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INTRODUCTION: FEATURES:
OVERALL GAMEPLAY: The Nintendo 64 version of the game had great multiplayer, but the single player game lacked depth and wasn’t very exciting. If you didn’t have a couple friends over SSB mainly stayed in the closet. HAL immediately recognized this problem and set out to create an amazing single player mode that gives Smash fans everything they could ever dream of. The main modes are Adventure and Classic. Classic mode is a more fleshed out version of the original single-player mode. You move from arena to arena fighting a semi-random set of characters until you reach the final boss. Intertwined between the fights are bonus stages such as Break the Targets, Race to the Finish, and the all-new challenge that has players attempting to knock falling trophies into a container in the center of the ring. Indeed it feels very classic and true to the N64 version. In an attempt to give lone more action for their money, Nintendo has created the Adventure mode which is definitely a retro-gamer's dream come true. Basically this mode combines side-scrolling exploration with arena fights. Everything falls under a specific theme, so you'll pounce on Goomba's heads and perform lots of platform jumping to reach Princess Peach's Castle (the same one from Super Mario 64), where you will have to duel with Mario and Princess Peach to advance forward. As you progress you'll explore a dungeon from Zelda, race out of the self-destructing Planet Zebes, and fight over the Green Greens of Kirby's Dreamland. It still has plenty of arena based fighting, but the exploration and platforming aspects are a refreshing departure from the more limited Classic mode. Unfortunately the adventure mode is the same for all characters, there aren’t separate levels for each mascot (but it is different from Classic mode). This is hardly all that's available in single-player mode, though. You can take all the characters directly to the Break the Targets stages and practice, brush up with the home run bat in the Home-Run Contest, or indulge in multi-man melees where you can attempt to defeat 10, 100, or even an endless amount of opponents. Finishing some of these modes such as the 15-minute melee will unlock special stages, so they are indeed well worth your time. Still not content with all these single-player options, the developers added the infamous Trophy mode. Throughout the game you can earn nearly 300 different trophies, all of them are gorgeously modeled -- and sometimes intentionally retro -- and can be viewed with text descriptions of their origins. You can even zoom in on them, rotate them with the C-stick, and change the lighting. With so many trophies, it's like a library of Nintendo's past franchises. The most rewarding part of Melee is of course the multiplayer modes. From the start you will have access to 14 characters, including: You might think that with all these characters some of them must be practically the same, but really they all feel quite different. There's a nice blend of speed and power with each character that translates into distinctive fighting styles. Even some of the secret characters, which are clones of some of the regular characters, feel different despite sharing the same moves. This leaves a lot of techniques to be explored and mastered. Along with these there are roughly 30 different stages to choose from. There are 11 main themes with two stages apiece. For example under Zelda you can fight at the Great Bay from Majora's Mask and in a Zelda II temple in Hyrule, or for Metroid you fight in a revamped version of Brinstar on Planet Zebes and then there's a secret level to unlock, which is extremely impressive (but we shouldn’t tell you that yet). As in the original, Melee allows you to create a custom set of rules for the matches. You can play Time and Stock (lives) based matches, but now there are new Coin and Bonus settings for a more unique type of play. In the coin mode the objective is to knock coins from your opponents and collect them up as fast as possible without losing to many yourself, kind of like the original Mario Bros. game. The wealthiest player at the end of the match wins. Bonus mode is a little different and has players competing for the bonus points. It's a truly odd way of playing, but refreshing now and then because it's so unpredictable. Of course, the game wouldn't be complete without a set of completely off-the-wall Special Melee modes. You can duel with friends in slow motion, fight as giants, and even face off in a unique Stamina Mode, which is based on hit points, making for a completely crazy match. There are a total of 10 melee types and they're all unique. Hardcore fans will be happy to know that you can now enter up to 24 different names and track every statistic possible including KO's, falls, longest distance jumped, how many times you KO'ed a certain buddy, etc, etc. With everything included in the game, did you really think such an important feature would be left out? Add to that an extensive collection of offensive and defensive items (and the ability to customize their frequency), and you've got one of the most addictive multiplayer experiences around.
GRAPHICS: Overall, Melee isn’t as impressive in graphics as it is in programming. There are a lot of physics calculations involved and the programmers did a grade “A” job of bringing it all together for a balanced play environment. More impressive, though, are all the particle effects and animations. Everything that moves creates a dust cloud and items and Pokémon all have discrete graphical touches. And, of course, all of the characters animate smoothly (and cleverly). It's all top quality work that you would expect from Nintendo. Featuring support for progressive scan TVs as well, it has all the options you would want.
SOUND: For sound effects Nintendo is of course top-of-the-line. All the players come with their own unique sound-bag of grunts, screams, and taunts. As well, many of the items carry different sounds that are always recognizable such as a charging Super Scope or the laying of a Proximity Mine. Everything blends together perfectly.
PCM's Impressions - 12/11/2001 Wow, it took me about 2 days straight of playing to unlock most of the game and I still had a lot left to go. So here are my feelings about the game piece by piece. . . Gameplay: My first play of the game was with a friend I sat down picked my usual Super Smash Bros. character and prepared to pummel him like usual. I was wrong. . . It might have had something to do with the fact it was Ganondorf vs. Kirby OR the fact that there are so many new moves and changes to each character. Each character was made more rounded. Unlike the last game where secret characters reign supreme over all of the others this on even characters like Jigglypuff can pack a lot of punch. After my severe beating I released I have to learn what changed in the game. So I headed over to adventure mode. While walking through the levels I learned the new features that characters could do: charaged attacks, dodges, over B attacks and the list goes on. . . I found adventure mode to be a real treat - it takes about as long as it takes 1 player mode in the original and it is like a 128 bit side scroller and it can be real fun. Classic mode I found enjoyable as well it is short it has the perfect battles and best of all variety. No more fighting Link everytime you start you actually get something differant every time. Multiplayer couldnt get any better you have the option of 25 characters close to 30 levels and then the variety of options you have to play in make the game all the more interesting. The controller fits the game perfectly and it makes a even more intense muliplayer. Graphics and Sound: You can tell HAL has spent a ton of attention to detail when making this game. Each character is very detailed. Mario and Luigi are perfect down to the stiches in their clothes and so forth. No more blocky characters like the 64 had it is now rounded and realistic. Each board looks amazing (espcially ones that take NES graphics and turn them 3-D) backgrounds all look really good as well - But it is fairly obvious not as much time was spent on some of them as the foreground. Each special attack especially flames look spectacular. In the N64 version flames looked drawn now they look fairly realistic. As for the sound, you could not ask for better sound at all. Almost every single track on the CD is a superbly remixed version of a Nintendo theme. If they ever do make a soundtrack it will definately be a coveted item. Multiplayer: It's one of the most fun multiplayer games ever. If you ever played the original you know what I mean. Sequel: You can't ask for more for a sequel from the N64 version but for a sequel from this one all I would want is. More secrets (characters and levels) and even more single player activites. But this version is perfect in itself. Additional Comments: Like Miyamoto promised Mario and Luigi have grown up. No longer are they the kiddish like we saw on the 64 they are now 3-D models of what they looked like from the SNES. All I can say now is I can't wait to see what he gives us in Mario Sunshine! -PCM
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