Super Smash Bros Melee for GameCube

With it's fun, intense, and somewhat charming gameplay, the original Super Smash Bros. (SSB) was lauded as one of the best N64 games ever. However, many criticized SSB on it's incredibly shallow one player mode and its cutesy image. Melee does everything that SSB did right, and includes several great one player modes, but still might not be able to dispel the cutesy image that SSB, and Nintendo in general, have earned. Still, SSB is a first class game.

Technically, Melee does almost everything well. Its graphics are solid but a bit on the cutesy side. However, they are detailed in both the foreground and background and
overall they are pretty beautiful. And instead of using paper thin characters, they are now in full 3-D. The music is solid and at times dramatic, and it sets a nice mood that's never too eerie. Listen carefully and you'll get some interesting ambience in many of the levels, like Brinstar. The voice acting is decent, and never gets old. I especially like the voice acting on Pikachu (one of my fave fighters).

The control, on the other hand, is a bit weak. At first, it is tough to hit the B, Y, and X buttons due to the GameCube's controller... the huge A button means that the others are awkward and tiny. It's not Melee's fault, but Melee will be affected like this more than most GameCube games due to the fact that you can use almost any button on the controller! This problem is remedied with a little bit of play, but the other control problem is a bit more serious. The sensitivity seems inconsistent: Sometimes the controller is a bit too sensitive and will cause an unintentional and costly fall off; while your character is in the air, the game might not respond to a gentle analog stick tap. You need to hit it hard while you are in the air! Don't get me wrong, though, as everything else about the control is quite good, and these flaws don't hamper the gameplay much at all.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the original Super Smash Brothers, the game did several things right that made it arguably the best fighting game on the N64. SSB included many of Nintendo's mascots, from Mario to Samus to Fox McCloud to Pikachu. The game's sprawling levels allowed for easy evasion and room to plan and execute fighting moves, and added an element of action to the fighting game. The simple controls made the game a cinch to pick up and play, as one did not need to memorize complex combos and just punch them in really quickly to win. Instead, most moves used only one button and a motioning of the analog stick; hence, the focus was on using strategy to find just the right time to launch an attack, jump, shield, throw, parry, etc. The most unconventional part about SSB was that you could not win by simply damaging your foe. Instead, as you attack your opponent and put damage onto him/her, s/he will be launched further when you attack. If they were launched to far off the screen in any direction (including up or down), they would be KO'ed (knocked off, not out). Therefore, the goal was to knock your opponent off the screen. These twists created instant multiplayer fun while allowing for complex mind-games to be played. Wonderful comebacks were possible. A newbie could play fairly well, but a player's skill could be refined a large amount, to the point where they would almost always win.

Melee offers this same type of gameplay with a few twists. The new levels, for the most part, are much bigger than the old ones. There are a few new moves, also. There is a sidestep and a way to catch items. Furthermore, each character now has a new special move that you can use by using B+Left or B+Right. Almost every single level is more dynamic than any that you would find in SSB. The Rainbow Cruise level scrolls from the main ship over to several obstacles and platforms... and you have to get ther or you're off the screen. And when you're off the screen, guess what? That's a Knock Off against you and usually considered a self-destruct! Keep in mind that you're fighting other charactrs while trying to make your way across the obstacles, and it's obvious why they call this game "Melee!" The Kanto Pokemon Stadium level changes setting every minute or so, from normal to rock, water, grass, etc.! The Brinstar Depths slowly rotates around, so the top and bottom will eventually switch-- beware!

The biggest improvement, though, is the myriad of modes and extras that HAL included. The sheer number of extras is tremendous, and none of them seem like they were simply "thrown in" for good measure. Most obvious is the Adventure one-player mode, which is a refreshing twist on the standard battle-each-foe-to-advance formula. In this mode, some of the levels have full-fledged levels that aren't even remotely similar to anything else you'd find in the game. For instance, the first level, Mushroom Kingdom, starts out with a segment where you make your way along an area which kind of resembles the original Mushroom Kingdom from the 8-bit NES Super Mario Bros. game. The graphics are of course much beefed up, but the main difference is that you have your fighting moves! So in essence, you can defeat a Goomba by throwing it, kicking it, simply jumpin on it, using a special move like PK Thunder or Boomerang, or even using an item (which the game drops periodically) such as the Home Run Bat or NES Blaster (there are about 40 items in the game)! Another level requires you to defeat Kirby, then a team of 15 weak Kirbys who have stolen the persona of lots of characters, and then a Giant Kirby! The Adventure mode is fun and satisfying.

The "Classic" mode also takes a different course than the original 1-player SSB mode. It's approximately the same thing, except that your enemies are RANDOM! The first round will involve a one-on-one battle with a random opponent; the second round will pair you up with a random ally against two different random opponents. The elevnth round pits you against a randomly selected metal opponent! It's never the same thing twice, and the bonus rounds in between some fighting rounds (Break the Targets, Catch the Trophies, and Race to the Finish) are lots of fun.

As far as multiplayer action, there are several different things to do! There are tournaments of three types (Winner out, Loser out, and Standard Tournament) that you can play, and the computer can fill in empty space in certain modes. There are also ten different types of special Melee scenarios, like Slo-Mo Melee, Metal Melee, and Giant Melee. Furthermore, you can set rules like the effect on your score that a Self-Destruct will bring, a time limit for stock matches, and the damge ratios! You can set the rules so that the winner is either based on stock (lives), KO points, Total Style Points, or Coins (Coins are knocked out of another player when they are hit or KO'd. Try to collect as many as you can, but watch out for you may get KO'd yourself!!!) Multiplayer action is as fast and furious as you will find in nearly any game, and the computer players, especially at the higher levels, are a bit wiser this time around. I am yet to beat level 9 computer players on a consistent basis, although I am confident that this will change soon! ;-)

Other modes include a one-player set of 30 special set-ups to play, like where you must wait to score a KO until you have 200 coins, or where you must KO a Yoshi that acts like he always has a Giant Mushroom, or even one where you must score a KO in 7 seconds!!! These are challenging but rewartding and fun. Also, there is a mode to practice the Break the Targets bonus game, a mode where you are pitted against many "fighting wire frames" at a time, and a mode where you try to damage this thing called Sandbag and then whack him as far off a platform as you can using a Home Run bat!!!

With coins that you earn through fighting in one player or two player modes, you can buy trophies in a gumball-machine-like "lottery." You can up the odds of getting a new trophy if you'd like to by adding in more coins, but on the whole, it's usually not worth it unless you have a lot of coins. Anyhow, there are hundreds of trophies, and represent Nintendo games from all parts of the company's history. Many of them are of characters, place, or items from Melee, there are a horde of trophies from games such as Kirby's Drem Land, Wave Race 64, and even some Japan-only games! Most of these trophies have respectable descriptions--about 100 words on average. Trophies can also be found throughout Adventure Mode, or by achieving certain scores or goals in different areas in Melee.

Another cool feature are bonuses awarded for style. Positive bonuses that affect your score can be awarded for anything from "Mr. Saturn Fan" (only item used is Mr. Saturn) to "Pratfaller" (always fall face up) to "Beam Swordsman" (KO w/ a beam sword) to "Poser" (use your Fighter Stance 6 times in a minute!) to "Revenge KO" (KO an opponent within 5 seconds of them KO'ing you!) These points aid your score in Adventure and Classic Modes, and decide who win the game in multiplayer "Bonus" MElee! Oh, and there are negative bonuses to which will hurt you, like "Master of Disaster" (have the most self-destructs) and "Butterfingers" (miss a high ratio of grabs and/or edge grabs). And don't try to be cheap, either--"Stale Moves" and "Stalker," in addition to "Oppurtunist," are negative bonuses that will come back to haunt cheap players!!!

The cutesy image that some people resent in Nintendo is still somewhat evident in Nintendo, although the game's unexpected Teen Rating may help to dispel this image. Furthermore, hardcore fighting fans just won't find SSBM to be appealing. However, people big on action games, playful people, party-oriented gamers, anyone who is deeply interested in Nintendo, and everyone who like the original Smash Bros. will eat Melee all up!

Overall, Melee is an excellent party game and a decent game to play to kill some time. Anyone who likes Melee will probably spend weeks exploring all of the modes and activities, as well as trying to unlock the insane number of stages (circa 25) and characters (approximately 20). Melee is to be taken lightly, but its incredible depth and ability to let a player develop enormous amounts of strategy means that it's not only a game for casual gamers. Most CameCube owners should check it out and consider a buy, while anyone on the verge of buying the system should seriously consider this spectacular game when making a decision.