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Oil Panic is Mr. Game & Watch's Down Special Move. It is a unique move in that it can be held for as long as the player decides. Any energy-based projectiles (such as PK Flash or a Ray Gun shot) will be absorbed.

Overview[]

Whenever Mr. Game & Watch collects energy with the bucket, he will get a small frame of invincibility.

Oil Panic works when energy based projectiles get anywhere near Mr. Game & Watch (when the bucket is out), regardless of the direction he is facing. The bucket can hold up 3 "levels" of energy based projectiles, after which Game & Watch cannot collect anymore (he will be flashing when it is filled), and will need to dump it out. The "levels" of the projectile he collects is dependent on the strength of the energy based projectile; for example, a fully charged PK Flash will instantly fill up the bucket, while something like Mario's Fireballs only fills it up one at a time.

Despite its seemingly weak appearance, Oil Panic can be extremely deadly. It multiplies the power of the collected projectiles by 2.8x. While this may be relatively harmless with projectiles like Mario's Fireball or Fox's Blaster (dealing damage roughly equal to that of a Smash attack), the bucket can be considerably dangerous if it absorbs something with decent power. While something like an Aura Sphere can fill up anywhere from 1-3 "levels", an Aura that fills up most of the bucket and the last part being filled with something weaker can still do considerable damage. If the bucket absorbs something like a fully charged PK Flash however, the bucket is capable of dealing massive damage where it can KO most opponents in one hit or instantly break their shields if not perfect guarded.

The attack is even deadlier because it has almost no start-up lag, long reach, and a disjointed hitbox with a very long duration. Unlike most other chargeable attacks, Oil Panic keeps its "charges" across stocks, in a similar fashion to Wario's Wario Waft. If Mr. Game & Watch is KO'd with two units of Oil, he will still have those two units when he respawns. Oil Panic's maximum damage is 200% in Melee and 60% in Brawl and since Oil Panic's knockback is determined by the damage absorbed, its knockback caps at these percentages as well. Oil Panic cannot absorb non-energy based projectiles however, such as Link's Arrows from Hero's Bow. On Boss Battles and the Subspace Emissary, Oil Panic's maximum damage varies on any difficulties. On higher difficulties, Oil Panic does higher damage up to 60%, unless a sticker for weapon attacks after absorbing enemies' projectiles is being used.

Mr. Game & Watch's Special Moves
Melee Brawl 3DS/Wii U Ultimate
Standard Special Chef
Side Special Judge
Up Special Fire
Down Special Oil Panic
Final Smash Octopus

Custom Variations[]

Efficient Panic[]

Efficient Panic is one of two custom Down Special moves. Mr. Game & Watch can fill the bucket with only one projectile, but the oil's range is very short, and it deals less damage.

Strengths

  • The bucket fills faster.

Weaknesses

  • The move deals drastically less damage.
  • Its range, along with its hitbox, is smaller.
  • It has heavily worse KO power.

The Efficient Panic grants Mr. Game and Watch faster use of the attack since only one energy projectile is required in order to fill up the bucket. However, the move has severely less attack and KO power. The oil spilled out is also much smaller in size, meaning that Mr. Game and Watch will have to be more precise with when and where the move is used.

Panic Overload[]

Panic Overload is one of two custom Down Special moves. It may seem the same as a normal Oil Panic, however its absorption range is tinier and it comes out slower. On the other hand, its range and hitbox are drastically larger, making it better for KOing and edgeguarding.

Strengths

  • Greater range
  • Larger hitbox
  • Better for edge-guarding

Weaknesses

  • Smaller absorption range
  • Slower

Panic Overload requires that Mr. Game and Watch be more precise with how the bucket is filled up as it will not absorb energy projectiles outside of a certain range, smaller than that of the default. However, the oil, when dumped out, is a very large hitbox that covers a much wider area as well as going out farther from Game and Watch than the default. This large hitbox is useful for guarding an edge since it can easily deter recovering opponents.

Mr. Game & Watch's Custom Special Moves
Custom 1 Custom 2
Standard Special XXL Chef Short-Order Chef
Side Special Extreme Judge Chain Judge
Up Special Heavy Trampoline Trampoline Launch
Down Special Efficient Panic Panic Overload

Trophy Description[]

The Game & Watch Multi Screen series is the big, big brother of the Nintendo DS. One classic title was Oil Panic, which puts you in charge of a petrol station that's sprung a leak. As oil drips down on the upper screen, you've got to catch it in buckets on the lower screen or risk an angry customer with a face full of oil!

Origin[]

Oil Panic was a Game & Watch game, taking place at a gasoline station, where one would attempt to catch drops of oil from a leaking pipe in a bucket. The bucket needed only three drops to be full. Once the bucket was full, one would have to pour the oil out the window to be caught by an awaiting assistant (making sure he's actually there, first. If he wasn't, the player would miss, causing the oil to splash over a customer waiting below.) Oil Panic (specifically, its bottom screen) is one of the games that appear in the Flat Zone 2.

Kamikaze Glitch[]

The kamikaze glitch is a glitch exclusive to Melee that causes Mr. Game & Watch to be propelled backwards at an extreme velocity. The glitch requires Mr. Game & Watch and a strong enough energy-based projectile (though the most used one is PK Flash). The projectile user uses their projectile to fill 3 units of oil. Then, Mr. Game & Watch dumps the oil on the projectile user while they are shielding. The resulting effect causes Mr. Game & Watch to be sent far backwards at an extreme speed.

If an opponent is behind Mr. Game & Watch as he gets propelled backwards, they will be sent far upwards, taking as high as 100%+ and always resulting in a one-hit KO.

In future games, this glitch will not work due to Oil Panic now being capped at 60%.

Bucket Braking[]

In Brawl, Oil Panic gained an interesting and greatly useful property. When Mr. Game & Watch uses an empty Oil Panic while in knockback, he will halt all momentum. As such, when used for momentum canceling, Mr. Game & Watch completely negates all momentum upon the first frame of activation. When used in conjunction with DI, Mr. Game & Watch is capable of surviving far beyond other character of his weight class such as Squirtle and even outlasting heavier middleweights such as Mario.

Oil Panic is considered to be the best momentum cancelling special move in the Brawl as it completely negates all momentum upon the first frame of activation as well as having almost no risk of using it since it doesn't move Mr. Game & Watch back towards the stage or make him helpless, like other special moves do that negate momentum. As such, mastering this technique is essential for competitive Mr. Game & Watch players. When used for momentum cancelling, it is often referred to as "Bucket Braking".

Note that Oil Panic will not negate any momentum at all if the bucket is full.

Bucket Sliding[]

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, there was a glitch in which if Mr. Game & Watch dashes forward, and on exactly frame 18, he uses Oil Panic, he will be able to slide around with the bucket out. This was very useful, and coupled with Oil Panic's new ability to reflect solid projectiles, gave him a more than decent approach option, though if he absorbed an energy projectile or was hit during the glitch, it would end.

This glitch was patched in version 2.0.0, though Oil Panic still remains a great move overall.

Oil Panic absorption list[]

Here's a list of all projectile, attack and hazard that Oil Panic can absorb.

Super Smash Bros. Melee[]

All attacks and hazards from Melee that could be absorbed still apply.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl[]

All attacks and hazards from Brawl that could be absorbed still apply unless noted otherwise.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U[]

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate[]

To be added.

Trivia[]

  • Ness, Lucas, and the Mii Gunner have similar special moves that absorb energy-based projectiles, but it is used to heal themselves instead of storing them to use as an attack. These three moves, along with Oil Panic, are the only special moves that absorb projectiles.
  • In both Melee and Brawl, an Oil Panic at the maximum power is the attack with the highest priority as it contains the most damaging hitbox that does not have invincibility frames, such as Counters and Final Smashes.
  • Oil Panic is the only attack in Melee and Brawl to be an OHKO that is not a Final Smash or belong to a character from the Fire Emblem series. Little Mac has an OHKO move in the form of his KO punch in 3DS/Wii U.

External links[]

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