Super Smash Bros. Melee

Developer: Nintendo/Hal Labs
Publisher: Nintendo
The Game | Review | Ratings | GameTips/Secrets | Battle Games
Storyline: Super Smash Bros. Melee has no storyline to flow upon. The only guess I could make for a basic storyline is...


Players gather around to fight for the most trophies; to fight for the highest score; to fight for the right to defeat Master Hand; fight for the right to defeat the evil king Bowser; and rise above all in the largest battle-fest of all-star characters from Nintendo systems' games.

The Game....

In the previous Super Smash Bros., for Nintendo 64, players could duel out their differences from off-screen to on-screen with many of the current stars. Super Smash Bros. Melee listened to many Nintendo fans across the nations of Japan and the United States to put in many new characters, especially those thought to be the ones that would least likely show up. Characters such as Ganondorf, from the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time; Marth, from the Japan-only release of Fire Emblem; and Falco, from the Star Fox series. There are also many more battle, games, features, and this and that thrown in to the game as well: new battle types, new items, new moves, new changes to some levels. Well... enough of the talking, I'll get to the game information you came for.

Characters

One of the most important factors in a fighting game are the characters and their abilities. New combos, attack styles, and more come with the small disc with that load of data on it.

Mario is the first character in the lineup. Mario has been in over 64 videogames by Nintendo, and some not by Nintendo. Not only has Mario been in so many games, but he also is a high-scholar in many skills and traits. Mario, starting out as a plumber has become a pro-tennis player, a physician, a hockey player, a refferee, a missing person (I think I saw a milk carton with his face on it), and Mario has also been a pro baseball player. Mario's skills in the game are highly similar to his skills of the original Super Smash Bros. game. He has the signature bouncing fire ball, his tricky cape makes a comeback as a reflecting device and he still has that ability to take in others for a tornado attack.

Next down the line of characters we have the ever, and been around for less time than Mario, fearless, quick, daring, and... yeah, you know who he is! Pikachu, of course. Pikachu has appeared in many CREATURES, GameFreak and Nintendo games. I've, personally, only used Pikachu once in the game so far, I enjoy Link much better. Here's a rundown on this happy rodent's moves and tricks he has up his sleeves. If, for example, you were to have Pikachu stand under a platform and an opponent jumped onto the platform, you could perform Pikachu's powerful Thunder attack. The lightning would explode on the platform sending your opponent off the ground and possibly flying. Pikachu can also use his agility attack to gain a lot of speed, being held invincible in the process, to jump back onto safe ground.

Ladies and gentlemen, introducing one of my all-time favorite bad-guys, who I beat countless times in Super Mario Bros. (NES) and less times in Super Mario 64, the king of pure, dark evil himself, the one that commands mass amounts of evil creatures to destroy his arch enemy Mario, kidnap Princess Toadstool, the big, the bad, the one and only Bowser..... Hey, a big guy needs a big introduction. Bowser has appeared in almost every single Mario Bros. game that involved Princess Toadstool or Princess Daisy to be kidnapped. Bowser has also crashed several parties that the Mario stars hold, and he has also put his large spiked shell into a indestructable kart to race around tracks, only to gain more pleasure in blasting away more good-guys. Many fans asked, wished and wanted Bowser to become more of a player that smacking tennis balls or driving around on a kart next to the sandy shores of Koopa Beach; fans wanted to control Bowser's tough and rought strength to finally get the revenge he has always wanted on Mario. Even if Bowser is slow in the game, his huge, bigger than Hulk Hogan muscles far outweight any other characters in the game. He also outweights them in fat, but we can all look past Bowser's tendency to eat everything thrown at him. Bowser has the ability to slide along the ground for his running (what, you think legs that short and stumpy are good for running?). Bowser also can spin in the air, he can also breath flaming hot fire in an enemy's path. Bowser is also the last boss in Adventure Mode, which I'll cover later down below.

Mario's love, Princess Toadstool, or Peach, makes her debut as a fighting female in Super Smash Bros. Melee. Peach has been a playable character in recent years: Mario Kart, Mario Party series, Mario Tennis and other titles. Peach has the ability to slap her enemies around, be it with her long gloves, Toad, vegetables, or her umbrella; it hurts either way. When you jump with Peach you can have her float in the air as well, just like in Mario Bros. 2 (NES). Peach has low defense, so knocking her off the screen is fairly easy, but her attack and ability to evade attacks is pretty useful.

Next in line is Yoshi. Many Smash Bros. fans will remember Yoshi from the first game, others will remember Yoshi in his many GameBoy and Super Nintendo games. Yoshi has been in almost every Mario Bros. Game since the days of Super Nintendo: Super Mario World, Mario Party (one of my favorite characters in those games), Mario Kart and taking one of his best roles in Mario Tennis as a highly skilled tennis pro. Yoshi has three levels in this game, Yoshi's Island, Yoshi's Story, and Yoshi's Story Book from the original Smash Bros. game. When you fight with Yoshi use his egge making abilities to throw and make enemies into eggs so you can pound them with his strong red sneakers.

Following Yoshi is Nintendo's oldest game character, Donkey Kong. Donkey Kong first appeared in the Arcade Classic "Donkey Kong." If it wasn't for this primal ape there wouldn't be much of Nintendo to go around. And because he is around there are less bananas to go around as well. Donkey Kong lacks in the ability to jump high, but his strength and long arms allow him to move about fast while delivering high-powered punches and kicks. Donkey Kong also enjoys blasting enemies off the arena by charging up his Giant Punch and letting it go right on their face.

Captain Falcon is the next character on the line. Captain Falcon comes from the F-Zero series of high-tech racing, and he is also a bounty hunter for his job. Racing is his hobby. Captain Falcon is also in the N64 version of Super Smash Bros. Using his strong attacks (and surprisingly not his gun) and fast speed ability makes Captain Falcon a tough character to control, but easy to defeat. His defense is pretty low, which his speed and attacks make up for. He also can't jump very high.

Star Fox also stars in Super Smash Bros. Melee along with the Starfox ship giving two levels to play from Star Fox games. Star Fox uses many of his piloting and fighting skills to battle as a fast, evasive fox. Although he's not very good at fighting off large teams of enemies, Fox is very useful with one-on-one battles. Pull out his rapid fire gun or reflect projectiles thrown at you, or even burn your enemies with Fox's fire blast. Star Fox stars in several games, including two Star Fox games for SNES, Star Fox 64, and the upcoming Star Fox Adventures: Dinosaur Planet.

Straight from Onett is Ness, from the game Earthbound. Ness has learned the ability of PSI, the use of Psychokenetics to control various elements, which is where his PK Fire and PK Thunder come from. Ness was a hidden character in Super Smash Bros. for N64. Ness is the boy hero of Earthbound, a game where alien invaders come, seeming to be different from eachother, but turn out to be a large scale plan to take over the world - Ness defeats them. Here's a tip: use Ness' PK Thunder to blast him back onto the stage by moving it under or behind him.

Ice Climbers - Popo & Nana - join in the fun. Many old-timers, such as myself, of the earlier Nintendo games would remember the Ice Climbers game where players had to climb up large levels trying not to break too much ice and find their way to the top of the highest peak to defeat the giant bird controlling the weather. When you battle with these two pint-sized they will team up to cause a lot of damage - which is why they have low jumping abilities. Try to keep your character from getting smashed off the screen, Popo, or Nana will go with you.

Ever dream of having all the characters pushed into one? Of course, we all have: making his second appearance as a playable Super Smash Bros. character is Kirby. Kirby, in most of his videogames, has the ability to stuff enemies into his expandable mouth and copy their abilities, and in Super Smash Bros. Melee this can allow Kirby to be any character... Or at least use their smash moves. Such as, if you were to have Kirby swallow Bowser, Kirby will copy his ability to breath hot fire. Along with copying abilities Kirby will also copy the look of the enemy: Swallow Mario and Kirby will wear his hat and use his fireballs. His defense is also pretty weak, so be careful around strong enemies like Donkey Kong, Link and Bowser.

Four more characters left... Next we have the bounty hunter of beauty, Samus. She's better looking under the armor given to her by the bird people. Samus was also given a gun arm that allows her to use missiles, charged energy shots and a magnetic chain. Along with this, her armor has the ability to curl into the smallest ball, the size of a mine. Which is a coincidence, because that's another one of her weapons. Samus can float in the air, in a way: She can more glide than fly. Samus is a worthy character to train hard with, her power is strong, but she is also hard to learn very well.

Who's next? Well, a character not many would have expected until the large amounts of news about it on the internet - Princess Zelda. Princess Zelda first appeared in the very first ZELDA game, where the young boy Link had to rescue the young princess from the evil Ganon, but only after obtaining enough Triforces to make the Triforce of Courage. Link then made his way to the top of Death Mountain to defeat the Dark Prince. Princess Zelda would appear in most Zelda games, except for the GameBoy version of Link's Awakening and the Oracle games. Princess Zelda made herself known more when Ocarina of Time was released on N64, where gamers would find later in the game that her alter ego, Sheik, was actually Princess Zelda watching over Link on his quest. In Super Smash Bros. Melee Princess Zelda has the ability (by pressing down+b) to transform into her alter ego, Sheik. Sheik has the ability to perform very fast acrobatic stunts - while Zelda has the ability to use many magic spells. Use them both to play tricks on your friends and enemies.

Last, and my favorite, Link. I remember using Link for most of my battles in Super Smash Bros. for N64... and that still hasn't changed since Super Smash Bros. Melee dropped into my GameCube. Link has been the star of almost every Zelda game (with the exception of the CD-i games several years back). Currently, from the first Zelda game released in 1986, Link would be 16 years old in gaming years, but on the game he is 18 years of age. Look on the side margin to find Link's past-self, Young Link (or just Link). To really take advantage of Link's abilities you'll need to learn how to battle with technical use, instead of relying on pure strength and speed. Link comes with a load of weapons: Hookshot, Hero's Bow, Boomerang, The Master Sword, and a bag of Bombs. Each weapon can be used in many ways: long distance, short distance, or high powered attacks. Link is also a good character to use if you battle on a stage where there are many ways to get around the edges of a stage - such as Rainbow Ride where you can drop through the floors and jump back up with his Sword Spin attack (up+b).

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Review...

I'll start out by saying the controls were a little tough to learn at first. I'm more used to playing the Nintendo 64 version of Super Smash Bros., and with this new controller for the GameCube I had to adapt to its various controls. After a while I found the controls to be even more comfortable to play this game than the N64 version.

I always played as Link, sometimes Kirby and Mario in the N64 version, and that hasn't changed much with the release of Melee. Link is still my most used character, then it would be Kirby. I always liked using Bowser in his other games where players could use him (mario parties, mario kart, etc.), and now I can finally beat down Mario on his home turf with my favorite fire-breathing lizard.

The music fits well into the game, but I sometimes listen to other theme songs from other games such as Final Fantasy VII or VIII. (here's a hint: Hold "R" when entering a stage to change the music; eg.: Hold "R" for the Fire Emblem theme in Hyrule Temple.)

The next topic I would enjoy covering is the trophy feature. There are some things I found out about many Nintendo, and some non-Nintendo characters, from the trophy gallery. Also, if you obtain the Sound Test mode (under data, after gaining every level and every character and all 51 event matches) you can choose which music to listen to while viewing trophies.

- by Trinitum

Ratings (1-5)

Melee Battles:
Here are some ideas to play in Melee battles. Each have their own set of rules and items.

Mario Bros. Rumble:
Items: Super Mushroom, Poison Mushroom, Metal Block, Starman, Bombomb.

Rules: Team game; Bowser at lv.9; 3-player; characters: any, Mario, Luigi and Yoshi on same team against Bowser is a good one.

Places: Brinstar - the acid there acts like Bowser's fire.

Metal Clash:
Items: Metal Block, Cloaking Device, Motion Sensor, Beam Sword, Bombombs.

Rules: Every man for themself; swords mix with metal to provide powerful attacks; cloaking devices and motion sensors add to the mystery of the location of play.

Place: Brinstar Depths/Hyrule Temple - Brinstar Depths move around from Kraid's power and help move objects around such as Bombombs and motion sensors are harder to dodge. Hyrule Temple provides many places to hide motion sensors and allow trick attacking.

Fast Flying Flyers:

Items: Bunny Hood, Parasol, Screw Attack.

Rules: Every man for themself; the Bunny Hood allows players to move about faster. The parasol lets characters float back to the ground, and the screw attack is useful to make other players fly.

Places: Corneria, Venom, Mute City, PokeFloats, Big Blue. Corneria and Venom allow the use of the Star Fox ship to put players into high air. Mute City provides the atmoshphere of flying on a fast moving track. While Poke Floats and Big Blue constantly change making the ground different everytime.

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