Super Smash Bros.: Melee

aka: Dairantou Smash Brothers DX, SSB:M, Smash
Moby ID: 5575
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Description official descriptions

The sequel to HAL Laboratory's Super Smash Bros., which pitted Nintendo characters against each other, ups the ante by including more levels, more characters, and more game modes.

The game is a Nintendo fighting game with different rules to it. Instead of knocking your opponent's health down, you knock him or her out of the battle field. You choose from the wealth of Nintendo characters like Mario, Bowser, Yoshi, different Pokémon, and even Link and then either fight through the single-player portion, featuring modes like Classic, Adventure, and Event Mode or battle it out with your friends in a four-player frenzy. More characters and stages are unlocked as hidden objectives are met, and coins rewarded for playing in all modes can be spent on a capsule toy machine. The toys in the machine represent games from Nintendo's entire video game history, and each can be viewed in 3D with a brief description. Also, with the simplified fighting controls, it's pretty easy for even your non-gaming friends to just pick-up and play.

Playable characters come from the following games:

Spellings

  • 大乱闘スマッシュブラザーズDX - Japanese spelling
  • 대난투 스매시 브라더스 DX - Korean spelling

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Credits (GameCube version)

293 People (261 developers, 32 thanks) · View all

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 87% (based on 43 ratings)

Players

Average score: 4.2 out of 5 (based on 177 ratings with 14 reviews)

I used to dream about a game like this when I was a kid. Thank you Nintendo for making it come true (again)!

The Good
This game is a zany cross-over of all of your favorite Nintendo characters. Link, Samus, Mario, Kirby... they're all here and ready to play a super-simplistic game that also happens to be a lot of fun. The goal is simple. Hit, wack, throw, pummel, nudge, smash, bounce, launch to try to knock them off the edge. Even if you don't succeed, you might just hurt your opponent causing their damage meter to go up making them fly farther and jump less... between the two effects, the next attack you make has a better chance of knocking your opponent out of the arena!

Now, add the fact that 4 players can play... and the fact that the levels are gorgeous!, even the single player ones (which is greatly improved over the N64 single player modes) and tons of unlockable features and "collecting items"... and you have yourself one fun game!

The Bad
Not very much. If there's one complaint I have with the game it's clone characters. That is the characters that play suspiciously similar to one another... these include Mario & Luigi, Ganondorf & Captain Falcon, Link and Young Link, Pikatchu and Pitchu (although in this case there's enough of a difference to be forgiven instantly).

That and the game is hard to put down! =)

The Bottom Line
Zany cartoon Violence Fun for the whole family... that features lots and lots of Nintendo characters. Almost no skill is required... just pick-up and play! And thank you Nintendo for making my zany cross-over dreams come true!

GameCube · by Shoddyan (15002) · 2004

A great piece of work!

The Good
The "texture" of the characters. And by "texture", I mean graphics. Although there is not much of a storyline, what precious little I did learn from visiting from this site, It seems to me, you have to put a lot of strategy into the fighting in the whole mess.

The Bad
What I did not like was the event matches. I mean they're great but some are a little too difficult to operate.This is like an equation, the input is the conditions and terms, the insides are what is added, and the output is the result of what you did and what is the finished product or result.LT's or like terms are the four biggies in all of math and life itself.

The Bottom Line
There are many a character you can choose from but the character is only as good as you are. You could have a character with great potential inside a match but is wasted due to your skills, (not to be offensive). Then again, a character with poor potential in a match isn't wasted because you are particularly good with that character.

GameCube · by Stephen Barrett (1) · 2005

Crack on a 3-inch DVD

The Good
Above all other things, this is quite possibly the greatest multiplayer game ever conceived. I have a group of friends that meet regularly for sessions, and we are always up until insane hours of the night, and have logged hundreds of hours. Between the huge number of characters and levels, and the sheer chaos of the game, it never grows stale. (Even as we've burned out on other "party" games within a couple days)

The play dynamics, as invented in the original Smash Bros, are still highly unique. Instead of simply playing "last man standing," the point is to knock as many players out of the ring as many times as possible. No one is removed from gameplay at any point for more than a few seconds, and last second comebacks are quite plausible. Furthermore, the game seems to almost equally reward skill and button-mashing - unless you're up against a Grand Master player, even newcomers will be able to hold their own while learning the ropes.

The one-player games are nearly as good. There are a multitude of different adventures, tournaments, and various challenges you can engage in. The "adventure" mode turns into an odd homage to side-scrolling adventures, with your character of choice running through levels inspired by all the games represented, along with certain important battles that come along. And there's always the option of simply playing battles against the computer - whose AI is quite good at the high levels.

The graphics, while not the best the Gamecube has seen, are pretty much as good as this sort of game would allow. Some of the levels are QUITE huge, and all the character animations are spot on. There's never any slowdown no matter how much is happening. Sound is similarly great - around half of the soundtrack is comprised of orchestral arrangements or classic game themes, performed by a full orchestra. And the various sound effects for the characters are spot-on as well. (I take great demented glee in the pathetic "Piikkkkaaaaaaaaaaaaa" when Pikachu sails into the sunset)

The Bad
My one big complaint is how they make you jump through hoops to unlock the hidden characters and levels. I hate that, and some of the trials they put you through are nearly impossible. You will be made to log a lot of hours with the game, some of them very frustrating (cough15 minute battlecough) to open up all the secrets.

Also, the game can be unforgiving to players with smaller TV sets. Some of the battlegrounds are so large that, if the camera pulls back all the way, it's virtually impossible to tell what's going on, or even who is who. (this effect is especially bad on the Hyrule castle level, leading to the occasional called truce as we move back to the center of the field)

The Bottom Line
In terms of entertainment and hours spent relative to cost, this is quite possibly the best game purchase I've ever made. Cannot be recommended strongly enough.

GameCube · by WizardX (116) · 2003

[ View all 14 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
Colon (or, rather, lack thereof) in title Michael Cassidy (21326) Dec 13, 2015

Trivia

1001 Video Games

Super Smash Bros. Melee appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Fire Emblem

Prior to this game's release, no game in Nintendo's Fire Emblem series had ever received an official North American release, which caused some confusion among western gamers who were introduced to Marth and Roy (two Fire Emblem characters) via Super Smash Bros. Melee. Initially they were going to be exclusive to the Japanese version of the game. However, when the developers were working on the North American version, they received favorable attention, so they were kept in the Western version.

Mr. Game and Watch

Even though the secret character Mr. Game and Watch is stylized as a 2D character, he is actually a 3D model of his 2D form. The Mr. Game and Watch model is flattened and his shading is different. This can be especially noticed when he's thrown or picking up an item box.

Ness

The character Ness was going to be replaced by Lucas, the main protagonist of Mother 3. However, due to the delay of Mother 3, the developers kept Ness.

Ratings

This was Mario's very first appearance in a game with an ESRB rating higher than E (Everyone).

Snake

Apparently, Hideo Kojima, director of the Metal Gear Solid series, "begged" Nintendo to include Solid Snake as playable character in Melee. However, the game was too into development for this to happen, but Snake appears in Brawl.

Soundtrack

  • There exists a re-recorded soundtrack for this game, released solely as a bonus for Nintendo Power readers. It features all of the "arranged" tracks as played in a concert. Unfortunately, the orchestra is poor, and virtually none of the renditions are as good as the ones within the game.
  • The Final Destination's sound track, if you listen closely enough, has some arrangements from the original Smash Bros. theme near the end.

Trophies

A trophy from the Japanese version of the game was removed for the US release: The trophy of Tamagon, a character from the Japanese-only Famicom (NES) title, Devil World was taken out due to the use of the word "Devil" in the game's title. His description read:

Tamagon

This is the main character of a Japanese NES game never released in North America. In this quirky maze game, your goal was to work your way through a series of scrolling mazes while battling the cyclopean henchmen of a large, winged demon. Tamagon not only had to worry about the evil creatures, but also the walls, which were extremely harmful.

Demon World

Japan Only

Some of the trophies have a few oddities when examined up close. The Barrel Cannon trophy reads "2L84ME" on the bottom. The Daisy trophy also has a third eye if you zoom in and rotate until you clip through her hair on the back of her head.

In addition, two trophies were changed for the US release. Topi was changed from a Seal (as he appears in the Japanese version of Ice Climber) to the Yeti-like creature in the Amercian version. The Proximity Mine was also changed from the Perfect Dark version in the Japanese release to the Goldeneye version (which was also used in the original Super Smash Bros.) for the US release with the game title mysteriously labeled "TOP SECRET."

Awards

  • 4Players
    • 2002 – #8 Best GameCube Game of the Year (Readers' Vote)
  • EGM
    • February 2006 (Issue 200) - #92 on the "Greatest Games of Their Time" list
  • GameSpy
    • 2001 – GameCube Fighting Game of the Year

Information also contributed by Big John WV, Bob the Stickman, colm52, Mark Ennis, Nelson340, Tiago Jaques and WizardX

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by JPaterson.

Additional contributors: Terok Nor, Warlock, BigJKO, Guy Chapman, Exodia85, FloodSpectre, LordRM, Patrick Bregger, Rik Hideto, FatherJack.

Game added January 11, 2002. Last modified March 27, 2024.