Pac-Man is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. 4 and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. The Super Smash Bros. series Pac-Man amiibo was released alongside Charizard, Greninja, Jigglypuff, Lucina, Ness, Robin, and Wario on May 29, 2015.
In Super Smash Bros. 4
Pac-Man is currently ranked as a B+ tier character in Super Smash Bros. 4. Despite his fairly high placement, Pac-Man was initially seen as one of the worst characters in the game. Thanks to the efforts of Keeth, Cloud, and FarmingSim, Pac-Man’s full potential was finally unlocked in early 2016. Pac-Man’s greatest strength is actually his jab: it deals high damage and its speed lets it interrupt a wide variety of incoming attacks. Pac-Man’s smash attacks, while slow, are also quite strong and allow him to reliably KO damaged opponents.
By far Pac-Man’s biggest weakness is his grab. It is the slowest in the game, and Smash 4 AI is hardcoded to grab after blocking (meaning this habit cannot be curbed). Due to its poor range and speed, Pac-Man is almost always hit with a smash attack during his grab’s ending lag. Pac-Man also struggles to use his Bonus Fruits, as the AI will almost always throw the cherry (which counts as using the move uncharged). Lastly, Pac-Man drops his Fire Hydrant whenever an opponent is below him, and neither AI can recognize its water projectiles. This issue can be corrected with the Dire Hydrant custom move.
Despite his notable flaws, Pac-Man has accrued solid tournament results. Cloud and FarmingSim are tied for the strongest Pac-Man amiibo in Smash 4; both of these trainers are considered to have carried the character’s results. It is worth noting that Cloud collaborated with Keeth on the same Pac-Man amiibo, who was the first to win a Smash 4 tournament.
If you would like to read the Pac-Man amiibo training guide, please follow this link.
In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Pac-Man has been significantly buffed for his appearance in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. As with all fighters, his movement speed has been increased, allowing him to more easily traverse the battlefield. His grabs have much less ending lag, alleviating his greatest weakness from Smash 4. In general, Pac-Man is now a functioning amiibo, though some of his weaknesses from the previous title have been carried over.
One such weakness is his usage of Bonus Fruits. The AI is now more likely to charge the move, but may still use it uncharged more than desired. It still does not seem to recognize its Fire Hydrant at all, and only sends it flying by accident. Pac-Man also has a below-average matchup spread, losing to characters with high range (with his worst matchup being Link).
Overall, Pac-Man has undoubtedly improved from Smash 4. Leaf is thought to have the strongest Pac-Man amiibo in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (with Kangoni trailing behind in second place). Compared to other characters, Pac-Man is still underrepresented, but this may (and hopefully will) change in the future).
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