Project V/Little Mac



Little Mac (Punch-Out!!) ''"Let 'em have it, Mac!" - Doc Louis''

Little Mac is one of the fifteen selectable fighters in Project V, representing the Punch-Out!! franchise. He had been selected due to his infamous gameplay style in Super Smash Bros. and his poor outlook by its competitive community, and his vast potential for a "top tier" character. Much like in his origin series, Little Mac attacks simply with his fists and doesn't use any other attacks, being an overall fair fighter in that sense. Little Mac possesses high power on the ground and almost as much in the air, and is good with trapping and approaching his opponents. Because of his quick, nimble play, and lack of end lag on various attacks, he can easily jab and lock his opponents in his own punching combos. With improvements to his overall gameplay, he stands rather favorably in the competitive scene so far.

While the game is currently unreleased and as such the competitive status of most fighters is unknown, Little Mac ranks at 4th on the predicted tier list, mostly due to his fantastic power on the ground and some great punch demonstrated in the air, and his ability to space out and beat down on his foes. In addition, he boasts fantastic speed and is unrivaled in ground statistics. Little Mac lacks a projectile, however, making it difficult for him to pressure opponents from afar or threaten shield abusers, and his recovery is far from the greatest, meaning that he should stay on the stage or directly above it for the most part. While he can pummel Ike and Bonkers with fast, brutal attacks, he can easily be gimped by Ganondorf or be harshly punished by bottom tier Shadow Queen.

Attributes
Little Mac is a lightweight with extreme power in his attacks, with even his jab being able to do lots of damage due to its multi-hit status and its fairly long range in comparison to his other attacks. Mac does not suffer from severe lag when it comes to start up or lasting impacts on his attacks, so he has a strong advantage that most other powerful characters have. Little Mac always attacks with his fists, which don't have much range thanks to his smaller size, but are still strong and can beat the tar out of any opponent. He has a slow walking speed, great dashing speed, average falling speed, decent air speed, and moderate jumps. With this sort of mobility, Mac is very great on the ground, which is aided with his strong smash attacks and his good tilts, and his ability to lead his opponents into combos. In Project V, with adjustments to his aerial abilities, he can drive his opponents away from him rather successfully.

Despite being positioned at #4 on the predicted tier list, Little Mac has several flaws. Because he lacks a projectile, he cannot push opponents away from him when he needs space or put much pressure on shields, which makes him fairly easy to grab. Some of his most reliable moves, like his K.O. Uppercut and Straight Lunge, have high end lag that makes them very situationable. In particular, Greedy and Marie can punish his high ending lag on those attacks. Little Mac is very viable, however, able to hard counter James Hetfield and soft counter multiple characters with his high-power attacks, able to hit big targets like Ridley and King K. Rool rather well. He is considered much better here than his counterpart in Super Smash Bros., with much improved aerial mobility and significantly better recovery.

Moveset
Little Mac's moveset is pretty much identical to what it was in Super Smash Bros., although power output has changed on several attacks, which is more prominent in his aerial attacks (which are much stronger) than his ground attacks (which are subtly weakened). Little Mac attacks with uppercuts, jabs, punches, hooks, and more.
 * Neutral Special: Straight Lunge.  Little Mac will charge up his fist and then go straight forward.  If fully charged, it will lag fairly hard.  It charges faster than it does in the Super Smash Bros. series, making it more viable in competitive play.  Shall the special meter boost this move's power, it will instead become his infamous K.O. Uppercut -- Little Mac swings his fist upwards with a great burst of power. If he hits an opponent, he will vertically knock them off stage.
 * Forward Special: Jolt Haymaker.  If this move is used, Little Mac will drive forward and jump, doing a big punch in front of himself. Compared to Smash, Little Mac can cancel out this attack.  Its momentum in the air is dependent on his speed in the air, which makes it more reliable for horizontal recovery than before.  If canceled, it will not leave him helpless.  Should this attack be charged, it will go a longer distance and attack twice if not canceled.
 * Recovery Special: Rising Uppercut.  This is the most with the most changed.  This attack will sweetspot ledges immediately when it comes in contact with one, and it goes up a longer distance.  While its distance isn't much changed, it is easier to recover with.  If Rising Uppercut is charged, it will go 1.6x higher than before, granting Little Mac a good recovery and allowing him to survive.  Attacks done with Rising Uppercut result in multiple hits, which are difficult to avoid.
 * Crouch Special: Slip Counter. Little Mac will block his face with his gloves and then strike if damaged directly, slipping forward. He is invincible during the attack and the move is hard to interrupt.  The attack deals 1.3x the amount of damage that was going to be inflected onto him.  If Slip Counter is charged, Little Mac will jab his fist into his opponent's face, launching them far and wide and giving him room to breathe.

In competitive play
Due to time constraints, this is incomplete.