Super Smash Bros. Melee (GameCube)

Nintendo unveiled Super Smash Bros. Melee at its E3 2001 press conference, to the collective awe of all the fans in attendance. The video reels displayed characters new and old to the series, several of which genuinely shocked the audience. What the footage alluded to, however, would become much more evident the following day, when the game was open for play to showgoers: that Super Smash Bros. Melee was a slightly updated version of its predecessor, one that had been given an extremely pleasing face-lift. Now that the game has been released, that much can be confirmed--aside from a few minor additions and alterations to the fighting system, Super Smash Bros. Melee plays exactly like its predecessor. But rest assured, this is certainly a good thing. Few games were able to match the maddening pace of its predecessor, while still remaining playable. Even fewer have been able to work that kind of feel successfully into a multiplayer mode, much less one that allows for four players. And when you consider the sheer amount of play modes, secrets, and extras packed into Melee, it becomes that much more enticing.

Super Smash Bros. has always been about extremely fast-paced multiplayer fighting, and Melee is no different. It's an experience that's at its best in the company of other humans. It's easily among the most inventive fighting games released in recent years, 2D or otherwise, and its accessible nature can often hide the reasonable bit of depth its fighting system offers. The game is very good at working wild cards, of sorts, into its matches, which can often change the tide of a battle in a moment's notice. The hammer item is a great example of this: A novice player could theoretically be getting pummeled by a trio of veterans, only to pick up the hammer and pound his or her way to victory within a span of a few seconds. The Smash Bros. system is very good at evening the odds in ways like this, and given the mad pace of the matches, you'll seldom notice until it's all over.

One of the original Smash Bros.' weaker areas was its single-player modes, or lack thereof. Aside from a halfhearted "story" mode, there really wasn't anything compelling, outside of the multiplayer game. Melee thankfully remedies this in many ways. The classic single-player mode is back, bonus stages and all, and the progression changes each time you play through it. The game is also pretty good at mixing things up by introducing several kinds of variations on the characters you'll fight. In one stage, for instance, you might encounter a giant-sized Yoshi, while another may pit you against a team of tiny Donkey Kongs, 15 deep. You can even add these kinds of parameters during multiplayer matches, but that's a whole other story.

The adventure mode is Melee's new variation on the single-player game. In it, you'll progress through a series of side-scrolling levels, all of which are based on or otherwise inspired by Nintendo's extensive and classic back catalogue. The first stage will take you through span of the Mushroom Kingdom that's inspired by the look and feel of the original Super Mario Bros., right down to the strolling goombas and patrolling koopa paratroopas. Another has you running down the lanes of F-Zero's Mute City, all the while avoiding the hazards of oncoming traffic traveling at 500mph. It's easy to let your heartstrings be pulled by these clever homages, but in the end, these adventure stages are really a hit-or-miss experience. Some, like the Super

A GameCube Classic

This game has been a beloved Nintendo staple since it's original release on the N64. It's a great gamer up and down, through and through. There are many modes of play, numerous characters from a variety of Nintendo games and the action is so chaotic and clustered with mayhem (in a good, fun-to-play way) that you'll have problems putting this down. Multiplayer modes make this game even more of a riot - you and your friends will likely laugh for hours, especially if you choose to beat down any of the Pokemon characters. I, however, do find two things that weigh this game down from achieving an excellent rating. First, the character selection might be a turn off for some gamers. Some who are drawn to Mario and Bowser, may not even recognize other characters in the game. Other characters, like the Pokemon monsters, seemingly just do not belong. Also, playing solo can become a bit repetative and boring - on the upside, there are unlockable characters and other such tid bits to keep you playing. All in all, a great game that anyone will have a hard time putting down.

Smash Bros. Melee

Having been born in 1990, I grew up in the generations of Nintendo and Sega. Unfortunately for SEGA, the given circumstances weren't very favorable and NINTENDO dominated in my life, as a result.

I grew to love the character of some of the most classic games. Characters in titles such as: the Mario Brothers, Star Fox, The Legend of Zelda, Super Metroid, Kirby's Dream Course, and many more. Having played the first game for Nintendo 64, Super Smash Bros., I knew I could have great expectations towards the newer title.

You get to choose to battle as some of the characters from the already mentioned NINTENDO titles: Link, Mario, Kirby, and even Pikachu from pokemon, for all those Pokemon lovers, such as myself. You can battle up to three other player, CPUs or friends and select a stage, or rather world, of one of these characters in which to do so. I did not materialize in my head the idea of a much better sequel to such a brilliance.

This title, Super Smash Brothers Melee, really went beyond those limits, on the Gamecube. To put it simple, many more items, stages, characters, and other secrets to unlock. The stages in this title provide the players with much more freedom. The items include: Pokeballs (pokemon), Maximum Tomato (Kirby), Full Heart Container (Zelda), and many more which could really help a player out in a pinch.

You could choose how many lives to use in a match, or how much time you want to battle for, or a combination of both. There are also other special options, which make battles more interesting, such as making all players relatively invisible, or to make everyone tiny.

Needless to say, this game provides hours and hours of family entertainment! The Back Ground Music in the stages is nostalgic and it's simply a must have game for any Nintendo lovers out there, who may have decided not to give this game a shot. I recommend this game to everyone who has a Gamecube, and/or a Wii. I bought this game so my brother could have the opportunity to experience this great title, such as I had years before.

Super Smash Bros: You want this game

I am not a huge fan of fighting games, generally. Sure, I played my share of Street Fighter 2 back in high school, but I'd never say I found it particularly addictive. You just had to know too many special button combos to pull off more than a handful of basic moves. That, combined with the cramped arenas and sluggish behavior of characters in most fighting games, has caused me to keep the genre at arm's length.

Super Smash Bros. Melee, however, is a whole 'nother animal. As fighting games go, the learning curve is not very steep at all. With only rare exceptions, every single move can be pulled off by either tapping a single button or by tapping a single button in combination with holding the joystick in a single direction. This frees players to focus more on tactics and less on trying to nail a pointlessly intricate button combination.

The levels, far from being the cramped and static affairs found in most fighting games, are expansive and dynamic, with lots of interaction and opportunity to take advantage of the terrain. Randomized item drops also help to keep things interesting, with everything from bombs to laser swords to poke balls that summon monsters to fight on your side.

Each match sports up to four players simultaneously, with team play also available. The AI is very tough at the higher levels, and suitably awful at the lowest, so you have a great degree of control over how tough your single player matches are. The real fun, though, is in playing this game with friends!

In addition to versus matches, the game features an arcade mode (where you fight a gauntlet of enemies to take on the final boss, a giant floating hand) an adventure mode (an unfortunately half-hearted attempt at making a platformer using the in-game engine), a bevy of challenge matches, and a highly customizable tournament mode. You'll probably spend the bulk of your time doing versus matches, however, as that is where you'll be able to unlock most of the game's secret levels and playable characters.

The bottom line: if you own a Gamecube (or a Wii, for that matter) and do not possess this game yet, you're missing out on one of the most enjoyable multiplayer games around. Do yourself a favor and remedy the situation immediately.

A great game for all ages!!!

This is game is posssibly one of the greatest games I have ever come across. The gameplay is extremely addictive and the best part is there is absolutely nothing wrong with it unless of course you consider cartoons fighting wrong. I mean it though there is no blood, no gore, no swearing, no skimpy girls absolutely nothing. Nintendo has proved that you do not need those things to make a great game. There are tons of modes of play whether you choose multiplayer or single player. Plus as a bonus the more you play the more places to fight and characters to use. If there is any game to buy your children this is it. But don't let that fool you older guys this game is awesome for everybody. I have seen whole groups of college students get together just to play this game.

This game recieved a 5/5 becuase of the unending fun gameplay and the fact that everyone can play it.