Summary Nintendo's all stars return to duke it out in the sequel to the hugely successful N64 title, Super Smash Bros. Let the battle begin! Melee!

Description What's higher than A+? Even if there is something, giving it to Super Smash Bros. Melee still wouldn't do it justice. As the best game in Nintendo, no, in gaming, SSBM offers a ton of content on one single disc that has something for anyone and everyone who plays games. Controls Many people who played Halo have said that it feels like the game was made specifically for the Xbox controller. I feel the same way about this game and the Gamecube controller. The game's button configuration syncs perfectly with the controller your holding when you're playing Melee. One thing I hate about most fighting games is having to remember all the different moves for all the different characters, but the only thing you really have to remember in this game is how fast the character moves and how efficient their up+B move is. Apart from normal fighting, items you can pick up and swing at or throw at your opponents will fall from the sky. This adds some interesting situations to battles. The pokeball, for instance, can not only be thrown at your foes but it will then unleash a pokemon minion to do your bidding. Lugia, for example, will fly into the background and shoot a stream of tornados across the battlefield damaging all players other than the person who threw the pokeball. And the Super Star (the classic Mario invincibility item) will make the user impervious to enemy attacks. There are a lot of different items from a lot of different Nintendo games that all have their special use. Items are a cool addition to the rather simple controls this game provides. A = attack, grab/ throw (throwable) items B = projectile move Any Direction + A (hard) = smash attack Toward Enemy/ Down + B = special attack Up + B = upward attack Z + Any Direction = grab and throw opponent/items (attack items) L or R = shield L or R + Left, Right, or Down = dodge Y or X = jump Up on Directional Pad = fighter's stance Every fighter in the game uses the same exact control scheme making Melee a very simple game to learn. Graphics The detail that went into this game is pretty impressive. At first, you may think that a Nintendo game can't have great graphics, and that's where you'd be wrong. Even though the entire cast consists of extremely animated characters like Mario, Pikachu, and Link, the tiniest details went into things like the stitching on the Mario bros. overalls and every scale on Bowser's body. Super Smash Bros. Melee is, after all, an Nintendo game, so don't expect Metal Gear Solid 3 like graphics because, like I said before, though the graphics still prove very impressive, everything is animated. Stadium Mode The first SSB game had nothing really to offer unless you were playing for the four player free-for-all, but Melee has a whole slew a content for a single player. In stadium mode, players have a wide selection of mini games to compete and set records. The Home Run Contest is one of my personal favorites. In this particular game, players choose a fighter and do as much damage to a sandbag as they can in a total of 10 seconds and then see how far they can send it flying using the games most powerful weapon, the home run bat. Sounds simple enough, right? Other solo games consist of the Multi-Man-Melee and Target Test. In the multi-man-melee, you choose a setting of how many Wire Frame combatants they can defeat or for how long they can survive fighting them. The target test is an almost exact remake of the original games "Break the Targets", where you jump around an empty obstacle course destroying breakable targets without falling in the many pits, ending the session. Single player mode is a lot more fun in Melee than only the simple story mode provided in the original game. Now, you no longer need 4 friends to enjoy the Super Smash Bros. franchise. Event Match Event match is a simple, yet very challenging single player mission board. The board ranges from 1-50 where it gives you multiple challenges to complete before you can advance. As you make your way down the board, the missions increase drastically in difficulty. For example, Lv. 1 is a basic battle between your character vs. Bowser in the classic Mushroom Kingdom battlefield, whereas in Lv. 50 you must defeat Giga Bowser, Mewtwo, and Ganondorf using only a single stock. Event match may seem easy at first, but by the end, you'll need to be a master at this game to complete the entire mission board. Melee Mode Melee is where you will probably spend the most time in the game. This is where 4 players can compete together in a free-for-all or team matches to take the cup of the champion. Though unlike the first game, there are a lot more different settings for melee mode. Super Sudden Death mode is a battle where all players start the match with 300% damage (an amount where almost any hit will send you to your demise. Stamina mode is when a every combatant has a set amount of life to battle with. When it's gone, you're gone. Giant or Tiny Melee is a fight where everyone is beyond proportion or when they are extremely undersized. Either way, all players will be extremely hard to knock off the battlefield. Lightning or Slo-Mo Melee is a setting where the speed of the overall match itself is in fast forward or slow motion. These settings are very difficult because either you can't see attacks coming or everyone sees them coming and blocks them all (which makes it hard to do damage to anyone). Invisible Melee is when all players are concealed as though they have obtained a cloaking device, making them all invisible to the others. Single Button Melee is simply when you can use only the analog stick and the A button. Though this sounds extremely easy, it is by no means easy. Fixed Camera mode is when the camera itself is set as far away from the stage as possible, making it very hard to see what's happening around you and others. Like I said before, you will most likely spend the most time in Melee. With all these different settings, who wouldn't choose melee mode over anything else? Hidden Characters Super Smash Bros. Melee has a total of 14 default fighters you can play as, but as you advance, you'll encounter many others to play as and against. When you unlock all the hidden combatants, you'll obtain a total of 25 Nintendo characters: Mario (Super Mario Brothers) Pikachu (Pokemon) Bowser (Super Mario Brothers) Peach (Super Mario Brothers) Yoshi (Super Mario World) Donkey Kong (Donkey Kong) Captain Falcon (F-Zero) Fox McCloud (Star Fox) Ness (Earthbound) Ice Climbers (Ice Climbers) Kirby (Kirby) Samus (Metroid) Zelda/Shiek (Legend of Zelda) Link (Legend of Zelda) Pichu (Pokemon) Luigi (Super Mario Brothers) Dr. Mario (Dr. Mario) Young Link (Legend of Zelda) Prince Marth (Fire Emblem) Roy (Fire Emblem) Ganondorf (Legend of Zelda) Falco Lombardi (Star Fox) Mewtwo (Pokemon) Jigglypuff (Pokemon) Mr. Game & Watch (Game & Watch Gallery) Trophies As you advance in the game and accomplish certain goals, the game will award you with coins witch you can buy mini figurines (trophies) of classic Nintendo characters and items. After certain matches, you will even be given some of these collectables at no extra charge. Throughout the course of the game you will obtain hundreds of these trophies making this segment of the game pretty interesting. Who or what will you uncover in the collection process? With 25 playable characters, over 7 different Free-For-All melee settings, hundreds of unlockable trophies, and a whole hell of lot of fun, is it any wonder why I'd announce Super Smash Bros. Melee as my favorite game and the best video game in history? Even if Nintendo Wii's Super Smash Bros. Brawl is 1/100 as good as Melee, saying that it's perfect would still be the understatement of the century. If you don't own this great game, buy it. If you don't even own a Gamecube, for this game alone, buying one will definitely be worth your money. Review Page Hits: 2 today (23 in the last 30 days) Create Your Own Review or