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)

Incomparable

The Good
Super Smash Bros.: Melee sports some of the most astounding graphics ever. After 2.5 years, the crisp and vibrant graphics still leave you in awe. The gameplay is simplistic enough that beginners can have great fun with it, while at the same time the level of depth which you can play with can keeps it fresh for veterans. The variety of characters spanning over the entire Nintendo dynasty also makes for very fun and wacky matches (there's nothing like seeing Donkey Kong smashing Samus Aran off of a floating tree-island from Kirby's Dreamland). The replay value of this game is tremendous with its incomparably addictive four-player smash-fest.

The Bad
While there are plenty of well-designed stages that are perfect for 1-on-1 matches which can, theoretically, be played with 4 players, the only flawless level for 4 player mode is the Hyrule level. More larger levels would have been nice. Also, some characters are too similar to each other for my taste. For example, Ganondorf is really just a heavier version of Captain Falcon, with different colored attacks and sounds. This is not terrible, but it just seems like a cheap way to throw in an extra character.

The Bottom Line
SSB:M is an insanely addictive game which pits Nintendo characters in a deathmatch. It's great controls/fight mechanics coupled with its great graphics, sounds, design, and replay value, makes this an almost obligatory title for any Gamecube owner. The pro's of this title outweigh the con's without contest warranting this title with a spot as one of the greatest games ever released.

GameCube · by Jon Collins (24) · 2004

It'll last you a decade.

The Good
First off, the graphics are top-notch. Not the best the GameCube will ever see, but definately top-notch. Special effects, like fire and such, look especially nice. And most characters have very detailed textures. So, graphics. Good.

The sound: Well, although the sound effects aren't something you really notice while taking part in a clash of video game characters, it has all the sounds you'd want including Mario's high-pitched shouting to Mewtwo's demonic grunts. The music, however, is something you'll notice. It's all your favorite music pulled straight out of Nintendo classics, like Metroid, Mario, Zelda, you-name-it, remixed and pumped into one game. It's every Nintendo fan's dream.

The single-player, while being a bit on the short side, still has a lot to do after a month of constant playing. There's the normal modes, Classic mode(Where you compete against every character in random battles, ranging from three characters against one giant character to just normal one on one), Adventure Mode(Which takes you through classic side-scrolling levels, with little fights inbetween) and All-Star Mode(A mode that's only enabled when you've unlocked all the characters, where you have to fight one on one, one on two and one on three matches with all the characters in the game). Then there's unlockable characters, bonus stages(like Sandbag Run and Target Practice) and Event Mode. Event Mode has you do specific missions, of sort, where you, for example, have to kill 128 tiny Marios. And if that's not enough, there's roughly 300 trophies of classic Nintendo characters and objects scattered around all of the modes, so get ready to do some collecting. As you can see there's enough to do in the single-player alone.

But that's not what'll keep you coming back to the game in a year. That'll be the multi-player portion of the game. Two to Four-player battles against your mates which almost always end up in heated discussions over how good a judge the computer was on that KO, and the throwing of controllers at opponents. Be ready to take a pause on your friend-ship, cause once you pick up the controller, you'll be pulling all the dirty tricks in the book in order to win. When it really heats up, opponents will start pulling your controller out of its plug, rendering you immobile, making you the perfect pray. Don't worry, not every game you'll be having will have this level of sportmanship. In time you, and your mates, will grow up and start fighting like men(or women.)

The Bad
For one, there could be more extras. It's nothing to complaing about, really. But the single-player portion of the game will be done in two months.

If I have to find any other flaw with the game, it's that most of the unlockable characters are pretty similar to the default characters. Mario is almost identical to Dr. Mario, and although Luigi can jump higher, there's not much different between them, except for strength. Still, I'd rather see my favorite characters in there, and have them be copies, than not see them at all. Put Wario in and have him identical to even Kirby, and I wouldn't care. (Well, having Wario identical to Kirby, as far as moves go, would be ridiculous, so scratch that idea.)

The Bottom Line
Trust me, this is the best multi-player game you'll get on the GameCube. We tried TimeSplitters 2, Mario Party 4, Super Monkey Ball. But it all ended at the same station. Super Smash Bros. Melee.

GameCube · by BigJKO (64) · 2003

One of the greatest games. Ever.

The Good
In my honest opinion, this may be one of the games that I have spent more hours playing than any other two games combined. It has almost limitless replay value, as long as you can one to three friends together. With classic characters like Mario, Luigi, Mr. Game & Watch and Samus, and new characters like Sheik, Ganondorf, and Doc Mario, it is just endless hours of competitive fun. While the single player isn't bad, I've only used it to gain trophies, or when unlocking other characters. Other than that, this game is completely about multi-player.

It's multi-player facets is one of best designed four-player fighting games ever. The stages are well done, with exciting and notable differences, rather than just generic scene changes.

The Bad
The only three flaws in this game are:

1) The repetitiveness of the single-player mode. There is only so often you can go through it, with every character. Even with the three modes, and the 'extra' target and homerun modes, it can only provided limited entertainment if you are by yourself.

2) Lack of some classic characters. It is unfortunate that classic characters like Kid Icarius and other famous notables didn't make it into the game, even though Marth and Roy did. And, rather than having young Link and Link, and Doc Mario, and Mario, I would have liked to see more variety. Having younger/alternate versions seems like a cop-out to me.

3) Some of the stages are really hard to fight on. Some stages are more hazardous than the other players, causing more SDs than anything else. I appreciate the novelty of some of them, like PokeFloats and Big Blue, but I would have rather seen them be less deadly against the players. After all, the players are there to fight each other, not run from a scroll screen in order to just stay alive.

The Bottom Line
One of the best games in the market - Don't walk, run to buy this game.

GameCube · by kawaii (18) · 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.