Bowser

Bowser (クッパ, Koopa) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. All Stars. His return to the series was confirmed on August 23rd, 2018 during E8 2018, during which he was one of the main subjects of the Developer Direct for SSB All Stars, as well as the last veteran confirmed during the event. Bowser retains his voice clips from Super Smash Bros. Brawl, although they have been heavily altered.

Bowser is currently ranked 25th out of 58 on the tier list, placing him in the C tier. This makes him the second highest ranking mid-tier character, the highest ranking super heavyweight, and is a vast improvement from his placement in Brawl, where he was ranked 33rd out of 38. Incidentally, it is also the first time in the series that he has not been ranked as a bottom-tier character. Many of Bowser's previous problems have been fixed: he is much more mobile, has much greater range, and has noticeably improved combo and grab games. Aside from his new benefits, he retains his excellent endurance, overall high damage output, and very strong KOing options.

However, Bowser remains virtually defenseless outside of out of shield Whirling Fortress, and is still very susceptible to combos due to his large size, heavy weight, and lack of combo breakers. This is exacerbated by his lack of good landing options, as well as his rolls and sidesteps being short-distanced and having minimal intangibility frames. Lastly, his recovery is still below average despite its improvements.

Overall, Bowser's drastic improvements have resulted in him achieving a respectable degree of success ever since SSB4 's release. While his perception in the metagame has fluctuated over SSB4 's lifespan, he is a viable character as of update 1.1.3, and this has been reflected with his playerbase's success. Greward has won a few regional and national tournaments, while LordMix and Nairo have been able to win difficult matchups against high-level players of top-tier characters; LordMix has defeated Vinnie's Rosalina & Luma and VoiD's Sheik, while Nairo has defeated Tweek's Cloud, Zinoto's Diddy Kong, and Mr.E's Marth.