Memories #11: Super Smash Bros. Melee

The original Super Smash Bros. for the N64 was quite the surprise game. Given Nintendo's heavy family friendly stance at the time, the last thing you expected from the company was a game that threw twelve characters from The Big N's history in a game that had them whaling on each other with no explanation. But we ate every bit of it up. It probably helped that it was a four player brawler and that it was vastly different from anything we'd seen at the time. Instead of simply depleting your opponent's life bar as you would in a normal fighting game, you had to build up their percentage meter to knock them off the stage. The inclusion of items like Pokeballs and Mario's Hammer made the fighting all the more chaotic as did the interactive arenas. I played a lot of great games in 1999 and Super Smash Bros. was certainly one of them.

During E3 2001, I found out that a GameCube sequel to Super Smash Bros. was in the works under the title Super Smash Bros. Melee. In keeping up on the E3 coverage, our teacher let us log on to GameSpot and check out videos. One of the videos on GameSpot's website was the opening to Melee and it made the wait for the game unbearable. It was great to once again see my favorite Nintendo icons in spiffy visuals (a big step up from the N64) but Melee brought in a slew of new fighters like Peach, Zelda, Falco and Gannondorf. I vocally expressed my excitement as I saw Popo leap from platform to slippery platform, slip and nearly fall, only to be caught by his partner, Nana. Yes, Virginia, the Ice Climbers were back and I was the only one in my circle of friends that even knew who they were. 

These Nintendo characters are too busy
pummeling each other to care about
a little thing like impending doom from
the Moon.

Before gamers even got their hands on the game, word was quickly spreading that it was the same Super Smash Bros. with some new characters and a brand new paint job. Perhaps this was due to demo impressions from the press. Regardless, it seemed like everyone and their mother was screaming "REHASH!" at the top of their lungs. Because we all know the gaming press is never wrong, right? When Super Smash Bros. Melee was released on December 3, 2001, I went to my local Toys 'R Us to pick up my copy before work. I quickly opened it up marveled at the opening and started playing through the Classic mode of beating up Nintendo characters, similar to the single player mode of the original Super Smash Bros. After a few rounds of that, I tried out that new Adventure mode, which was a completely different animal. Adventure mode consisted of classic Nintendo themed stages, playing like a 2D platformer. Adventure mode played surprisingly well given Melee's controls and gameplay style. Not once did it feel akward or out of place. One minute I was stomping on Goombas in the Mushroom Kingdom, the next I was escaping Zebes, as a clock ticked town to the planet's imminent explosion.

The more hours and days I spent with Melee, it quickly became apparent that it was 1000 times the game it's predecessor was. Not only did Melee have a wealth of content, but the fighting was vastly improved over the original. Melee birthed the Smash Attack, a move that could be performed by pressing forward and A to send your opponent flying. What's more, the Smash Attack could be charged. The longer the charge, the further knock back that your adversaries would suffer. It was a brilliant new move and one players would come to rely on consistently.

Link avoids being roasted by Bowser.
Kirby isn't so lucky.

Melee was packed with so many modes and unlockables that it became overwhelming at times. New to the series were Trophies, little figures of classic Nintendo characters and items. Trophies could be acquired by playing through the different modes or by using the coins you've amassed to win some in the Lottery. There were Trophies of all 25 fighters and even tropies of characters that had nothing to do with the game. These characters and item Trophies ranged from well-known to obscure. What's more, each Trophy had info that you could read about it in the Trophy Gallery. I'm positive more than a few gamers had no idea who the Ice Climbers were at the time and the same could be said for Fire Emblem characters Marth and Roy, so having info to go along with the Trophy was quite useful. Collecting these Trophies became quite addicting and with nearly 300 to obtain, that alone was enough to keep me busy. The Trophies made Melee feel like a Nintendo museum, a tribute to Nintendo's wonderful games and history. It's still fun to look at the these collectibles and read up on them.

The inclusion of Trophies was one of
Melee's biggest draws.

Event mode tasked me with performing objectives under certain conditions. These started out pretty simple but reached rage quite levels of frustration later on. Time for a Check Up made me want to jump into my TV and choke Dr. Mario and Peach. I'm possivite the AI for this Event challenge had to be on 9 because it took me forever to take them out and even then, I think I won by dumb luck. This was only Event 35 out of 51 and I already couldn't believe how insane it was getting. And Event 51, The Showown? That was CRAZY! I had to fight Giga Bowser, Mewtwo, and Gannondorf on three life stock! Oh and and all three of them were on a team against me! I tried numerous methods to beat this challenge. Everyone says Jigglypuff is awesome and to use her, but she just didn't really work for me. Plus I hate her. I worked the ledge of the Final Destination stage with Marth and managed to win losing only one life. It was one of those times where accomplishment felt so good. Looking back, I'm amazed I cleared all 51 Events. I hear there are some out there that still haven't been able to do it.

Popo is about to find out what Kirby's
digestive system looks like.

Twenty five fighters was a sizable step up over the original's 12. There were familiar faces as well as not-so-familiar faces. Everyone knows who Mario and Luigi are, but Popo and Nana, the Ice Climbers hadn't been seen in a video game for fifteen years when Melee was released. Again, I was overjoyed to see the due return. It was even better that the Ice Climbers worked as a team and their jump sound effect was taken directly from their own game. Mr Game & Watch's inclusion was a wonderful tribute to Nintendo's first handheld gaming device. He even had stilted animation movements and used the same sound effects from the old LCD Game & Watch games. Some characters I could do without. Pichu was a weaker version of Pikachu who injured himself every time he attacked and Dr. Mario was just Mario in a doctor's coat.

Super Smash Bros. Melee is a game that gave me so much to see and do. One could literally spend years playing it and still not see everything it has to offer. I could go into Home Run Contest to hit the Sandbag as far as I could, endure all I can stand in Endless Melee, or just go to VS. mode and have a blast fighting with friends or the CPU. I still haven't unlocked every Trophy or got every notification. Considering that Super Smash Bros. Brawl wouldn't come out until 2008 and that I didn't get a Wii until 2010, it's a good thing that Melee was packed with so much stuff. I really did spend years playing it and having come back to it recently, I can still say that it's my favorite GameCube game.