One series that we haven’t heard Switch 2 sequel news about yet is the Super Smash Bros. series. The super fun platform fighting series had Smash Bros Ultimate release on the Switch in December 2018. Ultimate had more characters than any previous title. It also removed trophies in place of Spirits. It remains one of the best-selling games on the Switch. It’s slightly surprising that there hasn’t been a simple high-definition Switch 2 upgrade. If they are making a completely new game, it will be interesting to see which direction they will take. It was with Super Smash Bros. Melee that the series last had a semi-revival.
The move from N64 Smash to GameCube Smash added modes, fighters, and unlockables. Everything was bigger and better. The greatness of Melee led to it being the best-selling GameCube game of all time. However, the 7.4 million copies it sold are nothing compared to the sales figures of recent Smash games. Smash Melee was fast, balanced, and had a vibrancy to it that its sequel, Brawl, couldn’t capture. Read on for a retrospective of Super Smash Bros. Melee.
The most accessible Smash Bros. game with tons of unlockables
Super Smash Bros. Melee had some awesome modes. It had Classic, which is the regular single-player arcade mode present in all the Smash games. But it also had an Adventure Mode where players fought through areas based on the franchises that the characters came from. The scenarios were very unique, and it felt like a celebration of Nintendo franchises. The game also had the often-missed Event mode. This provided combat scenarios to the player based on thought-up meetings the characters could have. For example, you might have an event match where you have to defeat every bounty hunter in the game.
The simple Adventure Mode and fun Events Mode are some of the most missed features of Super Smash Bros. Melee. The game had clear and accessible menus and a wealth of other modes that I haven’t mentioned so far. There were also multiplayer tournaments that you could easily set up. Tournaments are something that were a product of their time. It was popular to set up tournament mode in multiplayer Smash when you had a gathering to see who was the best Smash Bros player. It seems like the tournament mode has lost its popularity in recent times, but that might just be me getting old.
Melee in comparison to its predecessor and its successor
In the lead-up to the GameCube’s release back in 2001, Super Smash Bros. Melee was one of the most anticipated titles in-development. It didn’t make it for launch day, but was released a few weeks after launch day in most territories. It was a huge step up from the original Smash Bros on N64. The power of the GameCube meant the game ran at 60 frames per second, even when intense action was happening on screen. Models and textures were vastly improved, and the game had many, many more modes, unlockables, and characters.
Super Smash Bros. is one of those titles, similar to Mario Kart, where Nintendo only give us one game per generation. The Wii version of Smash was one of the most hyped games I can remember. The hype rivaled that for Twilight Princess after its E3 reveal in 2004. Smash Brawl, for Wii, had daily updates delivered via Smash Bros. Dojo, which was a novel interactive way of marketing the game. However, when the game arrived, despite having more modes than Melee and generally being a great entry, it was criticized for the gameplay feeling slower. It also had an annoying ‘trip’ mechanic where characters could literally trip up as they were running. Smash Brawl is a great game, but it doesn’t beat Melee for me, in terms of gameplay at least. The amount of unlockables in Brawl is fun. In that respect, the game is probably better than Melee, and most of the series games we’ve had since.
A game so balanced that it is still used in tournaments
It is because of these gameplay faults that Melee was often used in tournaments, whereas Brawl was overlooked. These Esports tournaments have people playing a variety of fighting games, including Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Tekken, SoulCalibur, and Smash Bros. Of all the titles that regularly appear at these tournaments, Smash is often absent. But when the Smash series is included, it is Melee that is the most popular. People say that it is the most balanced smash game. Characters can each be mastered, and there are not many over powered characters. The game is quick, and attacks are vivid, making it the best choice for inclusion in a tournament where quick, balanced gameplay is important.
I’m no expert in Smash Bros, but in my opinion, Super Smash Bros Melee is the most fun Smash Bros game in the series. That is saying a lot, as in my opinion, there has never been a Smash game that was a failure. Ironically, I think the closest we have as a failure is Smash Brawl and that sold almost twice the amount that Melee sold, with 13.32 units are being sent to retailers.
Do future Smash Bros. games go for a more limited roster
The greatness of Smash Bros. Melee wasn’t universally appreciated when the game released. Some review scores were quite low, mainly for reviewers who arguably didn’t like or understand platform fighters. The platform fighter genre has surprisingly few games, with prominent others being PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale and Brawlhalla. Smash is undeniably the king of the platform fighting genre, and Melee is arguably the top of the Smash Bros. games.
Where does the series go from here? We had Ultimate release in 2018, and it exceeded expectations with an all-star roster from the series that fans could have only dreamed of back in 2001. So, the series has done the ‘bigger and better’ option. Does the series need a reboot? I’d say that it does. It is too hard to balance a fighter with so many characters. A complete reboot with a new art style, more ‘museum-like’ unlockables, and an epic story mode would be a great step forward. However, for now, we can sit back and play Smash. Whether that’s Melee, or any other Smash game, the series is in a healthy position and it will be very interesting to see where it goes from here.
