I already established that Ness's downward smash is one of the most overpowered spikes in the game. Yet I still do it just for fun....at a fair percentage of course.
Many people may think that he is a pretty weird character to play as but he can dish out some devastating combos if you know how to use him. I once brought someone to 100% with my combo and he started at 0% (They're pretty OP I guess....still fun though). Most of them start with the yo-yo (up smash) though. What I usually do is: up-smash>up-smash>up-grab>down smash>up-smash>back grab (should result in a KO or build up some decent damage)
The PK fire (Like in other games) is always useful to keep your opponent in place. I like to do this neat little trick when they try to get out. Basically what I do is bring them back into the fire and squeeze out some more damage by doing a back grab sending them back into the fire. Its actually a very useful tactic that I use often.
His forward air is also immensely useful since it has a lot of range. I usually use it to keep my opponent from charging up a smash attack and killing me. I advise that you use this often since it is very useful. The side air is not really useful in my opinion since I feel its one of the weaker side airs of the game but it may vary from person to person. Neutral air is obviously useful (as with most characters) to gain a short distance from you and your opponent but I don't use it often (sadly)
By far, his back grab is one of the strongest versions of his back grab that I have ever seen. It is extremely effective once it gets to the higher percentages and I use it often for K Oing once I get to the edge of the stage (bigger chance to KO there). His forward grab is pretty weak in my opinion and I really only use it to get a chance to downward smash my opponents to oblivion. His downgrab isn't really useful at all in my opinion. Its not like in the new Smash 4 or 3ds version where you can use that to combo your opponent into your forward air (In Super Smash Bros Crusade you may be able to do that though. Its harder to combo with Ness in that game (you can't combo with his yo-yo) plus the PK Thunders are harder to use. But that's going to be the subject of a later installment.). The down grab doesn't make them fly that high to be honest so I don't really see much point in using it. His up air is probably a better option to do that with (and with the combo I mentioned above) or (Maybe) his forward grab.
While Ness is good against any character in my opinion, the easiest character for me to use Ness against is probably Donkey Kong. His big form makes him an easy target for Ness's PK Fire and his down smash (can be used to launch combos as well) and basically combo him to death. Just try your best to not get hit by him too often. Most of his smash attacks can KO at like 60% from my experiences with other players and my experiences playing with him.
His absolute worst characters to use with him are Ichigo (thanks to Ichigo dash spammers. He is invincible during that dash attack), Mega Man, Marth, and any character that has abnormal range with projectiles and/or melee attacks. I found it very hard to lay a finger on them (especially with this game's broken rolls at times when I clearly roll. I just shield more often now) since they could just as easily keep on using their goddamn ranged attacks. Ichigo is the most guilty of this to be honest. I can count on my hand how many ichigo spammers I have faced that do not use the dash attack constantly.
Mega Man is just irritating for me to fight because of his zoning game. That's understandable though because that's the point. But I don't appreciate how they changed his dark portal attack into a pinpoint stun attack rather than just sucking you in like a portal is supposed to be doing. Not to mention that some of his moves are way stronger than I feel that they should be. I honestly prefer how he works in Super Smash Bros Crusade but thats another matter entirely.
I HATE fighting Marth in this game. He doesn't have any glaring issues or anything now that I look at him again, but I just hate fighting him. His melee attacks have the most range in the game when it comes to up close combat but he doesn't seem to be too good against a zoning character (I fought a Marth player in online mode with Link. Results were pretty predictable.). Since Ness is mostly an up-close fighter, he doesn't really do the best against Marth in my opinion.
Recent fight with Ness:
I recently fought a Peach player. A GOOD Peach player. The guy used the mushrooms to keep me from using my PK fire (since he knows he's dead if I do it) and he repeatedly floated in the air to down smash me and combo me in the air. Normally, I would say he's spamming, but no its actually a pretty good tactic and I say its the best course of action when fighting against a Ness player. The only problem I have is not with the player himself, its the character he's using. Peach is one of the strongest characters (nearly Donkey Kong level) and I got reminded of that when he side-aired me to lose my first stock. God that hurt but I still feel that she shouldn't be that strong.
I eventually won (last stock was (I hate to admit) luck since he couldn't recover from the edge in Clock Town) and we both picked the same characters for our next match. After a while of dealing with him trying to downward smash me again, I decided to punish him by using PK flash. Damn thing KO's at 60 percent. No wonder its so slow. Later on I eventually lost two stocks (one from staying in the air for too long (up-smash) and the other one because my headphones came loose and I tried to fix them during the match. Results are predictable).
The last stock we had consisted of us both trying to use zoning tactics. Him trying to use Peach's turnips while I'm using my "pinpoint" PK Thunder attack (using shield during PK Thunder to cancel it out and keep it moving in the exact direction you set it on. Try it! It works!). Eventually, he reigned supreme and side aired me to death once again.
Eager for my next match I was staring at my screen to pick the next character. But instead I see it continuing to load for two minutes (this means its going to disconnect the room) and I get thrown back into the main menu. Sigh. There goes one of the few good players I fought in the game. They really need to fix online mode.
Overall:
Ness is a good character for combo potential and his surprisingly deep range of KO moves. His PK Flash is also a nice edgeguard tactic and while his recovery isn't the best to use it does get the job done. This is why he's my main in Flash. However, against a player that knows how to use characters with zoning techniques, you'd have to be pretty careful to win with him. Along with those GODDAMN ICHIGO SPAMMERS.
Next I'm going to be having a look at Link.
