Miyamoto Shrine > Nintendo Gamecube > Super Smash Bros. Melee Review

You could have said that Nintendo was caving in to it's fans demands when it first debued Super Smash Bros. in 1999, because before that date anyone would have told you there wasn't a chance in hell that a game would be created in which Nintendo mascots kick the snot out of each other. It did sound fun though, and it was.

The sequel basically corrects all the faults that the first game had, one of the things I hated about the game was the terrible graphics. Smash Bros. came in the middle of the N64's life and was full of terribly blocky characters and 2D power-ups. Of course Melee has fantastic graphics that add tons to the game, for the first time we can play a game in which the characters can be seriously compared to the advertising renders.

The game isn't just the N64 version with better graphics however, it has loads of new game modes including 'coin mode' where players collect coins by beating the money out of other players and the player with the most coins wins. Hal Labs have added a whole selection of other modes such as tiny mode, giant mode, lightning (fast) mode, slow mode, HP mode and loads of others. It kind of brings the N64 version's two fighting modes to shame.

Smash Bros. Melee also has loads of new (totally 3D) power-ups to spice things up a bit. There's the bunny hood from Majora's Mask, Mr. Saturn from Earthbound, a mushroom from the Mario series, a freezie from Ice Climbers and plenty more. The Japanese version even features proximity mines and cloaking devices from Perfect Dark! (in the US version they were changed and come from a "top secret" game)

Of course all these new modes and items don't matter if there aren’t any new characters to play with and Nintendo have added alot more than I would have expected them to. There's the two Ice Climbers from the old NES classic (check it out in Animal Forest +), Bowser, Shiek/Zelda, Peach (Princess Toadstool) and nine (yes, nine) secret characters that I won’t mention. There's a great diversity in the games that they're from but I'm rather disappointed that Captain Olima (Pikmin) and Banjo & Kazooie (Banjo-Kazooie) haven't made appearances.

The new arenas are much better than the old ones, they look much better and they have ten times more interactivity. In the Metroid level you can smash all the platforms off by attacking them, in the Mario level you can make platforms appear by headbutting blocks, in the Rainbow Road level you actually have to keep moving while the stage falls apart around you!

Sadly SSB: Melee is like all sequels to great games, you've played the first so much that the second lasts you less than half as long. The same thing happened with Perfect Dark because of how much everyone had played Goldeneye. The game speed has been increased to create more mayhem, while then Hal labs keep the block moves and add dodge moves is anyone’s guess, you have to be Jesus Christ to actually use the dodge button at all and the block was already useless.

A nice gimmick added to the game is the trophy mode, you can collect trophies by putting the coins you have collected into a lottery for them. You can collect coins by playing the 1-player game and also playing lots of multi-player matches. When you complete certain things in the game you will be given a trophy, for example when you unlock the second Earthbound level you get given a flying saucer trophy. The trophies are very well made 3D models and are a welcome addition to the game.

Overall
Andy Robinson: Unlike the first 'Melee has alot of appeal if you're just going to be playing it on your own, but if you and your friends played the first game to death then consider 'Melee as a expansion pack of the first game, because it will not last you as long.

Review written by Andy Robinson

<< Go Back to Miyamoto Shrine

Missed an Update? Click here!     Bored? Hit the Forums!