Super Smash Bros. Melee
Reviewed by Yardbird
Let's cut to the chase: This is a great game. If you
want a more detailed rundown of the game, keep
reading. Otherwise, just take my word for it and go play it.
What makes this game so good? For one thing, the
first game was not fun in single player. It was
pretty much just a multiplayer game. This game has a
much better and more solid single player experience.
Actually, the single player options are enormous. You
can play this game in the 'classic' way: advance from
stage to stage as a Nintendo character and defeat
other Nintendo characters by smashing them from the
fighting area. The Adventure option is the same in
play mechanics, the only difference is you advance
through classic stages. You know, like an underground
maze with the music from Adventure of Link.
What else can a single player do? Well he/she can
take part in the stadium games. These are special
types of melees like the 10 man melee or the 100 man
melee. There are also melees based on time limits,
like the 15 minute melee. There are other types of
mini games to play in this game and the vs mode has a
ton of games to play, even a single player can select
them, with computer opponents obviously. Special
Melee is one of these choices, with it's 10 different
types of melees to play including giant melee where
everybody is BIG and tiny melee....where they are all tiny.
Not to skim over anything, the newest addition in the
single player game would be event challenges. These
are 50+ special challenges to complete. In some, you
select the character you want to use, but in others
you have to use a specific character. To give you an
example of the types of things you will do in this
mode, there is 1 event in which you have to defeat
128 tiny Marios. There are others such as defeating
Captain Falcon in under 7 seconds.
There are 14 characters to play as at first. Expect
the usual suspects here: Mario, Donkey Kong, Link,
Bowser. Beyond those 14 are 11 others that can be
discovered and then used in the game, bringing the
total to 25 playable characters. Each of these
characters have special fighting techniques that are
unique to that character. Mario throws the fireball
or swing the cape he used in Super Mario World to
attack an enemy, among other things. Donkey Kong can
stomp the ground with his hands. Zelda can transform
into her male alter ego, the Shiek.
There are a few stages to unlock in the game and all
the stages have a very distinct and evocative style
to them. Brinstar, Mushroom Kingdom, Peach's Castle.
These stages are taken directly from Nintendo games
and frankly, they haven't looked better. The game
uses remixes of old songs. Songs from games such as:
Dr Mario, Adventure of Link, Legend of Zelda, Super
Mario World, Ocarina of Time, etc. The music in the
game for me is a perfect 10.
One of the most addictive things for me so far has
been collecting the trophies. These trophies depict a
character or item from Nintendo and give information
about them and the date they were introduced. There
are over 100 and there are different ways to earn
them. Defeating the game with the characters will
earn you the trophy. You can also find them in the
bonus stages of the single player classic game. As
you play the game you earn coins and you can use
these coins in the lottery. You can use this lottery
to earn new trophies, but the odds that you will earn
a new trophy will obviously decrease each time you
earn a new one. It's actually a nice side thing to do
in the game and gives an even greater sense of
completion. And it's just kind of cool to look at a
trophy with the ducks from Duck Hunt, Pit from Kid
Icarus, and the bike from Excitebike. Some of the
trophies are from games that were released in Japan
only, like the bucket from Mario and Wario.
The first game let me down, so I wasn't sure if I
should get this one or not. I'm glad I did now,
because this isn't a game I feel will become obsolete
any time soon. For now I give the game a perfect 10,
despite the fact it has only been out about a week
now. I just don't think I'll ever grow tired of this
game. I'm serious.
REASONS TO PLAY THIS GAME:
-Awesome single player options
-Lots of multiplayer options also
-Adjustable challenge through most of the game
-Lots of characters and other things to unlock
-Trophy collecting becomes addictive
-Event challenges add a lot to the depth of the game
-Graphics are smooth and stunning
-Classic songs included sound incredible and add to
the nostalgia factor
Overall: 10 out of 10