Super Smash Bros. Melee

Super Smash Bros. Melee (released in Japan as Dairantō Smash Brothers DX with Dairantō meaning "Great Fray"), is a popular crossover action game released for the Nintendo GameCube shortly after its launch in 2001 (2002 in the PAL region). It is the sequel to the 1999 Nintendo 64 fighting game Super Smash Bros., and is followed by the 2008 Wii game Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Hal Laboratory developed the game, with Masahiro Sakurai as head of production.

The game is centered on dueling characters from Nintendo's video gaming franchises such as Mario and The Legend of Zelda. The stages and gameplay modes make references to and or take their designs from popular games released by Nintendo. Melee's gameplay system offers an unorthodox approach to the "fighter" genre as percentage counters measure the level of damage received, rather than the traditional health bar in fighting games. It builds on the first game's broad appeal by adding new features related to gameplay and playable characters. Following the popularity of the game's multiplayer gameplay, the game has been the subject of several multiplayer gaming tournaments.

The game received a generally positive reception from the media, as well as awards and acknowledgements from well-known gaming publications. It achieved commercial success upon release, being the best-selling game that has been released for the GameCube with six million units sold worldwide.

Gameplay

File:Meleestages.jpg

All 29 stages, with Fourside selected

Like its predecessor, Super Smash Bros. Melee is different from traditional fighting games in that inflicting damage does not guarantee victory. In play, a player must force the opponent beyond the stage's boundaries, referred to as a "Knock-Off" and abbreviated in the game as a KO. Most attacks both inflict damage and can, if enough damage is dealt, knock back the enemy; inflicted damage increases that distance, so sufficient damage must be accumulated before attempting a "KO". Each character's health is measured by a percentage damage counter. The higher the percentage value, the weaker the player is, and the easier they are to knock off the stage. Unlike other games of the same genre, most moves in the game can be accessed via one-button presses and a joystick direction.

During battles, items related to Nintendo games or merchandise fall onto the game field. These items have purposes ranging from inflicting damage on the opponent to restoring health to the player's combatant. Additionally, most stages have a theme relating to a Nintendo franchise or a specific Nintendo game and are interactive to the player. Although the stages are rendered in the third-dimension, players cannot move along the Z-axis in any of them. Not all stages are available immediately, so some stages have to be obtained by the player by meeting particular requirements.

Single player

Single-player mode provides the player with a variety of fighting and side-scrolling challenges. The applicable modes range from the "Classic mode", which involves the player battling against opponents in multiple stages until he or she reaches the boss character, to the "Home Run Contest", which is a minigame involving the player trying to launch a sandbag as far as possible with a Home Run Bat. Some of these modes are personalized for the character; for example, the "Target Test" sets out a specialized area for a character in which they aim to destroy ten targets within the time limit. These areas may include references to that particular character's past and legacy. "Adventure mode" takes the player to several predefined universes of characters in the Nintendo franchise. Like the battle stages in the game, they make references to some conventions of particular series.

File:SSBM-Mario2.jpg

Mario and Luigi fight in multiplayer mode on the Mushroom Kingdom II stage (the game is paused).

Multiplayer

In the multiplayer mode, up to four player or computer characters may fight, either in a free-for-all or in teams. The CPU characters' AI difficulty is ranked from one to nine in ascending order of difficulty. There are five ways in which the victor can be determined, depending on the game type. The traditional mode is "Stock mode", a solo or team-based battle in which the last player to lose their lives wins, but this can be changed to less conventional modes like "Coin mode", which rewards the richest player as the victor; they must collect coins by hitting enemies and try not to lose them by falling off the stage. A number of other options are available, such as determining the number and type of items that appear during the battle.

Trophies

Trophies (known as "Figures" in the Japanese version) of various Nintendo characters and objects can be collected throughout the game. These trophies include figures of various playable characters, accessories, and items associated with them as well as secondary characters not otherwise included in the game. The trophies range from the well-known to the obscure, and even characters or elements that were only released in Japan. Some of the trophies includes a description of the particular subject and details the year and the game in which the subject first appeared. Super Smash Bros. had a similar system of plush dolls (Biographies); however it only included the twelve playable characters. There is one more trophy in the Japanese version of the game than in the NTSC and PAL versions.

Playable characters

File:MeleeCharacters.jpg

All twenty-five characters.

Super Smash Bros. Melee features twenty-five characters, of which fourteen are available initially. Every character featured in the game derives from a popular Nintendo franchise. All characters have a symbol that appears behind their damage percentage during a fight; this symbol represents what series they belong to, such as a Triforce symbol behind Link's damage percentage and a mushroom behind Mario's. Some characters represent popular franchises while others were less-known at the time of the release—Marth and Roy represent the Fire Emblem series, which never had a game released in the West at the time. This led to a rise in popularity of games and characters that were more obscure than such series as the Mario series. References are made throughout the game to the relationship between characters of the same universe; in one of the events from "Event mode", Link and Zelda battle together to defeat Ganondorf, the main antagonist of The Legend of Zelda series. Furthermore, each character has recognizable moves from their original game, such as Samus's firearms from the Metroid series and Link's arsenal of weapons.

=Other Modes

• Stadium mode, a variety of tests where solo players can test their abilities.
• Special melee, a selection of melees with special rules.
• Tournament, along with winner out/loser out functions for when there are more players than controllers.
• Adventure, a one player mode where the player can journey through Nintendo's many worlds.
• All Star, a one player endurance test where the player faces all 25 characters back to back.
• Event Match, a series of situational one player matches.
• Classic one player mode and free for all melees remain as game modes.

Development and release

HAL Laboratory developed Super Smash Bros. Melee, with Masahiro Sakurai as the head of production. The game was one of the first games released on the Nintendo GameCube and demonstrated the advancement in graphics from the Nintendo 64. The developers wanted to pay homage to the debut of the GameCube by making an opening FMV sequence that would attract people's attention to the graphics. HAL worked with three separate graphic houses in Tokyo to make the opening sequence. On their official website, the developers posted screenshots and information highlighting and explaining the attention to physics and detail in the game, with references to changes from its predecessor.

On the game's official Japanese website, the developers explain reasons for making particular characters playable and explain why some characters were not available as playable characters upon release. Initially, the development team wanted to replace Ness with Lucas, the main character of Mother 3 for the Game Boy Advance, but they kept Ness in light of delays. The game's creators instead placed Lucas into the game's sequel, Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Video game developer Hideo Kojima originally requested Solid Snake, the protagonist of the Metal Gear series, to be a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Melee, but the game was too far in development for him to be included. Roy and Marth were initially intended to be playable exclusively in the Japanese version of Super Smash Bros. Melee. However, they received favorable attention during the game's North American localization, leading to the decision for the developers to include them in the Western version. Additionally, Sakurai stated that the development team has suggested four other games to represent the Famicom or NES era until the developers decided that the Ice Climbers would be in the game.

Nintendo presented the game at the E3 event of 2001, in which a playable demonstration of the game was available. The next major exposition of the game came in Spaceworld 2001 in August, in which Nintendo displayed a playable demo that had updated upon the previous demo displayed in E3. Nintendo offered a playable tournament of the games for fans in which a GameCube and Super Smash Bros. Melee were prizes for the winner. Prior to the release of the game, the Japanese official website of the game included weekly updates on the game, including screenshots and character profiles. Nintendo followed this trend with Super Smash Bros Brawl, in which there are daily updates by the game's developer, Masahiro Sakurai. The popular Japanese magazine Famitsu reported that Nintendo advertized the game in between showings of the Pokemon movie across movie theaters in Japan. In January 2003, Super Smash Bros Melee became part of the Player's Choice, which was a category of the best-selling games on the GameCube that had been reduced in price. In August 2005, Nintendo bundled the game with the GameCube for $99.99.

Music

Super Smash Bros. Melee featured music from some of Nintendo's popular gaming franchises. Nintendo released a special musical album in 2003 called Smashing...Live!, which it gave away as a bonus for subscribing to Nintendo Power magazine in North America, and also as a free gift in an issue of the British Nintendo Official Magazine. It is not music taken directly from the game like most video game soundtracks, but a live orchestrated performance by the New Japan Philharmonic of many of the songs from the game. The soundtrack is only available for purchase in Japan.

Reception and sales

Reviews

Compilations of multiple reviews
Game Rankings	90%
Metacritic	92%
Publication	Response
GameSpot	8.9/10
Official Nintendo Magazine	95%
Eurogamer	10/10
IGN	9.6/10
Famitsu	37/40

Super Smash Bros. Melee generally received a positive reception from reviewers, most of whom credited Melee's expansion of gameplay features from Super Smash Bros. Focusing on the additional features, Gamespy commented that "Melee really scores big in the "we've added tons of great extra stuff" department." Reviewers compared the game favorably to Super Smash Bros.—IGN's Fran Mirabella III stated that it was "in an entirely different league than the N64 version"; GameSpot's Miguel Lopez praised the game for offering an advanced "classic-mode" compared to its predecessor, while detailing the Adventure Mode as "really a hit-or-miss experience." Despite a mixed response to the single-player modes, most reviewers expressed the game's multiplayer mode as a strong component of the game. In their review of the game, Gamespy stated that "you'll have a pretty hard time finding a more enjoyable multiplayer experience on any other console."

The visuals gained a positive reaction, although Matt Casamassina thought that "some of the backgrounds lack the visual polish endowed upon the characters" when giving a second opinion about the game. Most of the critics have praised the game's orchestrated soundtrack; Nintendo World Report's Mike Sklens rated it as "one of the best sounding games ever." Most reviewers have welcomed the simplistic controls, yet its "hyper-responsiveness" has been expressed as a serious flaw of the game by Gamespot. With a milder criticism of controls, Bryn Williams of Gamespy commented that "movement and navigation seems slightly too sensitive." The basis of Melee's gameplay system is the battles between Nintendo characters, which has been suggested as being overly hectic; N-Europe questioned that the gameplay is "too Frantic?", even though they enjoyed the variety of modes on offer.

The media has criticized Melee for a lack of originality and for being too similar to its predecessor, Super Smash Bros; Caleb Hale from Game Critic rated as "every bit as good as its Nintendo 64 predecessor. The game doesn't expand much past that point." The nostalgic nature of the game received a positive reaction, as well as the accompanying stages and items that made references to past Nintendo games. Gaming journalists have welcomed the roster of twenty-five Nintendo characters, as well as the "trophy system", which Nintendo Spin labelled as "a great addition to this game." When considering Melee's gameplay, reviewers have questioned its status as a fighting game; GamePro summed Melee as "Not quite a fighting game, not quite a party game."

Sales

When released in Japan, it became the fastest selling GameCube game with 358,525 units sold in the week of November 19 to November 25, in 2001. The success continued in Japan as the game sold over a million units only two years after its release, which also made it the first GameCube title to reach a million copies. The game also sold well in North America, in which it sold 250,000 copies in nine days. To date, Super Smash Bros Melee is the best selling GameCube game, with over six million copies sold worldwide.

Awards and lists

Several publications have acknowledged Super Smash Bros. Melee in competitions and awards. In their "best of 2001" awards, GameSpy chose it as Best Fighting GameCube Game, IGN's reader choice chose it as Game of the Year, Electronic Gaming Monthly chose it as Best Multiplayer and Best GameCube Game, and GameSpot chose it as the Best GameCube Game and tenth best game of the year. GameFAQs placed it sixth in two competitions: the "Best... Game... Ever." contest, and a poll of the 100 best games ever. In the 200th issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly, the editors selected Melee as the 92nd most influential game on their "Top 200 Games of Their Time" list, defining Melee as "Billions of things to unlock, plus Yoshi pummeling Pikachu with a bat". IGN named it the third best GameCube game of all time in 2007 as a part of a feature reflecting on the GameCube's long lifespan, citing it as "the grand stage of fighters, much like Mario Kart is for racing fans", while GameSpy chose it as fourth in a similar list.

Legacy

Sequel

File:TempleBrawl.jpg

Diddy Kong, Wario, and a graphically enhanced Bowser fighting in the returning "Temple" stage in Brawl

Super Smash Bros. Melee is the second installment of the Super Smash Bros. series, following the release of Super Smash Bros. two years earlier. At the pre-E3 conference of 2005, Nintendo announced Melee's sequel, Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Nintendo's president, Satoru Iwata requested Masahiro Sakurai to be the director of the game after the conference. The game retains some of the gameplay features of its predecessors while having major gameplay additions, such as a more substantial single-player mode and Wi-Fi compatibility. Like Melee, the game makes references to games and franchises, even those that debuted after the release of Melee; for example, Link's design is taken from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and a Nintendogs puppy is present as an Assist Trophy (a new item which summons characters from different games to briefly participate in the fight or hinder it). Sakurai has announced that stages from Melee will be included in the upcoming sequel with the "Temple" stage shown on the official site as an example.

Tournaments

Super Smash Bros. Melee has been the subject of several high-profile gaming tournaments beginning in 2003 which has been credited to Smash World Forums also known as "Smashboards". In March 2003, the IVGF NorthWest Regional Gaming Festival and Tournament took place, the first corporate sponsored tournament. During this time, IVGF gave out a record $US 12,500 for the top three finishers of Super Smash Bros. Melee, a record that would be held for almost three years. In 2004, Major League Gaming added Super Smash Bros. Melee to its tournament roster. In the summer of 2005, a crew in Mishawaka, Indiana hosted Melee-FC3, a tournament with nearly 200 participants from 30 states, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands. In two separate issues, Nintendo Power covered the independent and corporate Smash scenes, including Smashboards, Major League Gaming, and FC3. Smash Brothers Melee also made it into the Evolution Tournament of Fighting in 2007, a fighting game tournament held in Las Vegas with Ken Hoang, winner of MLG's 2004 and 2005 National Smash Championships, winning the 2007 EVO World Finals.

Playable Characters

There are twenty-five playable characters in Super Smash Bros. Melee.

Default Characters

These characters come with the game. Everyone will automatically have them when they start playing.

File:MeleeCharacters.jpg

Melee's character roster

• Mario from the Mario series.
• Link from the Legend of Zelda series.
• Kirby from the Kirby series.
• Pikachu from the Pokémon series.
• Yoshi from the Mario and Yoshi series.
• Samus Aran from the Metroid series.
• Donkey Kong from the Donkey Kong and Mario series.
• Princess Peach from the Mario series.
• Fox McCloud from the Star Fox series.
• Ness from the EarthBound/Mother series.
• Bowser from the Mario series.
• Captain Falcon from the F-Zero series.
• Popo and Nana from Ice Climbers.
• Zelda\Sheik from the Legend of Zelda series.

Hidden characters

These characters must be unlocked and defeated in battle before they can be used.

• Jigglypuff from the Pokémon series.
• Dr. Mario from the Dr. Mario series.
• Pichu from the Pokémon series.
• Falco from the Star Fox series.
• Marth from the Fire Emblem series.
• Young Link from the Legend of Zelda series.
• Ganondorf from the Legend of Zelda series.
• Mewtwo from the Pokémon series.
• Luigi from the Mario series.
• Roy from the Fire Emblem series.
• Mr. Game and Watch from the Game and Watch series.

Items

• Food
• MaximTomato
• Heart Container
• Warp Star
• Ray Gun
• Super scope
• Fire Flower
• Lip's Stick
• Star rod
• Beam Sword
• Home run bat
• Fan
• Hammer
• Green shell
• Red shell
• Flipper
• Freezie
• Mr. Saturn
• Pokéball
• Bob-omb
• Motion sensor bomb
• Super Mushroom
• Poison Mushroom
• Starman
• Parasol
• Screw Attack
• Metal Box
• Bunny Hood
• Cloaking Device
• Barrel Cannon
• Crate
• Barrel
• Egg
• Capsule

Stages

There are 29 stages available in Super Smash Bros. Melee.

Default stages

These stages are avaiable as soon as one purchases the game. They do not require unlocking.

• Icicle Mountain from Ice Climbers.
• Princess Peach's Castle from the Super Mario series.
• Rainbow Cruise from Super Mario 64.
• Kongo Jungle from the Donkey Kong series.
• Jungle Japes from the Donkey Kong series.
• Great Bay from Legend of Zelda:Majora's Mask
• Temple from the Legend of Zelda series.
• Yoshi's Story from Yoshi's Story.
• Yoshi's Island from Super Mario World.
• Fountain of Dreams from the Kirby series.
• Green Greens from the Kirby series.
• Corneria from the Star Fox series.
• Venom from the Star Fox series.
• Brinstar from the Metroid series.
• Onett from the Earthbound/Mother series.
• Mute City from the F-Zero series.
• Pokémon Stadium from the Pokémon Stadium series.
• Mushroom Kingdom from Super Mario Bros.

Hidden stages

• Brinstar Depths from the Metroid series.
• Fourside from the Earthbound/Mother series.
• Big Blue from the F-Zero series.
• Poké Floats supposedly from the Pokémon series.
• Mushroom Kingdom 2 from Super Mario Bros. 2.
• Flat Zone from the Game and Watch series.
• Battlefield (SSBM) from the Super Smash Bros. series.
• Final Destination from the Super Smash Bros. series.
• Kongo Jungle (N64) from the Donkey Kong series and Super Smash Bros.
• Yoshi's Island (N64) from the Yoshi series and Super Smash Bros.
• Dreamland (N64) from the Kirby series and Super Smash Bros.

External links

• Wikipedia's Super Smash Bros. Melee article
• Super Smash Bros. Melee guide at StrategyWiki