The original Super Smash Bros. has always been a problem for me. It's an addiction my close friends and I have that often has us staying up into the early hours of the morning vying for bragging rights. It's really what Super Smash Bros. is all about and surely, Super Smash Bros. Melee delivers an even more incredible experience with all of its features and options. The single-player mode really surprised me. Playing through it I was truly overwhelmed by how many secrets there were to unlock and how much play value it has versus other fighters on the market. If you want to get everything you're looking at about 15-20 hours of play if you're good.
I can also really vouch for the new control mechanics. While dodging an item here or deflecting an item there sounds like a relatively simple addition, it adds a lot to the gameplay for expert players. You can also throw characters in a chosen direction now and that really helps to deepen the strategy behind the fighting system. I challenge anyone who dares call it a button masher to step up to the plate without having learned the controls and face a skilled player. I assure you the match would be over before it started. That's really the beauty of Smash Bros. Novice players can jump into a game together and do relatively well in their matches, but there's also plenty of room for expert players. Want to see what it's like to play an expert? Set the CPU to level 9. It will begin dodging your hits and deflecting bombs back in your face -- a hard lesson learned.
On the technical side of things I was pretty impressed with the visuals, though barring the character models and some graphical touches I know we will look back on the game and refer to it as "first-generation." It's the gameplay that counts most and the programmers have done an amazing job of creating a solid gameplay environment. One person's punch or kick is not necessarily like another's. Most of the characters feel drastically different than each other, so there's a lot to be mastered.
Wrap all that up and tack on the countless hours of multiplayer matches you'll play and you're looking at a game that more than warrants your purchase. The only reason you should even think of not purchasing it is if you didn't enjoy the original Super Smash Bros. Truly, SSB Melee puts the original to shame with its countless options and longevity. This has become and will likely become one of my favorite GameCube titles of all-time. It's that good. I would buy the game just for its soundtrack, which is simply astounding. The sound seffects, however, leave much to be disired. Some punches and kicks sound like pool balls cracking together. But I'm just nit-picking. This is an excellent game and should belong in every GCN owners collection.
The Grade
Single player: 8
Multi player: 10
Music: 10
Sound: 5
Control: 10
Replay Value: 10
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Total: 9/10 (not an avg.)
