Super Smash Bros Melee
Stars’ gathering
The last time Nintendo’s characters gathered to beat the crap out of each other was Super Smash Brothers for Nintendo 64. SSB had one of the longest life spans for a N64 game. In fact, it was so full of features and secrets that it would still be the game of choice for fighting fans if something better hadn’t come out. The new king of fighting games is Super Smash Bros. Melee for GameCube.
Smash Bros developer HAL laboratories couldn’t wish for a better license – all Nintendo’s greatest stars in one game. It’s not easy to build up from the enormous success of the original game and the easiest way would’ve been to release just a graphical update with minor improvements. It’s good to see that Hal took a different path and decided to make the new Smash Bros better than the original game in every aspect, giving Nintendo’s characters the treatment they deserve.
Super Smash Bros has over 20 characters from pretty much every franchise Nintendo has. Mario, Luigi, Donkey Kong, Link, Zelda, Pikachu, Kirby, Captain Falcon from F-Zero, Fox McCloud from Star Fox & Samus Aran from Metroid, just to name few of them. Some are available right away, some will become available later on.
In addition to characters, there’s also stages from their games, Eg. Mute City from F-Zero, Brinstar from Metroid, Termina Great Bay from Zelda & Fountain of Dreams from Kirby. Stages and characters aren’t the only things included form the games. The soundtrack consists of new versions of all-time Nintendo favorites.
Melee adds a new game modes not in the original Smash Bros. While Melee is the normal beat’em up mode, adventure mode is a new addition. It’s basically a side-scrolling platformer. The stages vary depending on the game they’re based on. First stage is just like one from the first Mario game. Then there’s F-Zero stage which places you in the middle of race. You’ll have to run towards the goal and avoid being squashed by the F-Zero vehicles passing by once in a while. Metroid stage has you escaping from an exploding planet and on the Zelda-stage you search for the Triforce. The stages aren’t overly complicated but bring a nice change to regular melee every now and then.
Clearing the adventure mode gives you a trophy of the character you completed the game with. You’ll also get trophies from bonus games and by collecting them from the stages. Each trophy you get is placed in your trophy room where you can read tidbits of info about that particular item or character and also view a nice 3d-model of the trophy.
In over 150 trophies there are items from most Nintendo franchises, including Balloon Fight, Ice Climbers, Mario series, Earthbound and not to mention the obscure Japan-only games. The trophies also serve as a glance to the history of Nintendo. Veteran gamers are guaranteed to have a nostalgia trip…
The precise playability of N64 version has moved well to GameCube and the controls are responsive. Graphics are colorful and filled with details. In fact, they’re so detailed that you may have problems distinguishing your character when there are 4 characters battling in front of an animated object in the background. This doesn’t occur very often and wouldn’t even be an issue if SSB Melee’s gameplay wasn’t so fast paced.
Because of the game’s tempo, extreme concentration is required every time you play – unless you wish to get beaten severely. Smash Bros Melee is easy to learn but mastering each character is more difficult. Each one has their strengths and weaknesses and if you wish to gain all trophies you’ll need to be a bit experienced with each character.
One thing I’ll need to mention is the points rewarded after melee battles. There are dozens of different things you may be rewarded for. For example, points are given for the players with most KO’s, who collected the most items, got most power ups, used items hazardously never blocked, etc.
Minus points are awarded for players with most suicides or who resorted to cheap tactics. The points have no relevance to the rest of the game apart from high scores, but since there are so many things you may be rewarded for, it’s always a fun thing to check.
Smash Bros Melee was released soon after GameCube and it’ll be interesting to see if we’ll see a GameCube fighting game that’s as complete and feature-packed as SSB Melee anytime soon. Offering so many challenges and features, SSB Melee set a new standard for fighting games and and is certainly one of the games for GameCube that’ll last for years to come.