & Watch titles, and he is retroactively treated as the star of many of the Game & Watch games.

Background

Mr. Game & Watch first appeared in Super Smash Bros. Melee as an unlockable fighter (the last one to be unlocked) who spoke in only beeps and whistles, which represented the limited sound in early Game & Watch games, and he moved in a stilted, frame-by-frame movement. Mr. Game & Watch returned as an unlockable fighter in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

In Melee, he is unlocked by playing 1000 rounds of Vs. Mode or clearing Classic, Adventure, or Target Test with all the characters except for Game and Watch. In Brawl, he is unlocked by fighting 200 brawls, beating Target Smash with 20 characters or having him join the party in "The Subspace Emissary". In the 3DS Smash, he is unlocked by playing 90 Vs. Matches or by completing Classic Mode 10 times. In the Wii U Smash, he is unlocked by playing 80 Vs. Matches or by beating Classic Mode on Intensity Level 2.0 or higher. In Ultimate, he could be unlocked through the game's variable-based system for unlocking characters, or by awakening him in Adventure Mode (where he is found near the western entrance of the maze area of the Light Realm inspired by Pac-Man).

In-Game Roles

In Brawl's "The Subspace Emissary", Mr. Game & Watch was captured by Tabuu, who used the mysterious substance within Mr. Game & Watch to create the shadow bugs that were used to form the majority of Tabuu's Subspace Army. Mr. Game & Watch remained trapped in trophy form until Meta Knight, Lucario and Snake discovered a squad of Mr. Game & Watch dopplegangers formed by the shadow bugs that worked the deck of the Halberd. The Game & Watches were defeated with ease, but the shadow bugs that comprised them than reformed into the boss robot Duon. After Duon was destroyed, Mr. Game & Watch's trophy was revealed after the shadow bugs dissolved, and he was then freed by Princess Peach, at which point he joined the main party.

In Ultimate, his personal Classic Mode route was called "A Long Legacy". It followed the theme of pitting Mr. Game & Watch against the older Nintendo characters and with a focus on levels based on retro games. The final boss of the route was Master Hand (accompanied by Crazy Hand on higher difficulties).

Non-Smash Appearances

Outside of the Smash Bros. series, Mr. Game & Watch also made a small appearance in Game & Watch Gallery 4, where he hosted the Present Mode alongside Mario and was shown to be capable of speaking. In the WarioWare games, he has made minor appearances in menus within WarioWare: Twisted! and WarioWare: Touched!, and what seemed to be an audience of Game & Watch people appeared in WarioWare: Smooth Moves. He also made an apparent cameo appearance in the background of the Factory Fumes level of Donkey Kong Country Returns, where he seemed to be working on girders from the original Donkey Kong.

A Yoshi design based on Mr. Game & Watch's appearance could be unlocked in Yoshi's Woolly World by scanning an amiibo of Mr. Game & Watch. In Super Mario Maker, Mr. Game & Watch was available as one of the Mystery Mushroom costumes that Mario could transform into. He could be unlocked as a random prize for clearing a 100 Mario Challenge on Expert or higher, or by scanning his amiibo.

Trophies/Stickers/Spirits

Mr. Game & Watch has also been represented by three unlockable trophies in Melee, two trophies (one being of his Final Smash) in Brawl, two trophies (plus one of his Final Smash in the Wii U version) in the 3DS/Wii U game and a Fighter Spirit in Ultimate. There have also been trophies, stickers and Spirits based on individual Game & Watch games which double as Mr. Game & Watch's moves.

Abilities

In the Smash Bros. games, nearly all of his moves are based on Game & Watch games. His main B button attacks are:

• Standard Special Move: Chef- Mr. Game & Watch uses a frying pan to fling susages at enemies, only up to five at a time.
• Side Special Move: Judgement- Mr. Game & Watch strikes with a hammer while drawing a flag. The effects of this attack are randomized based on the number that appears on the flag, and in some cases may result in Mr. Game and Watch hurting himself.
• Up Special Move: Fire- Mr. Game & Watch summons a pair of men with a trampoline to bounce him into the air. This attack acts as his third jump.
• Down Special Move: Oil Panic- Mr. Game & Watch collects three missile attacks in a container and can then unleash it on the enemy.
• Final Smash: Octopus- Exclusively in Brawl and with use of a Smash Ball. Mr. Game & Watch transforms into an octopus, at which point the tentacles can be used to furiously whip out at Mr. Game & Watch's enemies.

His normal attacks include Green House, Helmet, Lion, Flag Man, Manhole, Fire Attack, Octopus, Vermin, Parachute, Cement Factory, Turtle Bridge, Spitball Sparky, Tropical Fish, and Donkey Kong Jr..

Mr. Game & Watch also has several attacks where he wields a bell as a weapon, in an homage to the Game & Watch's alarm. Despite his great variety of moves, he is very light and thus can be knocked offstage easily.

Trivia

• He is unique in that he was created as a character for the Smash Bros. series, despite being retroactively treated as the protagonist of the Game & Watch games.
• According to the official Super Smash Bros. Brawl website, Mr. Game & Watch has no concept of good and evil.
• In Ultimate, his forward smash animation based on Fire Attack was changed through an update patch to remove a feather worn on his his head during the attack. This was in response to criticism of the imagery being a racist depiction of Native Americans. The feather was also removed from the Spirit for Fire Attack.