Publisher: Nintendo

Developer: HAL Laboratory, Inc

Release date: December 2nd, 2001

Genres: Action

Super Smash Bros.: Melee Review

Still great even after five years!
Full Review

Written by Andrew Gray

Posts

Unknown
This is one of the greatest Gamecube games ever made.

Vortex
It IS the greatest GameCube game.

Captain Jamesman
No shit! This was the first Gamecube game I ever got, but the 2nd one I ever played. This game made my dream a reality, then Brawl will give me more.

FoolKilla
This is one of the most trusted games ever made and stands to be my favorite fighting game ever.

Captain Jamesman
I loved everything about Melee, except for 2 things. The characters never had special attacks like the people in Street Fighter & Darkstalkers, but they will in Brawl. And Giga Bowser & Master Hand were never playable! I thought playing as Giga Bowser would be cool. Maybe he'll be playable in Brawl.

Scooby!_Jew
This game friggan rocked for the longest time I've ever seen a game rock. My friends and family still play this game at every party some 5 years later. And Captain Jamesman: If Giga Bowser is going to be playable in SSBB then they'll greatly reduce his size (most likely), his power and possibly even some of his abilities.

Captain Jamesman
Well Scooby Jew, you are kind of right but it'd still be cool to have him playable. He'd still have to be more powerful than the Bowser we know of course. Still, Giga Bowser or no Giga Bowser, this game was really great. Believe me!

jskrdude
The BEST game for Gamecube. It has awesome gameplay and it is easy to learn. It is way better than Super Smash Bros 64 (which is still one of the best games I've played). I wonder how good SSBB will be. I'm interested to see how they use the wiimote in it.

Captain Jamesman
Actually jskrdude, Smash Bros. Brawl won't use the Wiimote, but instead use a Gamecube or Wii's Virtual Controller.

Ja-Mez
Ahh Captain Jamesman, that's where you're wrong. I saw the controls for Brawl with the WiiMote and the Nunchuck. Technically, you can play it without a Nunchuck but I think I'll go for the virtual control.

Yoshi-1up
This is a MUST-HAVE! Best game ever on Gamecube. The character selection is amazing. So many characters to choose from. Many different things to do on it. Hours and hou-. Months and months of fun XD yea son.

Jax
This is such a great game. N64's Super Smash Brothers was good, but this is so much better. I am therefore going to get it on my Wii. I can't wait to own it myself.

Wii Freak
N64 Version sucked!

Captain Jamesman
*whacks Wii freak on the head with a hammer* the n64 version did not suck! Without it, there would be no smash bros! So you better start liking it before I hunt you down!

Wii Freak
Captain Jamesman you're not the boss of me. Other people have different opinions and they can say what they want and think what you want. SO LEAVE ME ALONE! Please.

Captain Jamesman
You think I'd really boss you around? I'm only kidding! My friends sometimes kind of pull that shit on me sometimes. Sorry if I hurt your feelings Wii Freak (I'm serious. I am sorry!). My mind can easily get the better of me. But still, the n64 game didn't really suck, it only had sucky graphics. So let's just forget these harsh words and just be friends. Okay?

Wii Freak
I was never your friend!

cmk
Wow! Look at the friendship! The forgiveness! You don't see that on a sony board folks. By the way, why hasn't this game gone down in price? Its been $30 for freaking EVER.

Gonzo
I love this game. It's soo fun. They better come out with a game like this for the Wii.

Hey
I hope SSBB will improve on the previous Smashes.

Captain Jamesman
Dood'm serious! I'm terribly sorry, okay. Whenever I say stuff like that, don't really think that's really going to happen. Okay, so maybe what I said was pretty heart breaking, but I have to deal with it all the time, and it rubs off on me. I just get real mad when I hear stuff that really downgrades the game, if you know what I mean. So let bygones be bygones and move on.

giga bowser
It is ever funner if you use debug menu.

due origin
Can you play this on the Wii using wiimote?

Gamer guru
No, but guess what? I looked up the SSBB character select and SONIC'S on there! And Wind Waker Link, Tingle, Krystal, Diddy Kong, Bomberman and Banjo and *pantpantpant*. And Chibi-Robo! And Tom Nook! And finally, Captain Olimar! All our Dreams have come true.

Captain Jamesman
Hold on there Gamer guru, don't waste your breath. Just where exactly did you find this info?

Wii Freak
And Rayman, Petey Piranha, Paper Mario and many more! This is going to be the BEST game For Wii.

Unknown
Okay, I can believe the some of the characters you said. But, Chibi-Robo, Tom Nook? C'mon. If you're telling the truth, where did you find this info?

Captain Jamesman
What!? You too Wii Freak? Can one of you just tell me where this info came from?

Wii Freak
I found out on youtube.

Gamer guru
Go to Google, type in Super Smash Bros. Brawl Character Select, and see the glory! And yes, Unknown, Tom Nook and Chibi-Robo did seem illogical.

Unknown
Fake, fake, it's all fake. I saw the picture. It's just nothing but pictures of characters into little boxes. I mean c'mon, Geno? And who the heck is little mac? By the way, I didn't see Chibi-Robo.

Captain Jamesman
If you were smart enough, you'd see that those screenshots are fake. Random people make those just to fool you. You need to wait until they have an official screenshot or video showing this. Plus if they were in it, their artwork or appearance would be different. Now here's a character I would want on Brawl. The lovely & beautiful Nature Goddess, NAKORURU!

Gamer guru
But remember SSBM? We didn't know about Mewtwo, Falco, and Ganondorf as characters, did we? So these new characters "Wiil" be unlockable!

Unknown
Just because the characters on the picture are there doesn't mean they will be in the game. I mean there are six Fire Emblem characters on the picture.

Splintercell4ever
Anyone who thinks the original sucks is a total noob! The original is the best and will probably stay the best in the series. It brought a unique fighting game to the N64. In addition, it is likely responsible for the Metroid series being brought back.

Captain Jamesman
You could be right on that case Splintercell4ever. There were only 3 Metroid games back then, so SSB was Samus' 4th game. You think maybe that anime announcer girl from BS Super Mario Bros 3 in japan will be the host of Brawl? Whoever lives in japan (except me, I live in US) should know this if they had SNES & the BX program.

Wii Freak
The only character I need to unlock is Mr Game and Watch. How do you get him?

Sonic Fan
Just keep doing Melee mode until you face him.

Captain Jamesman
You need every single character before him in order to unlock him. It's tough, but it's the only way. You can also get him by playing melee mode 1000 times. Dead Serious! I'm the master of Smash Bros (even though I don't have all trophies yet, and I started to suck since I've played too many fighting games like Street Fighter).

Wii Freak
I bet no one has all the Trophies yet.

Unknown
I have all the trophies. Using action replay.

Captain Jamesman
Cheater. Don't you think it woulda been better EARNING those Trophies? I forgot to ask, do you get something special for collecting all the Trophies?

Wii Freak
I think you unlock the master hand. My friend told me that.

Unknown
1) No, it's better to cheat. Less frustrating. 2) No, you don't get something special. Just a message saying "You have all trophies" (I wish you could unlock Master Hand).

Gamer guru
Master Hand would be kind of hard to handle, with all the RAAAAAGGH! And stuff.

Captain Jamesman
I only use cheats for unlockable characters, mini-games, etc. For something like actual stage levels and all that I do on my own. That's the way of the video game masta!

Unknown
I know what you're saying. The only cheats I use are like infinite money or ammo. I unlocked all the characters without cheats (with a little help).

Wii Freak
I just unlocked Mr Game and Watch yesterday.

Gonzo
I've never had a gamecube, so I was about to get this for my Wii. My mom didn't want to get it because I had to get a gamecube controller.

itstimetoplaydawii
The best part about this game is kicking the crap out of the pokemon (who doesn't want to do it?).

stinky12694
What is the deal with no original ssb on vc?

Ian C
I have all the characters even mewtwo.

Wii Freak
I don't think mewtwo is the best character.

Toad
You know what's weird? My best player is ZELDA. Not sheik! Weird, but I'm the best with her.

Captain Jamesman
They haven't announced that yet stinky.

Ian C
Mewtwo fights good, only flaw is that he moves a little slow. Also it took me a year and 2 months to unlock all the characters.

Wii Freak
Bowser is very slow at walking.

Mr Wii
All of this is true but I think Brawl is going to be twice as fun.

Luigi
I've always liked side fighting games but this one is awesome. I'm best with Link and Mr GameandWatch.

Wii Freak
I can see Paper Mario in SSBB. Using his hammer, doing a ground pound.

Operative Snake
This IS the best GCN game ever made.

Ian C
In SSBB there is a super attack, Mario shoots a "kamehameha" type fireball. Link does a barrage sword attack and Wario is atomic fart ha ha.

Wii Wii
This game was the shizzzz. But brawl is going to take over its shizzzzz. Lol!

Wii Freak
In SSBB they should have a bowsers castle's stage.

Parker
This game sucks I don't know why you all praise it. There are so many better games on the cube.

Captain Jamesman
Stay out of this Parker! You are nothing but scum to us with words like that. Anyways, what I was going to say. I think the villain for Brawl should be Mario's ultimate enemy, the monster that was meant for Final Fantasy, Culex!

Wii Freak
Who's culex?

Splintercell4ever
Actually, Parker has a point. While all you guys are forming a covenant with the super smash bros series, other games (e.g. Resident Evil 4) are getting no attention. RE4 was way better than melee, since RE4 is often top 10 lists of greatest games.

PHiRE
Melee didn't do much for me either to be honest, I sold it after a while. I'd take RE4 or Killer7, or quite a few other gamecube games before this.

Captain Jamesman
Well, if that's what you all say. But still, Smash Bros is a legend. It can't be lower then any game in my opinion. And to answer Wii Freak's question, Culex was the ultimate boss from Super Mario RPG for SNES. He was said to be from the Final Fantasy World, but he ended up in Mario's World instead. That's all I can say about Culex. He is a very powerful adversary, not to be taken lightly.

Elementrat
Simply put: Melee and RE4 were the reasons to own a Gamecube.

BonbonJoe
This game (series) = my entire childhood.

CaptainF
To stinky, ssb is not on vc because brawl is coming out and they're going to milk it dry because they will get $50 a pop for brawl and a mere $10 for the original. So don't expect it to come to vc until months after brawl.

Sonic Fan
I kept playing Super Smash Bros for the N64 but I could never unlock Luigi or Ness. How do you unlock them?

stinky12694
I hope there is a special edition brawl package, tin case, pimped out classic controller and simultaneously on that day: vc release of ssb 1.

Captain Jamesman
To unlock Luigi, you need to beat the "break the targets" challenge with all 8 Starter characters. And to unlock Ness, you need to beat 1 Player Mode in Normal Mode, 3 Lives,& ABSOLUTELY no continues.

GF-Goldenfox
This was (and still is) the greatest gamecube game ever.

GClover
I just bought game cube because of this game and legend of zelda twilight princess.

Captain Jamesman
GClover, if you got a Wii you wouldn't need a Gamecube any more. But I respect your decision to get a Gamecube. I mean, Gamecube was one of the greatest systems out there.

Stonecycle
Try the debug menu. You will find a single ice climber, Giga Bowser, the hands, the wireframes and sandbag. So I know who is on there.

Ril-eh
Man, I loved this game and the whole series. I hope they add new franchises to brawl, like Animal Crossing and Pikmin, possibly even the Legend of stafy (japan exclusive). Anyways, Melee has the best replay on the cube ever, if you don't own this game go and ask your mother what's wrong with you and buy a copy of course.

Dox
First of all, what is this debug menu thing? I here about it everywhere! Second, can people post there favorite characters? I'm just curious. My first is falco and second is the highly underated young link.

Wii Freak
Brawl's going to be sold out for months.

GerLd
Super smash 64> Melee all day.

Nessticle
This game was nothing compared to the N64 version. They made it way to flashy and screwed with the timing on most of the returning characters moves. I have beaten it entirely, and still play the N64 version on a daily basis. I hope they don't make the same mistakes in SSBB as they did in melee.

Chain Gang Soldier
Hey can you unlock giga bowser in this game because he's awesome.

Sonic Phantom
You can't Chain Gang Soldier, a lot of rumors say you can but it turns out they're wrong. If he's in Brawl (which is unlikely) then you might be able to fight him. But unlocking him, I highly doubt you can.

Mr Brightside
Is it true you can unlock Toad if you hit every credit in the thing after you complete adventure mode?

Sonic Phantom
Again Mr Brightside, you can't unlock Toad even if you hit all the credits. Like another person said that if you kill a lot of opponents in Crul Mode then you can fight Sonic and Tails simultaneously, then if you beat them both they will be playable. But unfortunately, it turns out to be an April Fools Joke. That's why a lot of people want Sonic in it. I still think that Sonic is going to be in Brawl.

flame sphere
Sonic phantom you can unlock giga bowser in brawl (sorta), it's bowser's final smash (super special move).

ssb fan45
The only people who are going to be on this so called brawl will be Nintendo characters, not microsoft, not sony. Also there's only 15 people on ssbm, when I unlocked game & watch, it said you have unlocked everyone in the game.

BrayDogg-Master
Game is still the best even almost 7 years later. Classic. Everybody wants Sonic, I don't care about diddy kong and those other suckers.

Crimson Hawk
I absolutely ROCK at Kirby (he's so cool), my annoying combos are cool too.

Captain Jamesman
That was mean BrayDogg! Diddy Kong is awesome.

superSMASHmaster
Actually, you can unlock master hand and crazy hand if you use the debug menu [action replay required]. You can get giga bowser, the wireframes and even sandbag too (he doesn't do anything). If you need the code for the debug menu and you have an action replay ask me. By the way you can fight melee battles in unusual non-melee places like adventure stages, race to the finish, the trophy bonus stage, the home run contest arena and every characters target test areas. It never gets old.

Frank
I have noticed some patterns. A little after the zelda series landed on Wii, the n64 version of that game oot game out on the vc. Another example of this pattern is super paper mario (wii) and paper mario (n64) coming out a little later. Pattern #2, super mario 64 comes out on the vc early as an appetizer for super mario galaxy which comes out nov 08. To sum it all up, n64 games only hit the vc if the version of that game will not come out for a while, or if the Wii version of that game has a lot of hype that will rub off on the n64 version, increasing its sales. This means that the star fox, captain falcon and mario kart series won't hit the Wii for a long time to come. On a different note, I saw someone ask what my best character was in ssbm. I have constructed a list that goes from best to worst in skill when I play my friends. Here is the order of my 5 friends who play ssmb and me. Falco, Fox, Shiek, Luigi, Captain Falcon, Roy.

iceclimberbeastx3
I love this game. I hope ice climbers are in brawl.

SSBB Obsession
This is one of the greatest games of all time! It is the heart, mind, and soul of the gamecube and no game since has captured that same feeling you've had when you throw a person off that stage. We will have that feeling again when Super Smash Bros Brawl comes out December 3rd, 2007. Let's hope for a 4th peoples. For some reason Super Smash Bros Revolution sounds catchy.

WiiNinja
This was Gamecube's golden moment. It's a good thing the Wii is backward compatible. Otherwise I'd not let go of Melee easily. I can't wait for Brawl! Wi-fi multiplayer.

insultman911
I'm going to play this game until I get brawl.

insultman911
In this game, luigi does not sound like himself.

no name
I'm still playing it and I even have a Wii.

insultman911
In the event that you battle the giant yoshi, it's possible to beat the yoshi in 00:00:55. I didn't have to attack it! It will fall down by itself.

unknown
This game isn't all that great. If you've played the N64 version and are actually good at it, then you won't like melee. The gameplay's actually a lot different from the original one but you'll only notice if you're actually good at the original version. When I was just a noob at the original one and melee came out, I thought melee was a huge improvement. A lot more maps, different modes, and many new characters. However, I did not buy a gamecube so I just kept playing the original super smash brothers and got a lot better at it. Now when I play melee, I can see a huge difference in the gameplay. There's not as much strategy involved and everything is too packed together on screen. Also the gamecube controller is a piece of crap. The new modes and map are cool but the new characters aren't. True there are a lot of characters but they have bad voice acting (pikachu, ness, luigi) and there are too many clones (pichu, young link, falco, etc). If you're actually good at the original super smash brothers, you won't like this version at all.

WiiNinja
Frank, my best character(s) is/are the ICE CLIMBERS! It's so much fun to annoy everyone because they underestimate them in the first place. It's funny when people try to grab one, but they grab the partner instead! I like Nana better than Bobo (red costume). One question: Does one Ice Climber do more ice damage than the other one? Oh well, they dominate all the same.

Dark Star
Melee is probably the best game on the gamecube. The perfect sequel to the first. The series actually assisted many games. Samus was revived to have many games from the first Smash Bros. And Melee may have been the reason Fire Emblem has become so successful. I find it interesting that Melee is the only game that I can think of at all that Fox's eyes are blue. All others are (in early games) black or green.

WiiNinja
Well, I checked, and for Smash Bros Brawl, Fox's eyes ARE green. That's too weird, and to think Link had brown hair when the first Legend of Zelda came out.

WiiNinja
Four words: Ice Climbers are in.

Gamecube
In Brawl, Bowsers super atack is turning into giga bowser. Newcomers up to date: Wario, Zero suit samus, Pokemon trainer, Diddy kong, pit, Ike And Meta Knight. Go to supersmashbros. Com monday-friday for info an updates everyday.

Gamer guru
And now snake, so all the character updates to follow will either be from melee or newcomers.

WiiNinja
Wooo, if the original Smash Bros comes out on VC, I'll have all three by December Third! Only 68 days left (from 9/25).

Splintercell4ever
Wow, I love all these noobs who have never played the original. Such HARDCORE fans of the series.

WiiNinja
I played the original yesterday. I hope it gets on the VC soon.

gamer guru
Curses. Brawl is being delayed to February 10th (yes, February does have a silent R in it). On the bright side, the box art has been confirmed as THE box art for the game, Sonic is in Brawl, there is Wi-fi play, you can save screenshots, you can make videos of brawls and home run contests, there's a stage creator through which you can get a new custom stage over the internet EVERY DAY, there's "break the targets" FTW (whatever that means), and so much more yet to be revealed.

Gamer guru
I heard there is going to be a brawl channel on the Wii just like the Metroid prime 3 channel? Any truth to this?

DKX900
No idea about the Channel but hey, this game is going to be big. If they charged admission to the Smash Bros Dojo they'd all be millionaires. Luckily they don't but who cares. Another 4 months wait.

Smash Champion
Wii's World really needs to delete all of the old posts on the Brawl page so the dedicated people like us (well SOME of us) can continue posting there. (The most recent post on that page is like 6 months old!).

Joewii
I loved playing original smash bros but I let my cousins borrow it and Rampage 2. Next thing I knew they sold all their N64 stuff (including my 2 games) to buy a gamecube. *cries a little*. But now I have a Wii and got ssbm for it a while ago, and am pumped for Brawl.

hbh
I can't wait for brawl, melee was great.

doglover
Captain Jamesman, in brawl Giga Bowser will be Bowser's Final Smash.

Wii Freak
So far brawl got 1 review and it got a perfect score from famitsu. 40/40. That's the 7th game to do so in that magazine.

Wii Freak
If Nintendo puts super smash bros N64 on the vc, many people will download it but not play it due to all the content in brawl.

davyt 0247
Love Melee, unlocked all characters, save for Game & watch and Mewtwo, (To unlock Mewtwo, you have to rack up 20:00 hours of combined vs Play). I really hope Krystal is in brawl.

Lay-Z Boy
I do not play this game any more. It is nothing compared to Brawl. This game has clones. Still, it once was my favorite.