Super Smash Bros. Melee

Super Smash Bros. Melee (also known by the acronym SSBM) is a fighting game for the Nintendo GameCube. It is the sequel to Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo 64 and the predecessor to Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii. Super Smash Bros. Melee is a very popular video game, making it the best selling game for the GameCube.

Super Smash Bros. Melee is a fighting game where various characters from Nintendo's popular franchises battle on different courses, also taken from Nintendo franchises. SSBM almost solely focuses on multiplayer mode, but also has many different single-player modes.

Gameplay
Players can use their attacks to damage other players. This causes damage, measured in percent. The higher the percentage is, the faster the player is knocked out. The damage can exceed 100%.

General Actions
Players move around on the linear, side-view stages using the GameCube Controller's control stick, and can jump by pulling the control stick up or pressing the X or Y button. It is possible to jump again in the air a single time. Some characters also have the ability to multi-jump in the air. By moving the control stick down, the player can crouch or move a layer down on the stage.

A basic punch is performed with the A button. When moving the control stick into a direction, the player can punch upwards and downwards or to either side.

Some characters have a special ability, which allows them to perform multiple punches on after the other when the A button is pressed repeatedly.

When the hit of the A button and the movement of the control stick are timed right, the player can perform a Smash Attack. These are very powerful, chargable attacks which cause a lot of damage. Each character's attack works a little bit different, and the Smash Attacks upwards and downwards are special, too.

Character Special Moves
Each character has his/her own set of special moves, which are performed with the B button. When moving the control stick in a certain direction, or not moving it at all, a different special move is performed. Most character's Up+B move involves jumping, which makes it possible to perform a third jump in the air to prevent the character from falling down.

Usage of Items
Randomly, items appear on the stage and can be used by the players. When the character is standing next to an item, the player can use the A button to pick the item up.

Some items have effects that are activated when the item is picked up. These effects involve reducing the characters's damage percentage.

Other items can be used as weapons. When holding it in the hand, a weapon can be used with the A button. With the Z button, or L or R in combination with A, the weapon can the thrown away. This thrown item can also hurt other characters when it hits them.

Shielding
When pressing the L or R triggers, the character's shield is activated. The shield is a bubble (except for Yoshi, where it is a Yoshi Egg) which protects the character from any attacks. The shield's power is decreasing every time it is used, and when the shield breaks, the character is unable to move for a short period of time. Light characters may even be knocked out by the shield break.

The character can also to do roll to the side to protect him/herself when moving the control stick while pressing L or R.

Grabbing and Throwing
When holding no item and standing next to another character, the player can press Z, or L and R in combination with A, to grab the other character.

The player can now attack the grabbed character, who is unable to respond, using the Z or A button, and can also throw the other character in any direction or smash him on the ground.

While being thrown, the character can hit and hurt other characters as well. The higher his percentage of damage is, the faster he flies off the screen.

Other Actions
In Single-Player Mode, the player can use the C-Stick to zoom the camera in or out.

In VS Mode, the player can move the C-Stick in any direction. The player's character then performs an uncharged Smash Attack in the given direction.

When pressing Up on the D-Pad, the player's character performs the Taunt move.

Rules Settings
There are four standard fighting modes in Super Smash Bros. Melee.

When there is a tie between two or more players in any of these modes, there will be a Sudden Death. It is a quick stock battle, where each of the players who are tied will fight. All start with 300% damage. The winner of the Sudden Death wins the match.

Time
Players gain points by knocking out other players, and lose points by going knocked out. When the time limit has run out, the player with the most points wins. It can be set by the player whether self-destructs cause players to lose 0, 1 or 2 points. A special function displaying the players' points during battle can also be unlocked.

Stock
Players have a set number of lives. They lose lives when getting knocked out. The last player standing wins. Optionally, a time limit can be specified. When the time has run out, the player with the most lives wins.

Coin
Players have to collect Smash Coins. Coins appear by hitting an opponent. When a player gets knocked out, he will lose half of his coins. When the time limit has run out, the player with the most coins wins.

Bonus
Players get points for their fighting style. There are 249 different kinds of bonus points. Bonus points can be simply for knock outs, for jumping a lot, for looking in the same direction all the time, for getting a rare Pokémon out of a Pokéball, etc. They often have humorous names. When the time limit has run out, the player with the most points wins.

Playable Characters
There are twenty-five playable characters in Super Smash Bros. Melee. Seven of them are from the Mario series.

Clone Characters
Super Smash Bros. Melee introduced a range of characters who were "clones" of other characters, meaning they have a similar moveset, however look different. All of these are secret unlockable characters. Unlike "regular" unlockable characters, the clone characters' spaces on the character select screen are completely invisible as long as they are not unlocked, instead of showing a question mark.

Stages
There are 29 selectable stages in Super Smash Bros. Melee.

Items
There are several items in Super Smash Bros. Melee. Some are from Mario games, and some from other games.

Mario Items

 * Barrel Cannon: It is used to trap a character inside, and then the barrel rotates, depending when the trapped character presses a button, he/she'll be fired out in a certain angle.
 * Bob-omb: It is used to throw it at another character to cause an explosion. If left on the ground for a few seconds, it starts walking around. If one walks into a character, it explodes.
 * Fire Flower: It is used to shoot fire at someone.
 * Freezie: It glides along the stage and can fall of edges. It can be destroyed before it has been picked up. The Freezie can be used to throw it at another player to freeze them in an ice block. Using fiery attacks will make them normal again.
 * Green Shell: It is used to throw. It slides along the ground, and can hit multiple characters.
 * Hammer: A massive hammer from Donkey Kong. If picked up, it can do great damage, but the player cannot double jump, nor can he/she drop the item. The head may fall off and be picked up and thrown.
 * Metal Box: It makes the player metal. They weigh a lot and cannot be thrown off the stage easily, but if he/she gets thrown off, it'll be harder to survive the fall.
 * Poison Mushroom: The opposite of Super Mushrooms. The player shrinks in size, gets easier to K.O., gets weaker but runs faster. He/she also gets more flexible and easier to miss.
 * Red Shell: It is much like the Green Shells, but does less damage and homes in on characters.
 * Starman: It makes the player invincible for a moment.
 * Super Mushroom: It makes the player double in size, and thus become stronger, harder to K.O., and slower, but easier to hit (due to the size) and less flexible.

Other Items

 * Beam Sword, from the original SSB. It can be used to hit other characters with it.
 * Bunny Hood, from the Legend of Zelda series. The character wearing it is faster and can jump higher.
 * Cloaking Device, from Perfect Dark. It makes the player invisible. The player also takes no damage from attacks, but is thrown away by them nevertheless.
 * Flipper, from Balloon Fight. It stops hovering in the air, creating an obstacle for players. It can also shoot back projectiles.
 * Food, introduced in SSBM. The player's damage meter is reduced by a small amount. The actual amount varies from Food to Food.
 * Heart Container, from the Legend of Zelda series. It reduces the player's damage meter by 100%.
 * Homerun Bat, from the original SSB. When a Smash Attack is performed with them, the hit character is knocked out instantly. It's used too in Homerun Contest
 * Lip's Stick, from Panel de Pon. The hit character gets a flower on their head, which is doing continuos little damage.
 * Maxim Tomato, from the Kirby series. The player's damage meter is reduced by 50%.
 * Motion-Sensor Bomb, from Perfect Dark. It stays on the ground and explodes when someone comes nearby.
 * Mr. Saturn, from EarthBound/Mother 2. They are used to throw at other characters. When they are catched by the player again, they do not vanish, and can hit the other character many times.
 * Fan, from SSB. It is used to smack other characters with. It is difficult to escape the Fan's hits.
 * Parasol, from the Kirby series. It can be used to hit other characters. When falling, the character holding the parasol glides down slowly.
 * Party Ball, introduced in SSBM. When it opens, items appear at random. There's a high chance that the items will be Food or Bob-ombs.
 * Poké Ball, from the Pokémon series. When it is opened, a Pokémon appears. The Pokémons' effects vary.
 * Ray Gun, also from the original SSB. It can shoot out laser beams.
 * Screw Attack, from the Metroid series. As long as a character is holding it in their hand, they jump just like Samus's third jump. When another character is hit by it, they also do that jump.
 * Star Rod, from the Kirby series. When used, stars come flying out of it, hitting other characters.
 * Super Scope, from the game Nintendo Scope. It shoots out many small energy balls, or, when charged up, up to three big energy balls.
 * Warp Star, from the Kirby series. The character who picks the Warp Star up will fly up into the air, and then crash right back down, making an explosion that damages other players.

Single-Player Mode
The single-player mode got widely expanded since Super Smash Bros. There are several new modes in Super Smash Bros. Melee.

Classic Mode
The classic mode is based upon the single-player mode of the game's predecessor. However, it is no longer set what opponents will be fought where. They are chosen randomly. Still, there is a set pattern for the battles.

In the beginning, the player chooses the difficulty (very easy - easy - normal - hard - very hard) and the number of lives (1 - 5) he will have for the whole mode.

All battles are in stock mode, with the opponents having one life, and a 3 minutes time limit. The arena is one of the opponent's home arenas. There are also three bonus stages. When failing in one of them, the player does not lose a life for his upcoming battles.


 * Stage 1: The player fights a single opponent.
 * Stage 2: A team of the player and an ally fight against a team of two opponents.
 * Bonus Stage 1: Break the Targets!: The player has to hit all the targets within a time limit of 2 minutes. Each character has his own arena for the target test.
 * Stage 3: Again, the player fights a single opponent.
 * Stage 4: A team of the player and two allies fight a single opponent. However, the opponent appears in his giant form, just if he ate a Super Mushroom.
 * Bonus Stage 2: Collect the Trophies!: The player has to collect the trophies falling from above. To do this, he has to hit them so that they fall into his collection point.
 * Stage 5: Once again, the player fights a single opponent.
 * Stage 6: The player has to fight 10 opponents, all being the same character. He fights three at a time. When one gets knocked out, another takes its place.
 * Bonus Stage 3: Race to the Finish!: The player has to get to the finish. However, there are a lot of finishes around on the player's way. The farther away the finish he takes is from his starting point, the more coins he will earn. The time he has for this varies from character to character, but it is usually around 45 seconds.
 * Stage 7: The player has to fight an opponent in his metal version. The battle is on the Battlefield stage.
 * Stage 8: The player has to fight the Master Hand on the Final Destination stage. Unlike the player, the Master Hand has hit points instead of percentage of damage. The number of hit points vary between the difficulty settings. Additionally, when the player is fighting on the normal or a higher difficulty setting and has finished the other stages of the classic mode in a time lower than 10 minutes, Crazy Hand will appear when Master Hand's HP hits its half. Then the player has to fight both hands at the same time. Crazy Hand starts with the same number of HP as Master Hand did.

Adventure Mode
The adventure mode is a mode taking place in all world of the games featured in Super Smash Bros. Melee. It features some special side-scrolling stages only available in adventure mode.

As in the classic mode, the player chooses the difficulty (very easy - easy - normal - hard - very hard) and the number of lives (1 - 5) he will have for the whole mode.

This side-scrolling level is totally influenced by the Marioverse. It features classical Mario enemies, Goombas, Koopa Troopas and Paratroopas, as well as Warp Pipes and Brick Blocks. Toads are seen in the background. Near the end of the stage, the player has to battle 10 Yoshis, three at a time.
 * Stage 1: Mushroom Kingdom:

When he has completed the side-scrolling stage, he gets to Princess Peach's Castle. There, he has to fight Mario and Peach, who are in a team.

When the player has completed the first part of the Mushroom Kingdom stage with a 2 in the seconds place (XX:X2:XX) on his time counter, Luigi will kick Mario off the castle before the battle begins. Then, the player will have to fight Luigi and Peach instead. When the player then completes the rest of the adventure mode, he will get to unlock Luigi in the end.

In the first part of the DK stage, the player has to fight two mini-versions of Donkey Kong at the same time. The battle is in the Kongo Jungle stage.
 * Stage 2: Kongo Jungle:

After defeating the mini DKs, the player will fight Giant DK in the Jungle Japes stage.

This side-scrolling level takes place in an underground dungeon. The player has to fight ReDeads and other enemies from the Zelda series. There are six special places in the dungeon. One is containing the finish, the Triforce. In the other five places with the Master Sword in the room, Link will appear and battle the player. He has a different color each time.
 * Stage 3: Hyrule:

When the player has completed the Dungeon, he gets to Hyrule Temple, where he has to fight Princess Zelda.

In the first part of the stage, the player has to fight Samus in Brinstar.
 * Stage 4: Brinstar:

When Samus is defeated, a self-destruction mechanism will be activated. The player then gets to a small side-scrolling level were he has to jump upwards to escape the exploding planet. When he fails to do it in time, he will lose a life.

Firstly, the player has to fight a single Kirby in the Green Greens stage.
 * Stage 5: Green Greens:

When it is defeated, a team of 18 Kirbys, all having stolen abilities from other characters, will fight the player. He fights three Kirbys at a time.

When the player has defeated the Kirby team within 30 seconds, Giant Kirby will appear and also fight him.

The player has to fight Fox on the Corneria stage. In this battle, there are no Arwings seen.
 * Stage 6: Corneria:

When Fox is defeated, the Arwings will arrive and intervene in the battle on the Star Fox by heavily bombing it. In the meanwhile, the player has to fight Fox again. If Falco is unlocked, he might be there instead of Fox in the second battle.

The player has to fight a team of 12 Pokémon in the Pokémon Stadium. The team mainly consists of Pikachus. When they are unlocked, Jigglypuffs and Pichus can also be seen. Additionally, the only item in this battle is the Pokéball.
 * Stage 7: Pokémon Stadium:

The stage begins with yet another special side-scrolling level. It is a part of the track of a GP race. The player has to complete it by foot. Occasionally, the F-Zero drivers will pass the player. He then has to hide on one of the platforms hovering above the track. Else, he is knocked out by them.
 * Stage 8: F-Zero Grand Prix:

When completing the race, the player has to fight Captain Falcon in Mute City.

The player has to fight three Nesses in the Onett stage. The only item found here is Mr. Saturn.
 * Stage 9: Onett:

As Icicle Mountain is a scrolling stage anyway, is acts like that here, too. In the beginning, the player has to reach a certain height of the level. On his way are a lot of Topis, Polar Bears and Freezies.
 * Stage 10: Icicle Mountain:

When he has reached the certain height, the player will fight two pairs of Ice Climbers at the same time.

The player has to fight 20 Fighting Wire Frames, five at a time.
 * Stage 11: Battlefield:

When he has defeated the Wire Frames, the player has to fight Metal Mario. When Luigi is unlocked, he will have to fight Metal Luigi at the same time as well.

The player has to fight Giant Bowser on the Final Destination Stage.
 * Stage 12: Final Destination:

When the player plays on a difficulty setting of normal or higher and has completed the past stages of the adventure mode in a time lower than 18 minutes, he will have to fight Giga Bowser as well.

All-Star Mode
The All-Star mode can be unlocked by unlocking all secret characters. Unlike other modes, the player only has one life for the whole mode, and his percentage of damage is not set back after a battle. However, he can use up to three Heart Containers to restore his health.

In the beginning, the player chooses the difficulty setting (very easy - easy - normal - hard - very hard).

In the All-Star mode, the player has to fight all 25 characters of the game. All battles are in the stock system, with each combatant having one life.

In the first four rounds, the player will fight a single opponent in their home stage. In round five to eight, he has to fight two opponents at the same time, and in round nine to twelve three opponents. In the 13th round, he has to fight 30 Mr. Game & Watches in the Flat Zone, five at a time. After each battle, he returns to a stage in-between, with his remaining Heart Containers, showing which characters he has already beaten and which he will fight in the next battle. Occasionally, a trophy can be collected.

Event Match
Event matches are specially designed missions. They have a certain goal to be achieved. All the player can choose is his character, though even that is pre-defined sometimes.

Event matches can break the rules of a normal battle in Super Smash Bros. Melee. For a rules summary of each of the 51 event matches, refer to the following table.

To unlock more event matches, the player has to win a certain number of the previous ones, and sometimes unlock additional characters.

Stadium
Here, special mini-games are available. Each mini-game opens the way to unlock one of the Past Stages from the original Super Smash Bros.


 * Target Test: Here the player can play the Break the Targets! test, as it appears in Classic mode, separately. There is no time limit in this mode, as compared to the one in Classic mode.
 * Homerun Contest: The goal of the Homerun Contest is to throw the Sandbag as far as possible. The player gets a Homerun Bat to do this. He has a limited amout of time to damage the Sandbag before hitting it, so that it will fly farther away.
 * Multi-Man Melee: In this special mode the goal is to fight Fighting Wire Frames.
 * 10-Man Melee: The player has to fight 10 Wire Frames in the fastest time possible.
 * 100-Man Melee: The player has to fight 100 Wire Frames in the fastest time possible. When winning, he can unlock Falco.
 * 3-Minute Melee: The player has 3 minutes to kick out as many Wire Frames as possible.
 * 15-Minute Melee: The player has 15 minutes to kick out as many Wire Frames as possible. When winning, he can unlock the Past Kongo Jungle stage.
 * Endless Melee: The player has an unlimited amout of time to kick out as many Wire Frames as possible.
 * Cruel Melee: As in Endless Melee, there is an unlimited amout of time. However, the Wire Frames are a lot harder to beat and there are no items.

Training Mode
The player can practice here. There are no rules such as Stock or Time, and the opponent can be controlled either by the Training menu, and set to actions such as walking and standing, or by a human player. Items can be created to practice with them specially.

VS Mode
In the VS mode, up to four players and computer-controlled characters can compete with each other. The player can set all the rules for the battles, such as the mode (Time - Stock - Coin - Bonus) and additional options about which items should appear, the computer level, handicap mode and the stage to fight on.

Melee
The basic VS mode. It works as described above.

Tournament Mode
When more than 4 players want to play against each other, they can use the tournament mode.

Tournament: The number of entrants is selected and can be up to 64. The rules for the battles and the level of additional computer opponents can be specified. Each player chooses their character and the tournament begins. Up to four players fight in a battle, and the winner passes on to the next round, according to the tournament tree.

Winner out/Loser out: This mode is for human players only. A number of players fight against each other. The winner or the loser of the match, depending on the setting, gives his controller to the next player waiting for his turn to come. This continues endlessly, until the mode is cancelled. Players are free to change their characters while the tournament is ongoing.

Special Melee
This mode offers a couple of different rules settings for the Melee mode.

Trophies
Trophies can be collected in single-player mode, won in the special lottery mode, or acquired on special events, such as playing a certain number of matches in VS mode.

There are 290 trophies in the game (293 in the Japanese version), with an enormous percentage being Marioverse characters, items, locations, and concept.

Note that each of the playable characters has three trophies, and two of them explain their SSBM background. They can be collected by completing the Adventure or All-Star mode with them.

Soundtrack (Media)
Each stage has a track from the game it is from, and some stages also have alternate music tracks which are not necessarily from the game the stage is from. The alternate music is heard more rarely than the regular one. However, the player can force the game to play a stage's alternate music by holding the L and R triggers when selecting a stage on the stage selection screen.

When all stages are unlocked, the player gains access to the Sound Test, where he can play all music tracks and voices from the game, and might occasionally hear an alternate music track in the menu.

An orchestrated version of the game's soundtrack was released as a special CD known as Super Smash Bros. Melee: Smashing...Live!.

Trivia

 * Using an Action Replay code, it is possible to access the debug menu. There, characters such as Master Hand or Giga Bowser can be used (while using Master Hand or Crazy Hand it isn't possible to move on sidescrolling areas, to be defeated and to be P1 or P2). It is also possible to play in sidescrolling levels, the health regain area in all-star mode, and a test level.
 * Oddly, Super Smash Bros. Brawl is expected to be released on December 3rd, 2007; the exact same date as Melee.