Smash Bros Game Terms
Aerial - any attack that can be performed in the air; usually applied to normal attacks
Air Dodge - a dodge that occurs in the air; makes one invulnerable to attacks for a small amount of time
Approach - the start of an attack where one closes in on the opponent
Attack - any action that causes damage to an opponent
Bair - pronounced like "bear"; short for "back air" or "back aerial attack"
Blast Line - the boundary where if a character goes beyond that, he/she is KO'd
Combo - a sequence of attacks that cannot be escaped from
Dair - pronounced like "dare", it's short for "down air", or "down aerial attack"
Damage Meter - unlike in other fighting games, Smash Bros. uses a percentage; it indicates how easy it is for you to fly off the stage
Dashing - by moving the control stick all the way in a direction, the character will run faster in that direction
Directional Influence - also known as DI, it allows the player to influence the direction they are sent in after being hit; the influence has to be perpendicular to the direction the player is being sent (ex. DI'ing up when sent left)
Disjointed Hitbox - when the hitbox of a melee attack is not connected to the character. For example, Marth's sword is his hitbox, but hitting the sword will not damage Marth; conversely, Mario's fists are his hitbox, which when hit, damages Mario; Disjointed hitboxes allow for safer approaches
Dodge - a maneuver executed by pressing shield in the air, or pressing shield and left, right or down; it makes a character invulnerable to attacks for a short while
Dodge Roll - a type of Dodge where a character dodges an attack by moving forwards or backwards
Double Jump - jumping again after jumping once. Usually done to ascend
Down Smash - a Smash Attack executed by pressing down and holding the attack button
Down Tilt - a Tilt Attack executed by pressing down and tapping the attack button
Edgeguarding - using different attacks to prevent the opponent from reaching the ledge and recovering
Edgehogging - jumping down and grabbing the ledge of the stage so that an opponent cannot grab it. This mechanic was in older Smash games, but is removed from 3DS/WiiU, replaced with Edgetrumping.
Edgetrumping - Grabbing the ledge when your opponent is occupying it causes them to let go. This causes them to hop a short way up, allowing you to grab the ledge in their place.
Fair - pronounced exactly like it sounds; is short for "Forward Air" or "Forward Aerial Attack"
Fast fall- A technique that increases the speed at which a character falls. activated by pressing down while falling.
Final Smash - a character's ultimate move, which varies depending on character selection; usually racks up tons of damage or is an OHKO (one-hit knockout)
Floaty - a term used to describe a character who is lightweight. Most tend to jump higher, but at the cost of being easy to knockout
Frame - a still picture of animation, which when played in succession, creates animated pictures; Used in fighting games to determine how fast a move occurs, or how much lag is associated with a move
Gimp - a kill that occurs at a very, very low percentage, usually via an edgeguard (like using Meteor Smashes off the stage)
Heavyweight - a character that is heavier than normal. These characters are slower, but tend to have more power and are harder to get into the air
Helpless - a state where a character cannot do anything but fall; usually occurs after usage of a special move, especially an up special move
Hitbox - invisible boxes that determine whether or not a move hits an opponent
Horizontal Recovery - recovery that travels left or right, usually to get back to the stage from the top-left or top-right areas; less effective from underneath the stage
Invincibility Frame - frames where a character cannot get hurt by any sort of attack; mostly seen in dodge rolls, sidesteps and air dodges
Jump - the act of ascending. Should be very, very obvious.
KO - stands for Knockout; also known as a kill, and occurs whenever a character goes outside the blast lines
Lag - a delay of time, associated with attacks; there is start-up lag, which delays the amount of time BEFORE an attack, and ending lag, which delays the amount of time AFTER an attack and before one can do a different action
Ledge - The edge of a stage that a character can hang onto
Ledge Recovery - when a character hanging on the ledge gets onto the stage; one can roll onto the stage, flip up and attack, roll a set distance, drop down or launch one's self into the air; all provide some invincibility frames, except for dropping down
Meteor Smash - any attack that sends the opponent downwards; similar to a spike, but can be recovered from, albeit it's difficult to do
Nair - a short way of saying "neutral air" or "neutral aerial attack"
Newcomer - any character that has not appeared in the previous Smash Bros. games
OHKO - stands for One Hit Knockout; due to varying size of stages, the generally accepted technical definition of an OHKO attack is one that kills at 0% from the center of Final Destination.
Perfect Shield - when a shield is activated just as an attack lands; the attacker suffers some lag, giving a chance for counterattack, or punishment
Priority - when moves clash, this is what decides which move wins out in the end
Prat Falling - in Brawl, when dashing, a character had a small chance of tripping; random prat falling is not implemented in this title, but it is not known whether it is possible through other means (items, special moves)
Projectile - any attack that doesn't involve a physical move
Punishment - when you dodge an opponent's attack and counterattack
Recovery - anything you do that gets you back onto the stage after being hit off of it; usually involves your double jump and up special being used
Recovery Move - usually referring to your up special, but can also mean any move that allows you to get back onto the stage
Revival Platform - when a character dies and comes back on stage, they arrive on this platform; it disappears after a short time, or once the player gets off of it
Self-Destruct - when a character is KO'd without getting hit by an opponent
Side Smash - a Smash Attack that is executed by pressing a side + Attack, and holding Attack
Sidestep - a dodge maneuver similar to a roll, but which lets a player remain in place while dodging attacks.
Side Tilt - a Tilt Attack that is executed by pressing a side and Attack; only tapping the attack button will work - it cannot be charged
Shield - also known as Guard, it is used to block attacks. It cannot, however, block throws
Short Hop - a jump that only reaches half the distance of a normal jump by lightly tapping the jump button
Smash Attack - an Attack that usually is used to deal strong knockback/damage, usually in hopes of KO'ing characters
Special - a Special Move, that corresponds to one's character; each character has four different special moves, which accomplish a variety of purposes
Spike - any Attack that knocks the opponent downwards; somewhat like Meteor Smashes, though they usually knock foes at an angle
Start-up - the lag at the beginning of the attack before the attack actually hits
Stock - the mode where you play with a set amount of lives
Tech- when knocked into the air by an opponent, pressing the shield button right before hitting the ground allows the character to get up faster. Players can also tech the walls and ceiling preventing them from bouncing of of the surface.
Tether - a type of grab where the character uses some kind of ranged grab (like Link's Hookshot or Samus' Grapple Beam)
Tether Recovery - is a type of Recovery Move that has a character latching onto a ledge with a tether
Tilt Attacks - similar to Smash Attacks in execution, but done by just tapping the Attack button; fast, but cannot be charged
Up Smash- a Smash Attack executed by holding Up and holding the Attack button down, to charge it
Up Tilt - a Tilt Attack executed by holding Up and tapping the Attack button
Vertical Recovery - recovery that travels up, usually to get back on the stage from the bottom-left or the bottom-right; arguably more important than Horizontal Recovery
Veteran - any character that has appeared at least once before in a Smash Bros. game
Walking - a slow movement option
Wavedash - a movement in which the player slightly jumps in the air and air dodges toward the ground causes a slide moving on the ground; the term mainly applies to a technique in Melee, but it is also used to describe similar forms of movement in other Smash games, such as the Dragonic Reverse
Zoning - using projectiles to constantly attack the opponent, keeping them away
Zair - An aerial attack that utilizes a character's extended grab implement in the air.