Super Smash Bros. Melee

[Setzertrancer]

This Review is actually a copy of my script from a video review on my new channel on Youtube, if you would like to see and hear the review instead of read it go here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gMKb6eF8Ow

Today I'm going to talk about the game, that on it's own makes the Gamecube worth owning. Or the Wii thanks to it's backward compatibility. Super Smash Bros. Melee is a fighting game featuring most of the Nintendo All-Stars and allows you to beat the crap out of each other with trademark moves like Link's Boomerang or Bowser's Fire Breath.

Looks Like a Kids Game

I feel sorry for the Playstation and Xbox fan boys who are so scared of playing a colorful and kiddy looking game that they miss out on some of the best games ever made. Super Smash Bros, is one such example of this and like most Nintendo games concentrates more on being an incredibly fun multiplayer and even single player game. The graphics in the game are very detailed for a gamecube game and when you zoom in on the action you can see Donkey Kong's cool looking fur texture and Mario's detailed denim jeans. Even Characters like Ice Climbers which havn't been seen since the Nes have been upgraded to the graphics we would already expect to see on characters like Samus. The stages are also beautifully detailed and to make your battles more interesting each one features natural hazards that can turn a loser into a winner. But of cause you also have the option to go on stages that are still and safe allowing true tests of skill between players. There are more then 26 stages and they all feature from different nintendo classics. Such as the Great Bay from Zelda: Majora's Mask and Onette from Earthbound/Mother.

Huh 0%

Another great thing about Super Smash Bros. is that it uses the fighting genre in completely new ways and is nothing like other fighting games that have come out before, other then Smash bros, on N64 of course. For a start instead of having a fixed amount of heath that you have to prevent from losing and dieing, you have a % that increases the more you get hit and the goal is to knock your opponent of the stage. The higher their percentage gets the further they will go flying from the stage when they are hit with a powerful attack. Since all stages are basically floating in the air you'll die if you end up too far from the stage in any direction. You have a variety of jumps that can allow you to get back to the stage if you fall off and some characters are better at jumping and staying on the stage. But the characters that are bad at jumping are normally harder hitters and knock others off more easily. Each character has a variety of moves that rival most fighting games. For example pressing B and a direction or B on it's own will execute one of your special moves that define your character, like Kirby's inhale which allows you to replace the B attack with a move of your opponent's. Pressing the A button allows a large variety of moves as it does something different depending on what your doing on the stage, what your holding and the degree to which you are pushing that joystick in a variety of directions. These A attacks involve punches and kicks and other basic attacks.

Where do I Start?

The sheer amount of options on Super Smash Bros. is enormous. In single player you can play Classic, Adventure and All-star mode. In Classic you have to pass a number of levels involving both basic matches against other random characters and minigames like Break the Targets or Race to the Finish. Adventure mode is a longer predetermined set of stage in which you have to both explore and battle. For example in the first stage you have to go through a Mario themed platform stage bouncing on Goombas and then battle a bunch of Yoshis at the end. All-Star is a difficult mode in which you have to defeat all of the other characters in the game in increasing difficulty and greater numbers (1 vs 3 by the end) and in a random order. In Multiplayer the options are too numerous for me to list in this review. You can play 4 types of games, Time, Stock, Coin or Bonus. In Coin you have to hit your opponents to make coins drop out of them and have the most a after a time limit. In Bonus you win by fighting the most stylishly and get award points for particulary cool feats like getting a triple KO or go the whole fight without using items. Speaking of items there are 31 of them and you have the option to turn any of them on or off and you can change the frequency that items appear. You can also play a variety of 10 different games with modified rules such a slow-mo mode and a stamina mode which give players a life bar just like on other fighting games like Tekken and Soul Caliber. There are still a lot of features I havn't been able to mention as it is time to draw this review to a close.

Graphics: 9
Music: 9.2
SoundFX: 8.5
Fun: 9.5
Plot: N/A
Overall: 9.5

[Josh_R]

Melee was probably one of the best Gamecube games I have ever played in my entire life. It was f*cking amazing. I loved using Sheik to beat the piss out of my friends. Or Kirby and suck everyone up.

[ZantetsukeN]

I love SSBM. I still play it every now and then. I love using Kirby and Captain Falcon. Kirby, just to piss everyone off because he can float, and Falcon because of the pure awesomeness that is FALCON PAWWNCH!

I would say it is up there in the 'greatest Gamecube games ever' category.

[Unlucky Rufus]

Am i the only one that thinks melee is a little more fast-paced then brawl?

[ZantetsukeN]

Am i the only one that thinks melee is a little more fast-paced then brawl?

No you're not alone there, but that's what makes better. I like fast paced fighting games, and Melee is really fun because it is of a faster pace than other games.

[Rebecca Harrison]

I have both Melee and Brawl, I kinda like melee because of the adventure stages where in one stage, your in the mushroom kingdom, the next, your probably trying to avoid being hit by f zero cars while reaching the goal.

But I also like Brawl because of the cutscenes and NES gameplay, shame you can't play those games longer than the trail time....and also after playing those, and i head to the main menu, it takes a bit longer to load the menu screen

So...I guess i would prefer Melee over Brawl

[Unlucky Rufus]

So...I guess i would prefer Melee over Brawl

Yeah, i'm with you on that, i prefer Melee. But not to take away from Brawl, it's still a great game.

[jcsimpson]

Melee was an awesome game, my only problem was the clone characters like Young Link and Falco, I found them useless.

[Moogle]

Melee was an awesome game, my only problem was the clone characters like Young Link and Falco, I found them useless.

Young link may have been useless, but falco is one of the
top tier characters in this game. I'm a yoshi player.

[Taco-Calamitous]

Was he? Was he really? Isn't it all subjective, after all? Couldn't I say that, for example, Auron from FFX was useless, because I never felt like using him/didn't know how to, and I didn't like him? (It's a reason people have used to claim Cait Sith was useless, essentially...)

No. Just because you don't like a character, that does not make that character useless. I was quite good with Falco, in fact, although I did better with Fox. For obvious reasons. Anyhoo...

Wuv, Yer Mom