Goku (Super Smash Flash 2)

This article is about Goku's appearance in Super Smash Flash 2. For the character in other contexts, see Son Goku.

Goku is a playable newcomer starter character in Super Smash Flash 2. He first appeared in a trailer, transforming into Super Saiyan 3 form and releasing a True Kamehameha at his opponents. Despite the anticipated confirmation, he was not playable until Super Smash Flash 2 Demo v0.7.

Goku is currently ranked 1st on the current tier list; a noticeable jump from his 6th-place position last tier list and the position he held on the tier list for last demo. Goku has a solid aerial game, amazing combo ability, a good recovery and kill moves in his forward smash, side tilt, back aerial, back throw when used near the ledge and the Kamehameha. Goku has the ability to float which gives him a good horizontal recovery and the ability to auto float-cancel which aids in his aerial game on stage. Goku's down special Kaiō-ken, when activated, increases his speed, power and the hitstun of his attacks. His time in Kaiō-ken will extend if he continues to hit his opponent. Due to this Goku can combo and zero-to-death the entire roster. Goku can use Kaiō-ken to slow his descent in the air and can use the Kamehameha to help him with horizontal recovery if he can no longer float, thus giving him one of the best horizontal recovery options in the game.

However, Goku has problems with range in most his attacks leaving him vulnerable to characters with disjointed hitboxes (ex. Meta Knight and Sora). Goku is tall which combined with his above average weight and being a high faller, makes him susceptible to combos and chain grabs. While Kaiō-ken has its benefits; it also has its flaws in that it damages Goku every half of second that its activated and the time will be extended as long as he hits his opponent or his opponent hits him, which makes using Kaiō-ken very risky and situational, and also makes Goku loss some of the priority on his attacks. Goku's projectiles are weak, can be out-prioritized, reflected and can be avoided by characters who are small in size. Goku's main means of vertical recovery, Instant Transmission, can be easily edgehogged due to it not having an hitbox at the end of the move.

Goku appears to have a small player base and has lackluster representation in online tournaments, but he rose due to players' likes of Proto and good amount of mus he has.

Attributes

See also: Goku (Super Smash Flash 2)/Hard data

Goku is a character that focuses on speed and power. Goku has the ability to auto float-cancel which aids in his air game with his aerials having good priority which gives him an effective air game. His down air has a lot of priority which allows him to deal with projectiles. He has a projectile in Ki blasts which he can use to zone his opponents or hinder their approach. He has KO moves in his forward smash, side tilt, forward and back throws (when used near the ledge) and back air.

Goku has different recovery options with having the ability to float which covers a good horizontal distance, Instant transmission covers decent vertical distance while making him intangible for a second, he can use Kamehameha for horizontal recovery when fully charged and can use the start up of Kaiō-ken to slow his falling speed.

Goku has a good grab game, possessing the seventeenth longest grab in the current demo, with his up throw being a chain grab on fast fallers while being a combo starter on other characters. His down throw can chain throw characters at low percentages. His back and forward throw can be used as KO moves when used near the ledge. His down special move, Kaiō-ken, when activated increases the speed and power of his attacks. His forward air no longer needs to be sweet spotted to semi-spike and his down air becomes a meteor smash, with both having high base knockback making it is to KO opponents. His smash attack no longer need to be charged.

However, Goku suffers from subpar range in most of his attacks which leaves him vulnerable to characters with disjointed hitboxes (ex. Ichigo and Lloyd). His projectiles are weak and can be canceled out very easily by other attacks. This gives him more trouble playing a neutral with characters who can shut his options down.

Due to Goku's height, above average weight and being a high faller; makes him susceptible to combos, chain grabs and zero-to-death combos.

Kaiō-ken is a very situational move due to it damaging Goku every half of second it is activated, the move stays activated every time the opponent hits him which makes him more susceptible to zero-to-deaths while using the move.

His main means of vertical recovery, Instant Transmission, can be easily edge hogged due to it not having a hitbox at the end of the move.

Moveset

Ground attacks

Attack	Description	Damage	Knockback	Priority	Total frames	Active frames
Neutral attack	Does an energy pulse with a hand, then punches with the other hand.	3%	0, 100, 30°	2	8	3-5
Neutral attack		3%	50, 110, 35°	2	8	5-6
Forward tilt	Kicks out in front of him. Good reach and power.	13%	30, 100, 30°	3	13	5-7
Up tilt	Punches diagonally upwards out in front of him.	6%	33, 130, 80°	4	10	4-6
Down tilt	Punches while crouching.	7%	28, 130, 30°	2	11	3-5
Dash attack	Does an elbow strike. The move is stronger when the player is closer to the opponent.	10%	70, 65, 50°	3	14	5
Dash attack		8%	50, 65, 70°	3	14	6-8
Forward smash	Launches a powerful punch straight forwards.	15%	25, 93, 31°	6	18	8-11
Up smash	Quickly flings up his fist while jumping.	13%	32, 95, 70°	5	20	5-8
Down smash	Uses "Kiai" (気合い). Goku thrusts his hands out from either side, emitting a force that deals severe damage.	10%	19, 93, 25°	-1	19	7-8
Down smash		8%	19, 93, 25°	-1	19	9-10

Aerial attacks

Attack	Description	Damage	Knockback	Priority	Total frames	Active frames
Neutral aerial	Does a spin kick.	11%	20, 100, 50°	3	9	4-6
Forward aerial	Hammer fist. Strong semi-spike when sweet spotted.	11%	20, 100, 65°	4	15	7
Forward aerial	Hammer fist. Strong semi-spike when sweet spotted.	11%	20, 100, 310°	4	15	8
Back aerial	Does a spinning back kick.	12%	12, 100, 35°	3	14	6-7
Back aerial	Does a spinning back kick.	12%	12, 100, 30°	3	14	8-9
Up aerial	Does a flip kick. Good juggler, and Goku's fastest aerial.	10%	15, 110, 85°	3	13	4
		10%	15, 110, 120°			5-6
		10%	15, 110, 140°			7-8
Down aerial	This is a Stall-Then-Fall. Goku shoots diagonally downwards hands first. Anyone who touches him will be sent diagonally up. The second hit is weaker than the first. Has a lot of priority and can cancel out certain projectiles. When hit by the Ki part of the attack, the opponent will be sent upwards with strong knockback.	8%	60, 100, 50°	5	18	6-17
		10%	90, 80, 75°		18	6-12
		3%	60, 100, 45°		10	1-2

Grabs and Throws

Attack	Name	Description	Damage	Knockback	Priority	Total frames	Active frames
Grab	N/A	Reaches with his hand out to grab. The tenth shortest grab in the game.	N/A	N/A	N/A	14	4
Pummel	N/A	Jabs opponent.	1%	N/A	N/A	7	4
Forward throw	N/A	Slams energy into the opponent forward with both hands.	12%	70, 65, 30°	0	15	11
Back throw	Dragon Throw	Spins the opponent around several times quickly before throwing the opponent backwards. Very fast and powerful throw.	14%	60, 65, 30°	1	22	22
Up throw	N/A	Punches the opponent upwards. Very similar to his Up Smash in appearance.	9%	90, 50, 90°	0	8	5
Down throw	Taiyō-ken	Conjures a flash of light that traps opponents with strong hitstun, can chain throw.	5%	60, 25, 15°	0	19	11

Other attacks

Attack	Description	Damage	Knockback	Priority	Total frames	Active frames
Floor attack	Jumps up off the ground feet first.	10%	0, 110, 30°, 100	3	23	12-14
Ledge attack	Does a hammer fist.	10%	0, 110, 30°, 100	3	21	11-14
100% ledge attack	Does a hammer fist.	10%	0, 110, 30°, 100	3	21	11-14

Special moves

Attack	Name	Description	Damage	Knockback	Priority	Total frames	Active frames
Standard special	Kamehameha	Concentrates his Ki into a single point between his hands and then thrusts forward to shoot out a powerful streaming beam of ki. It takes 128 frames for the Kamehameha to be fully charged.	0%	N/A	N/A	41	27
			0%			65	45
			0%			103	79
			0%			163	131
			12%	50, 95, 25°	-1	14	3-7
			12%	70, 95, 25°		16	3-8
			15%	75, 95, 25°		25	1-13
			17%	90, 95, 25°		26	3-19
Side special	Ki Blasts	Fires a mid-range energy blast and quickly follows up with a second one. When this move is used in midair, the Ki Blasts are sent diagonally downward at an angle.	0%	N/A	N/A	19	7, 14
			0%			7	4
			0%			6	3
			2%	15, 100, 35°	1	20	1-20
			1%	15, 100, 37°	1	20	1-20
Up special	Instant Transmission	Performs a flip kick, before teleporting in one of eight directions, as chosen by the player.	12%	50, 100, 110°	-1	20	5-6
			8%		-1	20	7-9
			12%		2	18	5-6
			8%		2	18	7-9
Down special	Kaiō-ken	When successfully landed, Goku will tint himself with a crimson tone and it will power up his current moveset, making him stronger, faster and more deadly than the regular Goku. However, he will also rapidly take damage over time, and must continuously deal damage or else he will change back.	3%	0, 100, -3°, 50	-1	20	7-14
Final Smash	Super Saiyan Goku	Goku transforms into a Super Saiyan, which enhances his current moveset, even greater than Kaiō-ken.	18%

Taunts

Standard: Happily raises up two fingers to show the sign of peace and laughs.
Side: Thrusts his head forward, yelling loudly, commonly referred to as the Big Head Yell in the anime and manga series.
Down: Powers up, similar to the Kaiō-ken.

On-screen appearance

Jumps off the Kintoun (筋斗雲, "Plot Box Cloud", FUNimation Dub: "Flying Nimbus") and lands on the stage.

Idle poses

Streches his legs twice.

Victory fanfare

A short excerpt from the first intro of the theme Cha-La-Head-Cha-La from the anime Dragon Ball Z, the same tune is used for the eyecatch as well.

Victory poses

Jumps up happily and nearly falls, but is saved by his Kintoun, where he laughs happily.

Changes from v0.9a

Even though Goku was considered a top tier character last demo, Goku received a lot of buffs and a few nerfs. Due to the lower hitstun of the demo, Goku is less susceptible to chain grabs while still being able to combo like last demo.

Aesthetics

Recolored sprites.
- Has a new crouch and down tilt animations.
Updated special effects for attacks and special moves.

Ground attacks

Up Smash appears to have a little more vertical range.

Aerial attacks

It is easier to land the sweet spot of forward aerial.
Down aerial's blast effect now has a hitbox, which deals strong vertical damage.
- Full hit of down aerial appears to do more knockback.

Grabs and throws

Grab range was increased.
Up throw is stronger.
- This makes it harder to chain grab with along with the decreased hitstun of the demo.

Special moves

Instant Transmission now does a strong kick instead of grabbing the opponent. This makes it useful to be used at the end of up air strings.
Kamehameha is significantly stronger uncharged and does 4% more damage.
- Before releasing the move, Goku can turn around and attack from the other side which has given new options for mind games.
- Kamehameha received new visual effects.
Kaiō-ken Attack no longer puts Goku into a helpless state.

In competitive play

Match Ups

Notable Players

Active

Inactive

Tier placement history

When Goku was first introduced in demo v0.7; he was seen as a top tier character like Peach and Tails. On the lists for demo v0.7; Goku was 3rd of A tier on the first list and ranked 2nd of A tier on the second list.

In demo v0.8b; Goku's position dropped to 12th at the bottom of C tier where he was seen as a mid tier character.

In demo v0.9a; Goku rose to 6th of what can be considered A tier, where he is now seen as a top tier character again.

In demo v0.9b, Goku dropped to 16th of A tier where he was still seen as a high tier character. For the second tier list of v0.9b, changes in the metagame has led to Goku rising to 12th place of A tier where he is still seen as a high tier character. Further changes in the metagame has caused Goku to rise to the 6th place on the final tier list of v0.9b, where he is seen as a top tier character.