With Super Smash Bros 4 coming out for the 3DS and a highly anticipated Wii U version in November, many fans take time to remember where it all began. Although Super Smash Bros for the N64 was the first title in the series, many of today’s youth remember Melee as the game that made the series so popular. With an impressive 25 character roster and more modes to boot, the series took off with the GameCube release. Another monumental factor of Melee was its popularity in tournaments, the speed and intensity at which the game could be played made it attractive to competitive players not to mention the use of characters from several beloved Nintendo franchises.
Some characters are remembered from Melee and others best forgotten. Although the game made use of more characters from games like Fire Emblem and even Ice Climbers, many of the characters had very similar move sets making the only real difference between them the name and costume of the character. For example Dr. Mario and Mario may be very different characters in terms of the style in which they are played, based on the game they’re from, but when looking at Smash Bros their only unique qualities are the items they throw. Dr. Mario throws pills and Mario throws fire. However, others stood out and have remained with the franchise and been included in the 3DS roster. Marth is one such character, the prince hero of Fire Emblem, as his speed and sword based attacks were a powerful combo as long as he didn’t fly to far off the stage. Yet other characters were so well loved that their absence in later games made Melee recognizable because of them. Mewtwo although unlocked through 20 hours of play, or 800 brawls, was popular for his power and renown in the Pokémon series, however he was not present in Brawl nor is he available in the 3DS version.
Super Smash Bros Melee is part of almost all Nintendo fans childhoods and despite its release being more than a decade ago its legacy lives on. Super Smash Bros Brawl allowed for the use of GameCube controllers, in order to accommodate those who preferred a handheld rather than the motion triggered Wii remote. In fact the Wii U version of Smash Bros will have a GameCube adaptor. Super Smash Bros Melee is part of almost all Nintendo fans childhoods and despite its release being more than a decade ago its legacy lives on. ❖
Logan Conrad/Copyeditor
