Pac-Man (SSF2)

PAC-MAN is a veteran starter character in Super Smash Flash 2. He was initially revealed as a playable character on May 27, 2016, when videos and files from the game were leaked. He was officially confirmed on a special emergency Dev Blog, along with, on May 29, 2016. His sprites are custom-made and, alongside with his moveset, based on his appearance in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, which consists of references from PAC-MAN, PAC-LAND, and other games from the NAMCO franchise.

PAC-MAN is currently ranked 14th in A+ tier on the current tier list, ten times greater than PAC-MAN's previous placement in the previous tier list, 14th of B+ tier (where he was currently residing at mid-low tier), and twenty times greater than his very initial placement in the previous tier list from previous patches of the game, in 24th place. PAC-MAN's biggest strength is his stage-control: he possesses a fantastic set of excellent projectiles in his Bonus Fruit and Fire Hydrant, which are very versatile, can create various intricate set-ups and can also KO at high percents, and they also provide him great spacing and edgeguarding abilities. He has a numerous amount of KO options in his smash attacks, Bonus Fruit (with the Apple or the Key), up throw, forward throw, back throw, all aerials, and as well as his formidable special moves, Power Pellet (when he eats the Power Pellet) and Pac-Jump. PAC-MAN also has a fantastic recovery: both Pac-Jump and Power Pellet travel a long distance, and the latter doesn't leave him helpless. PAC-MAN also possesses a potentially deadly grab and throw game; possessing the 3rd-longest grab in the game after He also possesses a very strong juggling game, as well as for a strong edgeguarding and combo game, like  and. Due to his sufficent air speed, he has an amazing aerial game, along with swift, moderately high-ranged and high-prioritied aerials that provide good spacing and edgeguarding tools, with his down aerial sending a flurry of stomps and the last hit launching the opponents upwards, making it a very frustrating combo-move to punish. His relatively slow falling speed allows him to break out of juggles, and combined with his recovery, he has one of the best vertical and horizontal recoveries in the game. Since forward aerial, back aerial, neutral aerial and Power Pellet have outlarged and disjointed range and he has slow falling speed, this helps in PAC-MAN's great edgeguarding tactic in the wall of pain. His overall mobility is also acceptable, giving him fantastic manueverability.

However, PAC-MAN possesses a rather large hurtbox; and combined with how most of his attacks in his ordinary playstyle extend slightly from his body, he is easily harmed and maneuvered around with attacks. Some of his KO options (like neutral aerial) are unreliable or hard to land, and his special moves can be utilized against him, including hitting the hydrant. His grab is also very punishable if he misses. His mobility is only average at best, and his overall range is rather on the negative side, and because of this, he struggles against fast characters, like, or characters with disjointed hitboxes, like and. His only consistent KO options are his raw smash attacks, Apple, Key, Hydrant, back throw, and neutral aerial. Several of these particular KO options are unreliable; the Apple only works at 130%~, the Key takes up a sizable time to charge, the Hydrant-projectile can be utilized against him, and his neutral aerial has to strike at the initial frames of the attack for it to have any KO potential at all. Following this, all of his special moves can be utilized against him (Fruits can be intercepted mid-flight, and Pac-Jump also may have PAC-MAN to plummet to his death if interrupted). PAC-MAN also has a situational grab, despite being better than Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U; due to quicker execution and more active frames (even beyond the beam at times), as it can be tediously slackier at a distance, and its maximum endlag makes it risky and easily punishable, which also makes his chain-grab situational, while one of the strongest in the game. PAC-MAN also has problematic issues when being counterplayed by opponents who know how he works and his main gimmicks, which makes him rather inconsistent at online tournaments. He also seems to struggle against most of the cast due to them being able to stop a lot of his traps from happening, rendering PAC-MAN as a less efficient character. PAC-MAN loses to a lot of faster characters who can rush him down easily, and characters with disjoints; due to his lack of them, making setups extremely difficult.

PAC-MAN possesses a minimal playerbase; due to how he requires a lot of tech-skill and is overall hard to play as, but he possesses an overall a very effective neutral game.. However, Kyoz has been shown to do very well with PAC-MAN, along with causing a huge upset back in Gax Saga, including taking out Gax himself (widely considered one of the best SSF2 Beta players as of right now, and the best player of PAC-MAN himself). However, Kyoz has been primarily inactive outside of this. The only other notable PAC-MAN player is Playridise, but it has been pretty debated among certain players whether or not he deserves the title of the second-best PAC-MAN player, due to his lack of consistent results as a PAC-MAN player. Although PAC-MAN's weaknesses are apparent enough to not be underestimated, PAC-MAN's strengths are signficantly enough to make him a high-tier character.

Attributes
PAC-MAN is notable for being a projectile-based, speedy, somewhat small-sized and floaty middleweight character whose attributes slightly deviate from the typicality of his weight class; as well as for possessing unique properties in his moveset. PAC-MAN's aerial game is quite fantastic: the 11th-fastest air speed on par with, and , the 12th-highest air acceleration, the lowest air friction, the 9th-lowest gravity on par with  and , the 5th-slowest falling speed on par with  and. His grounded mobility is overall exceptional for a middleweight: he possesses the 5th-fastest walking speeds, sufficient running speeds, good height in his short hop and jumps, and the 5th-lowest traction on par with, and.

Overall, PAC-MAN, in terms of his playstyle, is an unorthodox character focusing on a heavy projectile-based playstyle. PAC-MAN has good power in his moveset. Many of PAC-MAN attacks, including tilt attacks, smash attacks, aerials and special moves, are notable for possessing outlarged range and lingering hitboxes, providing him great spacing and edgeguarding abilities. He possesses a strong juggling game; with up aerial having great vertical range and having the abilities of keeping the opponents in the air, while also being a reliable KO move, up tilt also possessing a large vertical hitbox, and forward aerial, back aerial and neutral aerial having outlarged vertical and horizontal range for juggling capabilities.

PAC-MAN's greatest strength is his stage-control (similar to 's stage-controlling game): he has fantastic projectiles in his Bonus Fruit and Fire Hydrant, which are very versatile, can create various intricate set-ups and can also net an incredibly early KO at high percents, and they also provide him great spacing and edgeguarding abilities. Outside of his special moves, he has a numerous amount of KO options in his smash attacks, Bonus Fruit (with the Apple or the Key), back throw, all aerials, and as well as his formidable special moves, Power Pellet (when he eats the Power Pellet) and Pac-Jump, and they are very versatile themselves for KO potential.

PAC-MAN sports an oppressive grab and throw game; possessing the 3rd-longest set of grabs in the game, despite possessing a heavily laggy grab. His up throw is PAC-MAN's best throw, although it possesses set knockback which disallows it to KO at high precents (unless if utilized at higher surfaces of the stage), which is a potent juggling and combo starter that combos into neutral aerial or up aerial for KO confirms at high precents, while forward throw and back throw are strong edgeguarding setups (while also having slight combo potential at low-to-mid precents, and can combo into forward aerial, neutral aerial and back aerial for KO confirms at high precents). Down throw is similar to up throw in terms of starting juggles and combos, albeit much more versatile and does not possess set knockback. Back throw is PAC-MAN's strongest throw, being able to KO most of the cast at around 100%, while up throw and forward throw are strengthened enough to become viable KO throws at higher precents, killing at around 120%. Overall, PAC-MAN possesses a strong combo game vertically and horizontally.

PAC-MAN's special moves are all very diverse and allow for different approaches and strategies. He has a unique projectile-game with Bonus Fruit, which randomizes through 8 fruits, each with their own properties, and when combined with the Fruit-Catching technique (pressing the attack-button right after throwing the fruit to catch it), it gives PAC-MAN a considerable offensive game. PAC-MAN's Pac-Jump and Fire Hydrant give him many tricks when played with as they both have the ability to move opponents. PAC-MAN also has a potent chain-grab and one of the best ledge-traps in the game - thanks to the fact he can combine Fire Hydrant and Pac-Jump at any point (i.e. the ledge), making his edgeguarding game fantastic. PAC-MAN also has a fantastic out of shield game thanks to his neutral aerial, Pac-Jump, and his free usage of picked Fruits in Z-drops and throws. PAC-MAN also possesses unqiue projectiles in his special moves, while being very unique themselves. His neutral special, Bonus Fruit, provides a several amount of "fruit" projectiles that has various effects upon a single fruit. It functions similar to 's Judge, providing several fragile-to-powerful effects, but the fruit being chosen is not randomized. However, some of the fruit provide strong effects, such as the apple killing at around 120%, the bell freezing the opponent, allowing PAC-MAN followup-potential and punish or even KO with his smash attacks or his other strong moves, and lastly, the key, a strong projectile that will KO all characters reliably below 60%. Lastly, one of his unique moves is his down special, Fire Hydrant, as PAC-MAN drops a hydrant projectile which can be moved if it is attacked, making it act similar to 's Purple Plum, albeit with much less endurance, and it can be utilized as a great edgeguarding tool. In the end, PAC-MAN possesses surprisingly excellent range for a middleweight by his kind.

Overall, PAC-MAN is described as a powerful "bait-and-punish," a melee-oriented character who possesses a great moveset that pressures the opponents and manipulate their behavior, and they have superior speed and power to certainly exploit all characters, and he has high KO potential, and heavily massive damage-output; similarly to, and he doesn't possess vital flaws as well. As a result, PAC-MAN is notrious for being one of the most powerful characters throughout the game, as many players either consider him high-tier or top-tier; with most considering top-tier. His weaknessess are rather obvious, but his strengths are drastically enough to overshadow his flaws, making him a high-tier character.

Moveset

 * PAC-MAN is one of the several fighters can wall jump and crawl.