SDR Character Preview #7: Bowser

The heaviest of heavyweights and the (ever temporary) king of Mushroom Kingdom, Bowser returns with an old look but a new car smell. He'll drive like one, that's for sure.

So what's different about SD Remix Bowser? Better air mobility, much better jump start-up, stronger attacks, bigger throw range, and a stronger recovery are just some of the main improvements. That's it? Pretty much. For opponents and Bowser players alike, Bowser will feel familiar to Ganondorf, but with his own little twist to the power character archetype.

This looks unpleasant.

Bowser's Up Smash attack is now very disjointed and can effectively poke through platforms. The move damages shields and packs a lot of power behind it should it hit. Floaty characters beware!

Oh? What's this then?!

As Bowser plops back to the ground from his Up Smash, these two hitboxes on his legs will launch opponents into the air for a potential combo or worse. It will only land on grounded opponents so the opportunity that it occurs is quite rare. Knowing is half the battle though, right?

I'm not even sure what's going on, myself.

SD Remix Bowser has a new Down Aerial. It is a Meteor Smash that sends his foes to the dark, fiery depths of Hazy Maze Cave. Regardless, it hurts and you don't want to be anywhere near it!

We've replaced a falling anvil with Bowser to see if there is a discernible effect on Yoshi's reaction. Negative. But you, the player, certainly want to know how the move works, so here's an image of the hitboxes.

This is how the dinosaurs became extinct, supposedly.

Special Moves

<Standard Special Move: Fire Breath>

 

Bowser's Fire Breath has a 'Flame Cancel' where you can negate the initial start-up animation if you fall onto the ground during the start of Fire Breath, which is nothing new to Melee veterans. However...

Another surprise? How dirty.

Bowser's Fire Breath now has an ending 'bite' hitbox that launches opponents upward. Luckily you can crouch cancel it in most cases, but Fire Breath's cooldown frames are low now, so watch out.

<Side Special Move: Koopa Klaw>

Here's the Koopa Klaw Side Special move. The range on the move is quite formidable, but you don't have to worry about being caught unless you're within the range of the purple hitbox spheres.

Should you find yourself in such a situation, I recommend preemptively DI-ing away from Bowser. This way the forward throw won't combo into this:

This is Bowser's Up Aerial. It KO's very reliably.

DI-ing away means Bowser cannot reliably combo from his forward Koopa Klaw throw and should the Bowser back throw, you won't lose a stock on terrible DI either.

Be careful everyone, or you too may end up in Bowser's grimy hands!

<Down Special Move: Bowser Bomb>

This does something dumb, doesn't it?

 Maybe, maybe not. The final hit has more KO potential, but the real secret sauce is the ground version of Bowser Bomb. Bowser Bomb's ground start-up has an initial hitbox as Bowser rises that pulls the opponent into the falling hit. Pretty interesting, no?