Super Smash Bros. Melee
Super Smash Bros. Melee, released in Japan as Dairantō Smash Brothers DX (大乱闘 スマッシュ ブラザーズ DX, Dairantō Sumasshu Burazāzu Derakkusu), is a popular crossover fighting 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. It builds on that game's broad appeal and improved multiplayer and single player modes, adding new features.
Gameplay
Like its predecessor, Super Smash Bros. Melee is different from most traditional fighting games in that simply inflicting damage does not always mean victory. In normal play, a player must force the opponent off the stage's boundaries, termed as a "KO"; this can be likened to a ring out in standard fighting games and is much like in real life sumo wrestling. 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 percent value, the weaker the player is, and the easier they are to knock off the stage. However, he or she may be able to jump back to the stage (recover) using multiple "mid-air" jumps and special moves, and continue to fight.
During the game, items related to Nintendo games or merchandise fall onto the game field (e.g., Super Mushrooms, Poison Mushrooms, Poké Balls and Koopa shells). The speed of gameplay can be very fast-paced compared to the original at times, mainly when using aerial attacks.
The controls for Melee are simple: almost every single move in the game can be accessed via one button press and a joystick direction. This control scheme contrasts with that of standard fighting games which often require the player to memorize complicated and sometimes lengthy sequences of button inputs to perform effective attack combos. Different attacks can be accessed depending on which button is pressed or whether the control stick is tilted or "tapped" (quickly tilted). Tapping the control stick in the proper direction and/or along with the appropriate button presses allows the controlled character to run, jump, and perform the game's eponymous "Smash attacks", which are very powerful moves with substantial damage and knockback. This game introduced a fourth B-button "special move" to each character's repertoire of attacks, while the original had just three. These new special moves are performed by pressing the B button and pushing forward on the analog stick, and include Link's directable boomerang throw and Mario's deflection cape.
Characters also have a number of defensive moves, such as the dodge and roll which combine shielding and tapping of the control stick of the GameCube controller. Although the core controls are simple, they have also been praised as equally sophisticated.[1]
Single player mode
Single player mode provides the player with a variety of fighting and side-scrolling challenges. The three main playing modes are "Classic" (similar to the single player mode in the previous installment, but with all matches randomized except for the last and the "Board the Platforms" bonus stage replaced by a "Snag the Trophies" stage), "Adventure Mode", in which the player character travels from one side-scrolling level to the next while battling foes, and the unlockable "All-Star Mode"—in which the player character must fight all of the game's playable characters with only three heart containers and only one stock life (no extra lives). Single player also offers the Events mode. The player is forced to complete the task under a certain condition listed in the event description.
One can also practice in Training Mode, or use the Stadium to play various minigames: Target Test (known as "Break the Targets" in Super Smash Bros.; the character must destroy 10 strategically-placed targets), Home Run Contest (after damaging Sandbag, the player must launch him as far as possible with a Home Run Bat or any attack in the characters arsenal) and Multi-Man Melee (fights with the Fighting Wire Frames, paced by time or number of foes).
Multi-player mode
In the multiplayer mode, up to four characters of players or computer players may fight, either in a free-for-all or teams. All characters may be controlled either by humans or the computer. CPU characters' AI difficulty is ranked from 1 through 9, with 1 indicating that the AI is weak and doesn't attack much, and 9 indicating it attacks faster and more often.
The victor is determined in one of five ways, depending on the game type: Stock mode (a solo or team-based last-man-standing), Time mode (in which points are lost for a fall or self destruct and gained for a KO, with whoever has the most points after the chosen time period being designated the winner), Coin mode (in which coins are dropped by players when they take damage, with the winner being the player that has collected the most coins at the end of the time period), Stamina Mode, (which is more like a traditional fighting game in that the characters have health, starting at 150 and being reduced until all but one player has reached 0, although knocking them off can still be done) and Bonus mode (in which the players are ranked by points awarded for fighting style).
A variety of other options are available, such as determining the number and type of items that appear during the battle. There are also special modes that involve changes to the game mechanics (speeding up or slowing down the game, for example).
Tournament Melee
Tournament Melee is a tournament for up to 64 players. At least one human player is needed to start a tournament, but the actual participants can consist entirely of computers. There are three possible options to choose from. In Loser Out and Winner Out, the player that loses/wins is eliminated; in Tournament, a standard knockout tournament is played. To select other rules in Tournament Melee such as Bonus or Coin, the player must select "Options" at the bottom of the tournament menu.
Special Melee
Special Melee is a battle that has special rules. No records are saved. Some of the special melee modes include a camera melee, which allows the fourth player to take pictures, giant melee, which makes the characters constantly large as if under the influence of a Super Mushroom (though they can still pick one up and grow even larger), mini melee where characters are constantly small as if under the influence of a Poison mushroom (which can still be picked up to grow even smaller), and invisible melee, in which all the players fight the match cloaked. Some of the other inclusions in Special Melee is a Lightning Melee, in which the game is set at a fast-paced match at 1.5 times the normal speed and Slo-mo Melee, consisting of a constant half-speed gameplay. Stamina mode is a melee in which a person has to inflict a certain amount of damage to their opponents to win. You also have Sudden Death mode where each character is put at 300% damage allowing for fast battles with essentially one hit KO's. There is also Fixed-camera mode, where, unlike the most other battles where the camera moves, scrolls, and zooms, the camera view is focused on the entire stage without ever moving (with the exception of the rumbling effect exerted from heavy impacts, stage actions, etc.). There is also a Single Button mode, where players are only allowed to use normal attacks and cannot use their special attacks (the mode's description states that this mode is better suited for beginners).
Playable characters
Super Smash Bros. Melee features 25 characters, of which 14 are available initially. In contrast, Super Smash Bros. has only 12 characters, 8 of which are available from the start.
All characters have a symbol that appears behind their damage percent during a fight. This symbol represents what game(s) they belong to (such as a triforce symbol behind Link's damage percent and a mushroom behind Mario's). Also, all characters have up to six alternative costumes to distinguish between several of the same character during a fight, and if players use the same characters while in team mode (and thus would have the same color), characters will receive lighter and darker tints to help differentiate between them.
Video game developer Hideo Kojima originally wanted 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. Snake has been confirmed to appear in the upcoming sequel, Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
The main character of Mother 3 for the Game Boy Advance (originally planned for the Nintendo 64), Lucas, was supposed to replace Ness, but because the game was delayed, Ness was kept. [2] Similarly, a Balloon Fighter from the Nintendo game Balloon Fight, was originally in the game, [citation needed]but, like Lucas, was replaced by another character, which was the Ice Climbers.
According to the official Japanese site, Roy and Marth were originally intended to be playable exclusively in the Japanese version of Super Smash Bros. Melee.[citation needed] However, they received favorable attention during the game's North American localization. As a result, Nintendo of America kept both Roy and Marth in the localized versions of the game. Both Marth and Roy speak Japanese in the U.S. version to reflect that their original games were Japan exclusive. The popularity of Roy and Marth as Super Smash Bros. characters outside of Japan also influenced Nintendo to localize Fire Emblem games to North America, beginning with Fire Emblem: Rekka no Ken, renamed Fire Emblem for its North American release.
An issue of EGM once stated that Sonic the Hedgehog and Miles "Tails" Prower were unlockable by defeating 20 Fighting Wireframes in Cruel Melee. It, however, was an annual April Fool's joke.[citation needed]
Stages
There are a total of 29 playable stages in the game, a threefold increase over the number of stages in the original (eight standard and one unlockable). Three of the stages from the Super Smash Bros. are unlockable. Of the 29 stages, 18 are available from the start of the game, while the remaining 11 must be unlocked by achieving certain goals and completing specific tasks. Melee also boasts a number of "moving" stages, in which the camera scrolls along a fixed path. Players must keep moving in order to stay visible and alive. The stages themselves often contain gimmicks and obstacles and visual references to their respective games, as well as remixes or medleys of music attributed to their respective games.
Some stages were different in some early preview videos compared to the ones seen in the actual game. For instance, in the preview videos showing the prototype itself, the lab in the Great Bay stage was penetrable, allowing players to move the characters inside of it. Players can also see the characters through the lab's window. In the full version, the lab became part of the background, and never was penetrable. Also, the window was blue instead of clear. The Yoshi's Story, Mushroom Kingdom, and Hyrule Temple stages were also simplified for the actual release. There was also supposed to be a Fire Emblem stage and a 2nd Ice Climber stage, by the names of "Akaneia" and "Icetop", but they never appeared on the final release.to get hyrule feild play as Link,Zelda and Gamandorf.
Trophies
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Trophies (Figures in the Japanese version) of various Nintendo characters and objects can be collected in the game. These trophies include statuettes 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 are or were only released in Japan. Super Smash Bros. had a similar system of plush dolls (Biographies); however it only included the twelve playable characters.
There are 290 trophies in the NTSC (North American) and PAL (European and Australian) versions of Super Smash Bros. Melee, and 293 trophies in the Japanese version. There are three extra trophies which are obtained through use of cheat device such as an Action Replay in the NTSC version, but only two extra trophies in the PAL and Japanese version. Tamagon can be obtained in the NTSC version with a cheat device, but is not in the PAL version at all. In the Japanese version, it can be obtained via normal means. The other two trophies, which can only be accessed using a cheat device in all three versions, are Samus Unmasked and the Mario & Yoshi trophy. When the game was released, there was a promo event in Japan (an actual SSBM tournament where the 2 finalists recieved the trophies) at Toys R Us stores, where people could get these two trophies written to their memory cards.
Two trophies were altered for the international release:
- The Topi trophy was originally a seal which was featured in the Japanese version of Ice Climber. When the NES game was localized for international audiences, the seal was changed to a small yeti due to concerns of animal cruelty. Super Smash Bros. Melee makes this character change as well.
- In the Japanese version, the Motion-Sensor Bomb was designed after the same weapon in Perfect Dark. However, in the international version, the item's appearance and name were changed to the weapon from GoldenEye 007. The reason for this change is unknown.
Legacy
In 1999, 13-year-old Ricky "Gideon" Tilden started Smash World Forums also known as "Smashboards". In 2002 and 2003, the first tournaments began to appear on the website. These community sponsored events slowly grew, with certain tournament series proving to be milestones within the community.
In March 2003, the IVGF NorthWest Regional Gaming Festival and Tournament was hosted, the first corporate sponsored tournament. It was held in Seattle, Washington. 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.[3] In 2004, Super Smash Bros. Melee was added to Major League Gaming’s (MLG) tournament roster.[4]
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 [5]. In two separate issues, Nintendo Power covered the independent and corporate Smash scenes, including Smashboards, MLG, and FC3.[5][6] Shortly thereafter, MTV ran a special titled True Life: I'm a Professional Gamer featuring MLG Pro Smasher KillaOR. [7]
Ken Hoang, the winner of MLG's 2004 and 2005 National Smash Championships, was generally hailed to be the best player in the world for several years, having traveled internationally to play and defeat the best opponents.[8]
In 2007, Melee was added to the Evolution Championship Series roster.
Since its release, Melee has been on the top 10 best selling GameCube games every month, save one month its fell off, the entire run of the GameCube, only not appearing after Nintendo Power replaced the top selling GameCube games with top selling Wii games.
Critical reception
| Compilations of multiple reviews | ||
|---|---|---|
| Game Rankings | 90% (based on 72 reviews)[9] | |
| Publication | Response | |
| GameSpot | 8.9/10[10] | |
| GamePro | 4.5/5[11] | |
| GameSpy | 4.5 Stars out of 5[12] | |
| Eurogamer | 10/10 [13] | |
| Gaming Age | A[14] | |
| G4 X-Play | 5/5[15] | |
| IGN | 9.6/10[16] | |
Super Smash Bros. Melee received very positive reviews from most critics, including a 9.6/10 from IGNCite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page)., 90% at Game Rankings [17]
Many reviewers felt that the game was vastly improved over its predecessor with more customization and characters as well as more polished graphics and improved gameplay. Fran Mirabella III of IGN in particular noted the additions of the Event and Adventure modes, which he said added hours and hours of single player gameplay.[18]
Awards
- Super Smash Bros. Melee has placed sixth in two GameFAQs events: the "Best... Game... Ever." contest, and a poll of the 100 best games ever.[19][20]
- 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.[21]
- Nintendo Power named Super Smash Bros. Melee the 16th best game ever to appear on a Nintendo console.[22]
- SSBM was awarded the 2001 "Game of the Year" by Nintendo Power
- In 2007, it was named 3rd best GameCube game of all time in IGN's feature reflecting on the GameCube's long lifespan.[23]
- In the 2001 Penny Arcade Award Ceremony, listed as 3rd best game of the year as "Best Reason to Have Friends"
Soundtrack
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 was released for sale only in Japan. It is not music taken directly from the game like most video game soundtracks but, rather, a live, orchestrated performance by the New Japan Philharmonic of many of the songs from the game.
See also
References
- ^ Mirabella, Fran. IGN: Super Smash Bros. Melee Review. IGN. December 3, 2001. Retrieved April 19, 2006.
- ^ http://www.nintendo.co.jp/n01/n64/software/nus_p_nalj/smash/flash/0717/index.html
- ^ http://www.gotfrag.com/cs/story/10451/
- ^ http://www.mlgpro.com/?q=node/50132
- ^ a b Andy Myers (October 2005), Smash Takes Over, Nintendo Power
{{citation}}: Text "Nintendo Power, Issue 196, Page 106" ignored (help); Unknown parameter|access date=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ Andy Myers. (September 2005), Smash Planet, Nintendo Power
{{citation}}: Text "Nintendo Power, Issue 195, Page 76-79" ignored (help); Unknown parameter|access date=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ KillaOR in "True Life: I'm a Professional Gamer"
- ^ http://dpad.gotfrag.com/portal/story/32773/?spage=2
- ^ http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/516492.asp?q=melee
- ^ http://www.gamespot.com/gamecube/action/supersmashbrosmelee/index.html?tag=result;title;1
- ^ http://www.gamepro.com/nintendo/gamecube/5400/info.shtml
- ^ http://cube.gamespy.com/gamecube/super-smash-bros-melee/
- ^ http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=3047
- ^ http://www.gaming-age.com/cgi-bin/reviews/review.pl?sys=gamecube&game=ssbm
- ^ http://www.g4tv.com/techtvvault/features/35048/Super_Smash_Bros_Melee_GCN_Review.html?detectflash=false&
- ^ http://cube.ign.com/articles/136/136387p1.html
- ^ Game Rankings - Super Smash Bros. Melee (Retrieved April 3 2006)
- ^ http://cube.ign.com/articles/166/166387p1.html
- ^ Best. Game. Ever. Bracket. GameFAQs. Spring 2004.
- ^ 10-Year Anniversary Contest - The 10 Best Games Ever. GameFAQs. 2005.
- ^ Semrad, Steve. The Greatest 200 Video Games of Their Time. 1UP.com. February 2, 2006. Retrieved May 27, 2006.
- ^ Nintendo Power #200
- ^ IGN GameCube Team (2007-03-16). "The Top 25 GameCube Games of All Time". IGN.com. Retrieved 2007-03-18.
