Written By Shaun McCracken
I'll cut to the chase right now: I'm writting this review in July 2004 despite the
fact that the game was released December 2001. It takes some time to get around
to playing and reviewing some games. When it comes to writing a review, if the game
is fairly old, I'll try to not to compare that game to more current offerings,
it's really not that fair. But I'm not going to BS you on this review, trying
to let you think that this review has been around for a year or so. But why am I
saying this?
Super Smash Bros. Melee is one of those rare titles on any game system that can
still be appealing and addictive even after two and a half years after it's inital release.
The gameplay still seems rather fresh, entertaining, challenging, and again, addictive.
It's also one of those games that has single player options that are just as fun and
entertaining as multiplayer options. Very few games can pull off that feat effortlessly.
If you're not familliar to SSBM (and that's either because you're new to the system
or have ignorantly decided to not to have any involvement with the game), it's (for the
most part) a sequel to the 1999 N64 edition of Super Smash Bros. . The idea of this (and the
N64 edition) game is to take Nintendo's most celebrated characters and toss them into
an orgy of fisticuffs. Characters such as Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Samus, Link, Kirby
and others take to the arena and beat the crap out of each other. And it's just as
fun as it sounds as well. While the original SSB was fairly entertaining to play,
it was more fun as a multiplayer game than a single player game. You were encouraged to
try and find up to four players and beat each other up seneseless, and it was fun.
But playing alone was just "okay", and after awhile, you kind of grew tired of the game.
That problem has been alliveated in SSB Melee, where single players can have as much fun as a group of
players, making this a better sequel.
The game design is much more simple that most fighting games. Moves really don't
require complex control manipulation (and some may not like that), and can be done
by pressing a certain direction and a button. But where the game lacks in moves is
made up in the items present in the arena, such as turtle shells, Super Scopes,
hammers and much more. You can punch and kick your advisaries, or hurl anything you
can find at them. This makes for a simple and accessible game that anyone can get into,
yet still be addictive and maintain a very frentic pace. And just because the game
is easy to get into does not equal an easy game, especially where the single player mode is
concerned. There are many challenges and gameplay modes that can range from simple to
frustrating, and really does add longevity to the game. For the multiplayer mode,
it all depends on who you play against.
Speaking of modes, here's what you can experience in the single player modes:
Classic (typical arcade fighting mode with multiple stages to clear), Adventure Mode (like
Classic, but with some actual platforming stages thrown in), Event mode (try to clear
the objective given), Target Smash (one of the mini-games from Classic mode, try and
clear 10 targets as fast as you can), Home Run Contest (see how far you can make a punching
bag fly), Multi-Man Melee (fight against wireframe oppontents in given challenges), as well
playing against computer oppontents in the Vs. mode. On top of that, you can collect
numerous trophies by collecting coins or finding them in certain stages or bonus
stages. There are various multiplayer options as well, such as customizeable Melee
matches, specific Melee challenges (such as Tiny Melee where everyone is small)
and a championship mode for up to 64 players (of course only two can play at a time).
There's something for everyone to do, wether you're in a group or playing alone.
Visually, SSBM still holds up pretty well to current offerings, but not exactally
taking full advantage of the systems capabillities. The character models do look great
and are fairly well detailed, and it's markedly improved over the first Smash Bros.
on the N64. You place the character model of Mario from the N64 game to the current
game, and there is a huge difference. There's a nice variety of arenas, but there's
only a few that are actually pretty big. There's more compact arenas than larger
ones, and I'm not sure why that is. The textures are pretty good, and they should
be, since the most stages are pretty small. There's also a good number of particle
and special effects thrown in, such as fire, lasers, etc. . And everything is done
in what I beleive is 60 FPS without any major slowdown. In fact, it's fun trying to
make the game slow down because the framerate generally stays constant and smooth.
the only time I noticed a slight drop in the framerate is when there were 4 players on
screen, and everybody was chucking Pokeballs at each other. It takes a lot to make the
game stutter.
The sound is another great reason to pick up this game. I know it sounds weird
to recommend a game partly for the audio, but if you grew up with many of the Nintendo
characters here, you'll be pleased as punch by the remixed versions of classic Nintendo
songs. Some great standouts is the orchestral version of the dungeon song used in Zelda II
and the overhaul of Ice Climbers theme. There's a ton of familiar favorites, and all except
for the stupid DK Rap sound great. The sound effects are pretty entertaing as well,
with an assortment of whacks, slaps and thuds, on top of character voices. It's just fun to
hear the thud of smashing the hell out of Pikachu and hear him scream off the arena.
And even though this doesn't have Dolby surround support, it still sounds pretty
good in surround sound (or even stereo speakers).
Final Thought
Despite the game being over two years old and being first generation, Super
Smash Bros. Melee is still a must-have title for the Gamecube system. There's plenty
to do wether you play alone or with a group, and there's so much to find and unlock,
you really don't want to stop playing the game. It's easy to get into and hard to put down,
and this is a game only Nintendo could pull off, since they have the richest catalouge
of characters to use in a game like this. Despite the large slection of playable characters
in the game, there's still more that could be added in from Nintendo's history. Perhaps
we'll see more in a long-overdue sequel to SSBM, but still, this is one of the better
well-rounded experiences you'll enjoy.
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