[Music] what's the difference between Mario and dr. Mario both of these characters in Smash Brothers ultimate seem very similar on the surface but today I want to explore what makes them tick and why dr. Mario isn't considered an Ecco fighter I'll be focusing mainly on gameplay differences without getting too far into tedious technicalities so first up is running speed Mario is unsurprisingly faster than dr. Mario it isn't a huge difference but it is noticeable Mario also has a higher jump than dr. Mario both of them have the ability to wall gel now let's get into some of their basic attacks and tilts their neutral attacks are pretty much the same although dr. Mario's does a little more damage the same applies to their forward tilt down tilt and up till although dr. Mario's up tilt does have a little more knock back there - attacks are very similar on the surface but they do behave a little differently Mario's launches the opponent backward while dr. Mario launches the opponent straight upward time to cover their smash attacks their forward smash attacks have a couple different properties while being the same style of attack Mario's sweet spot is right inside the bursts of fire the attack will be a bit weaker if the opponent is right up against you dr. Mario's attack is stronger in general but it'll actually be more powerful if the opponent is closer to you their down smash is also the same type of attack with one small difference both characters will do more damage if the attack hits on the back swing of the move but in dr. Mario's case it'll also give a noticeable increase in launch power much like the past two smash attacks there up smash is also very similar with one significant difference Mario's will launch the opponent almost directly upward however dr. Mario's launches the opponent in the direction of whichever side the attack hit them on so if the opponent is hit from left side it'll launch them to the left okay now let's cover their air attacks their neutral air seems to be pretty much identical I couldn't find any significant difference their forward airs appear the same but they operate a little differently Barrios can act as a meteor smash if it's timed properly dr. Mario's doesn't have that function but instead has powerful knock-back it has a sweet spot similar to Mario's but instead of being a meteor just increases the power and knock-back of the attack there isn't much to say about their back airs aside from dr. Mario's being a bit more powerful they're down airs are completely different attacks Mario's is a multi-hit attack based on his old down special that he last had in melee dr. Mario thrusts his legs downward which can act as a meteor smash if timed properly this was a new attack given to dr. Mario and ultimate finally there's the up air the attacks appear similar but behave a bit different Mario's is a lot easier to combo and is also useful for setups due to its much weaker knock-back dr. Mario's launches the opponent too far backward to reliably follow up with anything especially at higher percents let's move on to their special attacks now their neutral specials only have a few minor differences the first obvious one is that Mario shoots fireballs while dr. Mario shoots pills the pills have a little more knock-back but it's nothing meaningful the pills also have a slightly higher bounce than the fireballs the distance they both go seems to be about the same regardless of whether you're standing or jumping when it comes to their forward specials there are again only small differences they do have different animations which is a nice touch but they both still act as reflectors and will flip the opponent around if there's direct contact the main difference I could find is that if using this move midair Mario's Cape will briefly pause his fall dr. Mario doesn't share this trait at all and will instead continue to fall at normal speed they're down specials are completely different attacks Mario uses flood which after being charged can be used the opponent back with a long blast of water it's mostly meant as a tool for edge guarding dr. Barrios is dr. tornado which is the same down special he has had since melee it's a multi-hit attack that has fairly powerful knock back if you mash the B button you'll rise into the air which also makes it useful for recovering finishing off is their up special the attacks are very similar in style but do have some different properties first Mario's is a multi-hit attack and is fairly weak overall dr. Mario's is only one hit but is far more powerful specifically when connecting right at the start of the attack another difference is that Mario goes a bit higher with this move than Doc when it comes to grabs and throws there isn't too much to say almost all of the options here are about the same with very small differences in strength the only big difference that I could find is dr. Mario's back throw has noticeably stronger launching power than Mario's they're both useful kill throws but the doc definitely comes out on top here as for their final smashes the only big difference is in the visual appearance Mario's is a giant fire attack and dr. Mario's is a big double he'll thing yeah nothing impressive here they're still pretty much the same I previously covered young link and tuned Lee and I think they had a few more differences overall Mario and dr. Mario do have some unique traits here and there but it usually just comes down to dr. Mario being a bit more powerful obviously there would be more differences if I got into the nitty-gritty like hit boxes or frame data but I wanted to stick to the basics to keep it short and sweet so what do you all think do you wish they were more different or do you like Doc just the way he is and if you could how would you change their final smash attacks I feel like they could be way more interesting than they are let me know down below and like always thank you all so much for watching I hope you have a fantastic day and I'll see you again soon catch you later you