This FAQ is designed to take you from a newbie (or relatively close) to an expert with Ness in Super Smash Bros. Here is a list of what will be covered:
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Super Smash Bros. Ness FAQ:
In this first part of the FAQ, You're thinking, "Wow! A Nintendo fighting game! What a cool idea! And with Ness! YES!" The thing is, Ness is a secret character, and a very difficult one to get. Once you have control of him, though, he is, in my opinion, the best playable character. Before you launch into trying to get him, though, take a little time to practice on Very Easy, find a character that works for you, get to know the stages, etc. After you have learned to play well, start working towards what you'll need to attempt Ness. For example, you might try playing Very Easy with just 3 lives and resetting if you lose a continue. Come back here once you think you're good enough to take on Ness, or if you want to jump right into the fire.
So you think you've got what it takes? You think you can grab Ness? Okay, don't get upset if you lose your sanity though.
First of all, the requirments to get Ness: You must beat the game on Normal difficulty with just three lives and no continues. That's it. Lose those three lives and it's back to Link again. Believe me, it's tough. Now then, let's look at just how we can accomplish this task.
Phase 1: Pick a Character
This isn't a large part, but it can affect the fate of the game. If there is a character you have become quite good at playing, try him. For example, I tried Samus Aran. However, that didn't work very well, and I constantly lost lives. Next of all, I tried Luigi, one of the secret characters. When that failed, I tried Captain Falcon. Still failure. Eventually, Yoshi came out as the victor. Does that mean you should use Yoshi? I personally would recommend it, but only if you are good at using him, otherwise use a character that you are good at.
Phase 2: The Battles
For this part, we will assume you are using Yoshi. I'm not going to go in-depth on each battle, just give some tips on handling some enemies. Keeping in mind that you can only lose two lives between Link and Ness, I will point out the absolute earliest points you can lose lives and still have a shot at victory. If you lose a life before Fox, then you might as well give up already. Since Yoshi has the incredible ability to drop an enemy right off the edge with no resistance in some conditions, Pikachu can actually be very easy. Lure him to an edge, where he is facing the edge and Yoshi is facing the rest of the stage. Press B to gobble him up; then, if he is close enough to the edge, when Pikachu comes out as an egg, he will fall helplessly off the edge. I've seen this work many times, and it can be used elsewhere. It could work against the Fighthing Polygon team, and quite possibly Link as well. It can even work on Giant DK! If you lose a life around Giant DK or Kirby Team, and it's your first loss, then you should be okay. A good strategy on the Kirby Team is to throw them using the R button. Once you get to Master Hand, use Yoshi's Down + A attack whenever he holds still, and shield against his various attacks. Ness himself is not that difficult to beat, as he likes to use PK Thunder often. If you attack quickly, though, you should triumph.
Now that you have control of Ness, you're ready to learn his basic moves and tricks.
First of all, the requirments to get Ness: You must beat the game on Normal difficulty with just three lives and no continues. That's it. Lose those three lives and it's back to Link again. Believe me, it's tough. Now then, let's look at just how we can accomplish this task.
Phase 1: Pick a Character
This isn't a large part, but it can affect the fate of the game. If there is a character you have become quite good at playing, try him. For example, I tried Samus Aran. However, that didn't work very well, and I constantly lost lives. Next of all, I tried Luigi, one of the secret characters. When that failed, I tried Captain Falcon. Still failure. Eventually, Yoshi came out as the victor. Does that mean you should use Yoshi? I personally would recommend it, but only if you are good at using him, otherwise use a character that you are good at.
Phase 2: The Battles
For this part, we will assume you are using Yoshi. I'm not going to go in-depth on each battle, just give some tips on handling some enemies. Keeping in mind that you can only lose two lives between Link and Ness, I will point out the absolute earliest points you can lose lives and still have a shot at victory. If you lose a life before Fox, then you might as well give up already. Since Yoshi has the incredible ability to drop an enemy right off the edge with no resistance in some conditions, Pikachu can actually be very easy. Lure him to an edge, where he is facing the edge and Yoshi is facing the rest of the stage. Press B to gobble him up; then, if he is close enough to the edge, when Pikachu comes out as an egg, he will fall helplessly off the edge. I've seen this work many times, and it can be used elsewhere. It could work against the Fighthing Polygon team, and quite possibly Link as well. It can even work on Giant DK! If you lose a life around Giant DK or Kirby Team, and it's your first loss, then you should be okay. A good strategy on the Kirby Team is to throw them using the R button. Once you get to Master Hand, use Yoshi's Down + A attack whenever he holds still, and shield against his various attacks. Ness himself is not that difficult to beat, as he likes to use PK Thunder often. If you attack quickly, though, you should triumph.
Now that you have control of Ness, you're ready to learn his basic moves and tricks.
Welcome back. Now that you have control of Ness, it's time to learn to
make him work. If you paid attention during your fight with him, you
should have noticed all three of his special moves. If not, here they
are.
These are Ness's power hits. They are very useful and should be used often.
Well, that should cover the basics of Ness. Now, you are ready to take him out for a spin and blow away some enemies!
| PK Fire |  |
| A short range attack that can do close to 20% damage. The problem is, it is short range, and can be gotten out of quickly if your opponent is good. | |
| PK Thunder |  + |
| A long range attack that you can steer! Sounds incredible? The only disadvantage is that Ness is frozen in place while the Thunder is steered. This is okay if you are against a single opponent, but when you are in a free-for-all, it can be suicide. Use this wisely. It does about 5% damage. | |
| PK Magnet |  + |
While only useful in certain situations, it can also help
greatly. When you hold this, Ness creates a shield around
himself that doesn't fade from damage. Any energy projectile
attack will, once it hits, recover health to you equal to the
amount of damage it was supposed to do. If you are hit by a
regular  attack, though, you'll get hit like
you you were just standing still.
|
|
These are Ness's power hits. They are very useful and should be used often.
| Ness' Smash Attack |  or  + |
| Ness pulls out his trusty Gutsy Bat, and SMAAAASH!'s the enemy away. This can do about 25% damage, and can also knock an enemy off the screen. It works quite well. | |
| Ness' Offensive Yo-yo | + |
| Ness swings his yo-yo foward quickly then back. It can do around 19% damage. | |
| Ness' Defensive Yo-yo | + |
| Ness swings his yo-yo foward and back in an arc. It doesn't have as much range as the above and only does around 17% damage, but it moves faster so that you can catch someone jumping on you from behind. | |
Well, that should cover the basics of Ness. Now, you are ready to take him out for a spin and blow away some enemies!
Now that I've covered the basics, you think, "Yeah, Ness is pretty good, but he doesn't have a triple jump and he's stuck standing still while you use his only long range attack." Fear not, for here is Ness' real power: PK Thunder. Though he is stuck in place while using that, that can become a very good thing.
The Setup: A four player free for all at DK Jungle. Donkey Kong, while standing near the left edge, just blew Ness away with a strong punch. You perform the jump back, but it's not going to make it. Now, the move: Launch a PK Thunder in midair, then immediately turn it around so that it hits Ness in his butt. Ness will blow back on to the ground, ready to fight.
His next advanced ability can, if used properly, inflict up to 1000% damage and easily knock an opponent away. "Push Air," as I call it, involves you getting the enemy above you, falling. Jump up towards him, and press A. Ness will push the character back into the air. When he falls again, Jump up again and press A to knock him even higher. Repeat until either the enemy is blown away or they break the lock (difficult, but it can be done). The best way to get the enemy above you is to use the "jump down" (Down + A while in middair).
Another of Ness's extremely strong moves involves PK Thunder. It is similar to the save yourself jump, but now, there is a way to blow the enemy away with a cool 30% damage. If you are lined up horiziontally with the enemy such that your relative position is slightly above, and less that a screen lengths away, launch a PK Thunder and hit yourself square in the back. You will come hurtling towards the enemy, and if you impact, shock them. This often does around 30% damage and frequently blows the enemy off the battle field, making it difficult to return. If the enemy is in the middle of a small stage, like DK Jungle Parkway, you can actually jump off backwards, hit yourself with a PK Thunder, and come hurtling toward them. Once you get good enough you'll can blast yourself with PK Thunder at any angle.
Once you have mastered these, you're ready to go and take on just about anyone! However, to be able to beat the pros, you should look at a few of the strategies and combos below to make your attacks work well.
The Setup: A four player free for all at DK Jungle. Donkey Kong, while standing near the left edge, just blew Ness away with a strong punch. You perform the jump back, but it's not going to make it. Now, the move: Launch a PK Thunder in midair, then immediately turn it around so that it hits Ness in his butt. Ness will blow back on to the ground, ready to fight.
His next advanced ability can, if used properly, inflict up to 1000% damage and easily knock an opponent away. "Push Air," as I call it, involves you getting the enemy above you, falling. Jump up towards him, and press A. Ness will push the character back into the air. When he falls again, Jump up again and press A to knock him even higher. Repeat until either the enemy is blown away or they break the lock (difficult, but it can be done). The best way to get the enemy above you is to use the "jump down" (Down + A while in middair).
Another of Ness's extremely strong moves involves PK Thunder. It is similar to the save yourself jump, but now, there is a way to blow the enemy away with a cool 30% damage. If you are lined up horiziontally with the enemy such that your relative position is slightly above, and less that a screen lengths away, launch a PK Thunder and hit yourself square in the back. You will come hurtling towards the enemy, and if you impact, shock them. This often does around 30% damage and frequently blows the enemy off the battle field, making it difficult to return. If the enemy is in the middle of a small stage, like DK Jungle Parkway, you can actually jump off backwards, hit yourself with a PK Thunder, and come hurtling toward them. Once you get good enough you'll can blast yourself with PK Thunder at any angle.
Once you have mastered these, you're ready to go and take on just about anyone! However, to be able to beat the pros, you should look at a few of the strategies and combos below to make your attacks work well.
So, now that you have just about mastered Ness, you think you're ready to take on a team of three Level 9 enemies? Not just yet, but you soon will be. Read these last few strategies below and you should be all set to put Ness at the top of the charts.
Down-kick Kill Combo (submitted by Matrix):
Get your opponent less than a screen away from the edge of the battleground. Throw him or hit him off the edge with your baseball bat, then jump right off after him. Get over him without using PK Thunder, then use the Down+A down jump to hit them straight down. Use PK Thunder to Thunder Jump yourself back up onto the battleground, and they should fall to their doom.
Ness-in-the-Box:
This only works on Zebes and DK Jungle. If you have been hit hard off of a cliff, and can't double jump back on, use the Thunder Jump to propel yourself upward through the floor and onto the platform.
Falling through the Floors:
If you are falling onto a platform above another platform, and you want to get on the lower platform quickly, wait until you have almost landed, then Down Jump. You will go straight through the floor, and might hit an enemy. Plus, this won't send you through the lowest floor (you won't fall below the stage).
Down-kick Kill Combo (submitted by Matrix):
Get your opponent less than a screen away from the edge of the battleground. Throw him or hit him off the edge with your baseball bat, then jump right off after him. Get over him without using PK Thunder, then use the Down+A down jump to hit them straight down. Use PK Thunder to Thunder Jump yourself back up onto the battleground, and they should fall to their doom.
Ness-in-the-Box:
This only works on Zebes and DK Jungle. If you have been hit hard off of a cliff, and can't double jump back on, use the Thunder Jump to propel yourself upward through the floor and onto the platform.
Falling through the Floors:
If you are falling onto a platform above another platform, and you want to get on the lower platform quickly, wait until you have almost landed, then Down Jump. You will go straight through the floor, and might hit an enemy. Plus, this won't send you through the lowest floor (you won't fall below the stage).
Here we are. We started with a fresh game, and now you are an expert with Ness (hopefully). Of course, there is much more to Super Smash Bros, but this was designed to help you get and use Ness. If you found this useful, helpful or if you have your own strategies and would like to submit them, then email Chris or Matrix. Hope you enjoyed this, and watch for me to write other interesting Earthbound and SSB related items.
