Recent Articles

Super Smash Bros. Melee

Super Smash Bros. Melee is a colorful fighting game for the Nintendo Gamecube with many modes of play. It stars many Nintendo characters, including Mario, Link, Samus Aran, Pikachu, Yoshi and Donkey Kong. It is the sequel to the N64 fighting game Super Smash Bros., and includes all the characters from the previous game plus new ones.

Like its predecessor, Super Smash Bros. Melee is an easy-to-learn game that, while being child-friendly, can provide enjoyment for the adult gamer. Mature gamers may feel Super Smash Bros. Melee is beneath them, but those willing to look past a 'kiddie' facade will often enjoy the game.

Super Smash Bros. Melee also has orchestrated tracks of classic Nintendo themes and victory fanfares, conducted by the aptly-named Orchestra Melee.

Full list of playable characters

1. Mario - From Super Mario series
2. Peach - From Super Mario series
3. Pikachu - From Pokémon
4. Link - From Legend of Zelda series
5. Young Link (has to be unlocked) - From Legend of Zelda series
6. Donkey Kong - From Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Country series
7. Bowser - From Super Mario series
8. Kirby - From Kirby series
9. Fox - From Star Fox series
10. Ice Climbers - From Ice Climbers
11. Ness - From Earthbound (Mother)
12. Samus - From Metroid
13. Yoshi - From Super Mario World and other Yoshi series
14. Captain Falcon - From F-Zero
15. Ganondorf (has to be unlocked) - From Legend of Zelda series
16. Dr. Mario (has to be unlocked) - From Dr. Mario
17. Princess Zelda/Sheik - From Legend of Zelda series
18. Luigi (has to be unlocked) - From Super Mario Bros. series
19. Falco (has to be unlocked) - From Star Fox series
20. Pichu (has to be unlocked) - From Pokémon
21. Jigglypuff (has to be unlocked) - From Pokémon
22. Roy (has to be unlocked) - From Fire Emblem
23. Marth (has to be unlocked) - From Fire Emblem
24. Mewtwo (has to be unlocked) - From Pokémon
25. Mr. Game and Watch (has to be unlocked) - From Game & Watch

Additionally, "Sandbag" is a non-playable character that is featured in the home run contest.

Trophies

Trophies of various nintendo characters and objects can be collected. There are 290 of them in the U.S. version of SSBM, and 291 in the Japanese version. The trophy of Tamagon was the only trophy that was dummied out of the U.S. version, due to association with heavy religious themes. For a full list, see

Trophy Errata

Samus Aran (trophy number 10) appeared in Metroid when it first came out in August 1986. Super Smash Bros. Melee chose a later release date for the Samus Aran trophy description.

Meta-Knight (trophy number 240) first appeared in Kirby's Adventure (later enhanced-remade as Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland, not in Kirby Super Star. He was not mentioned by name in Kirby's Adventure, but the players can tell that it is him.

Ayuma Tachibana (trophy number 286) was the protagonist of the original Detective Club game, even though the trophy description states that she appeared only in the second Detective Club game.

Items

There are 31 items in Super Smash Bros. Melee:

• Barrel Cannon - a barrel with a white arrow. Borrowed from the Donkey Kong Country series. Traps a playable character inside itself; the fighter is immobile while inside the cannon, which itself will roll in whatever direction it was moving when thrown. However, after a short delay, the fighter can shoot itself out, in whatever direction the arrow points at that time.
• Beam Sword - a sword with a neon pink glow for a blade. Basic weapon. Makes an electric sound when swung. The length of the blade changes based on wielder and strength of attack.
• Bob-omb - the black walking bombs from the Super Mario Brothers series. Immobile but holdable (and throwable) for approximately 5 seconds. After that time, the Bob-omb will walk back and forth along the platform it's on and explode on contact with any player. After about 10 seconds of walking, the Bob-omb will pulsate and explode.
• Bunny Hood - a pair of fake bunny ears, borrowed from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. When worn in SSBM, the player jumps, runs, and falls much faster than normal. A player can wear this item and hold another item at the same time.
• Cloaking Device - a futuristic pod-like object. Considered by some to be borrowed from Perfect Dark, although this is unofficial. When equipped, the player is nearly invisible. A spontaneous rippling effect may occur, and when attacking, the player loses his or her invisibility for a short time. While attacks can still knock a player out of the arena, no further damage can be incurred by a player when invisible. A player can be cloaked and hold another item at the same time.
• Fan - a paper fan, bound at one end with red paper. Strikes with this weapon are weak, but very rapid.
• Fire Flower - a flower with light orange petals and a pair of eyes in the center of the bloom. Borrowed from the Super Mario Brothers series, with an appearance closer to the first game. Attacking (A-button attacks only) while holding this item causes the flower to spew fire for about 10 (not necessarily consecutive) seconds, after which it spews harmless smoke and is largely useless.
• Flipper - a pair of large rubber balls connected by a styled arm on an unseen axis. Borrowed from Balloon Fight. When thrown, the flipper will hover in place where it was thrown. Coming in contact with a flipper will stun the player for a short time.
• Food - small pictures of various food items of many types. Each piece of food restores about 5% of the player's health. A player can grab any health item, such as food, while holding another item.
• Freezie - a piece of jagged ice with a face (seen here). Borrowed from Mario Brothers (arcade). When thrown at a player, that player is frozen on contact, launched into the air, and immobile for a sizable amount of time.
• Green Shell - a green turtle shell. Borrowed from the Super Mario Brothers series. Continues in the direction thrown until it hits a wall or falls off the stage. Can be stopped by jumping on it, like in the original Super Mario Bros. game. Compare to Red Shell.
• Hammer - a large sledgehammer with a large black head. Borrowed from Donkey Kong (arcade). While equipped, the player is slowed, loses his/her double jump ability, and is generally less mobile. However, anyone who comes in contact with the head of the hammer during its use is knocked high into the air; this weapon generally results in at least one KO every time it appears. The head of the hammer may fly off shortly after use, unlike in the original Super Smash Bros.; the player with the handle is still stuck in the motion of using the hammer. The head can be thrown like a normal weapon, and retains much of the incredible power it had while unbroken.
• Heart Container - a translucent heart shape, in a silver frame. Borrowed from the Legend of Zelda series. In most modes, grabbing a Heart Container will remove all damage from a player, giving him a much better situation than he was in. In Stamina mode, where all players start with 150 HP, and Super Sudden Death, where players start with 300% damage, these items recover 100 units of health.
• Homerun Bat - a wooden baseball bat. Likely borrowed from Earthbound (Mother), as Ness' bat weapon behaves and sounds similar. Can be swung for moderate damage; a Smash Attack with a homerun bat is a guaranteed knockout in all but the largest stages. A Homerun Bat is supplied at the beginning of the home run contest.
• Lip's Stick - a long stick with a reddish flower at the end. Borrowed from Panel de Pon (predecessor to Tetris Attack). When a player is hit with this weapon, a flower sprouts from his or her head, causing slow but steady damage while it remains there. Further hits with the stick make the flower grow and cause more damage. Quick movement of the Control Stick shakes the flower off.
• Maxim Tomato - a large tomato with an "M" printed on it. Borrowed from the Kirby series of games. Restores 30 points of damage to the player that takes it.
• Metal Box - a green box with a white exclamation point on it. Borrowed from Super Mario 64. When a player grabs this box, the fighter becomes metallic. While metallic, the player falls faster, jumps shorter, runs slower, is moved and interrupted less by opponent attacks, and becomes silent. A player can be metallic and hold another item at the same time.
• Motion Sensor Bomb - a gray land mine with green lights. Thought by some to be from Goldeneye 007, but this is not official. When thrown, it sticks to the first stage surface it comes in contact with. It explodes on proximity to any player or on contact by any weapon blast.
• Mr. Saturn - a short alien being with large whiskers and a large nose. From Earthbound/Mother. Walks after a short delay, much like a slow Bob-omb. Can push other items around. Can be thrown for low damage. A muted trumpet plays on contact.
• Parasol - a red and white umbrella. Possibly borrowed from Super Mario Bros. 2. Can be swung as a weapon; any player holding the Parasol will open it up automatically when falling, greatly reducing his falling speed and enabling easier returns to the stage.
• Party Ball - a large tan ball with a string, resembling a geodesic dome. When thrown, or hit enough, it rises from the point of contact, and opens up with a fanfare about 6 seconds later. The party Ball will either release 4 Bob-bombs, about 15 pieces of Food, or 3 random items (including food and Bob-ombs).
• Poison Mushroom - red and white-capped mushroom with eyes on its stem; the Poison Mushroom is slightly darker than the Super Mushroom. Borrowed from Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels. The Poison Mushroom causes the player to shrink about one quarter his/her original size, making it easier to be knocked out of the arena. Merely walking over this item will cause the player to grab it. A player can be small and hold other items.
• Pokéball - a red and white ball with a gray button. Borrowed from Pokemon. Will release one of many Pokemon, each with its own attack.
• Ray Gun - a futuristic looking gun. Fires green bolts of energy. Clicks when out of energy.
• Red Shell - a red turtle shell. Borrowed from the Super Mario Bros. series, with functionality borrowed from the Mario Kart series. On first contact, the red shell travels back and forth on the platform it lands on, homing in on the nearest player. It disappears after about 15 seconds, and cannot be stopped.
• Screw Attack - a ball with a stylized S design. Borrowed from the Metroid series. Any player holding the Screw Attack will perform Samus Aran's Screw Attack (Up+B) with every jump. Throwing the item at an enemy will cause him or her to spontaneously perform the attack.
• Star Rod - a pink and white striped rod with a yellow star at the end. Borrowed from the Kirby series. Can be swung as a weapon; more powerful swings will launch a large projectile star from the tip.
• Starman - a flashing star with eyes. Borrowed from the Super Mario Bros. series. Renders the player who grabs it impervious to attack and damage. Merely touching the Starman will cause the player to grab it.
• Super Mushroom - a red and white-capped mushroom with eyes on its stem. Borrowed from the Super Mario Bros. series. This mushroom causes the player to grow to 4 times the original size, with increased attack power to suit. Grabbing one of each kind of mushroom cancels out the effect of the first mushroom grabbed. Merely walking over this item will cause the player to grab it. A player can be large and hold other items.
• Super Scope - a small bazooka-like item. A copy of the SNES peripheral of the same name. Can fire small rapid balls of energy or be charged to fire a ball of greater size. The gun has the energy to fire about 20 small balls or 3 large ones, after which it is useless.
• Warp Star - a large yellow star. Grabbing the Warp Star will cause the user to hover wildly around the spot it was grabbed (causing no damage), rocket off the screen, and crash wildly to a spot determined by the player (either in the spot the item was grabbed, or about 5 player-lengths to either side). This attack causes sizable damage.

Pokémon

The Pokéball item can unleash one of several possible Pokémon onto the battlefield. Unless otherwise mentioned, contact with the pokemon causes damage.

The Pokémon, and the attacks their motions are based on, are:

• Articuno - Blizzard (?) - hovers over the spot it was released and causes the equivalent of a Freezie to players in proximity.
• Bellossom - Sleep Powder - puts nearby players to sleep. More powerful than Jigglypuff's Sleep attack. Causes no direct damage (but enables the player who released it to get many cheap shots in).
• Blastoise - Water Gun - blasts jets of water from its water cannons.
• Celebi - (?) - has no attack. Releasing a Celebi is recorded in the game and is one of its score bonuses.
• Chansey - Softboiled - throws about 6 eggs about. Eggs can explode on contact with another player, release an item, or be an instant damage reducer (equivalent to a Food item).
• Charizard - Flamethrower - releases jets of fire alternately to its left and right.
• Chikorita - Razor Leaf - fires projectile leaves in one direction. Hard to dodge once one has hit the player.
• Clefairy - Metronome - after a short delay, will either perform Explosion/Selfdestruct (localized explosion), Earthquake (many local shockwaves), or Blizard/Ice Wind(?) (players are trapped in an ice storm). Causes no damage on contact.
• Cyndaquil - Ember(?) - Jumps up, hovers, and releases a jet of fire from its back.
• Electrode - Selfdestruct - turns dark, and explodes after 6 seconds. Causes no direct damage.
• Entei - Fire Spin(?) - sort of a giant version of Ness' PK Fire attack. A giant jet of fire erupts from the platform Entei stands on, trapping anyone in its way and causing massive damage.
• Goldeen - Splash - flops around, causes no damage.
• Ho-oh - Sacred Fire(?) - Flies off screen, appears in the background and blasts a jet of fire perpendicular to the playing field.
• Lugia - Aeroblast(?) - A tornado is generated in much the same method as Ho-oh's Sacred Fire.
• Marill - (?) - Stuns and pushes players along, much like Mr. Saturn pushes items.
• Mew - (?) - Has no attack. Like Celebi, releasing Mew is worth bonus points.
• Moltres - (?) - (?)
• Porygon2 - (?) - Rockets forward a short distance from its point of release.
• Raikou - Thunderwave(?) - A large field of electricity is centered around Raikou; anyone caught within is stunned intermittently.
• Scizor - (?) - moves forward and falls for a second (held back by platforms), then reverses direction and jumps, in order to collide with another player (falls through platforms).
• Snorlax - Body Slam - rises from point of release, then returns on screen at triple the size and falls.
• Staryu - Swift - homes in on one player (staying about 2 player-lengths to the side) and, after 2 seconds, fires projectile stars at the same rate as Chikorita's Razor Leaf.
• Suicune - Ice Wind(?) - a more powerful version of Clefairy's ice-based attack.
• Togepi - Metronome - after a short delay, will perform either Nightshade(?) (the screen turns dark; computer fighters are unaffected), Growth(?) (large Lip's Stick-style flowers are planted on all nearby fighters), Earthquake(?) (players are buried in the ground like in Donkey Kong's headbutt) or other attacks.
• Unown - Hidden Power - The unown flies off screen, and is followed by a swarm of about 50 other Unown.
• Venusaur - (?) - stomps the ground, causing shockwaves and dust to rise.
• Weezing - Smog - releases clouds of smoke that stun the player.
• Wobbuffet - Counter - damages any player that hits it -- even the player that released it! -- for minimal damage.
• Zapdos - Thundershock(?) - zaps proximal players with electricity for sizable damage.

In one Event Mode fight, the player must fight against a set of Wire Frame fighters and one Jigglypuff. The only items given are pokeballs that release either Wobbuffet or the Legendaries (Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, Lugia, Ho-oh, Raikou, Suicune and Entei).

Stages

Icicle Mountain Princess Peach's Castle Rainbow Cruise Kongo Jungle Jungle Japes Great Bay Hyrule Temple Yoshi's Story Yoshi's Island Fountain of Dreams Green Greens Corneria Venom Brinstar Onett Mute City

Pokémon Stadium Mushroom Kingdom Brinstar Depths (unlockable) Fourside (unlockable) Big Blue (unlockable) Poké Floats (unlockable) Mushroom Kingdom 2 (unlockable) Battlefield (unlockable) Final Destination (unlockable) Classic Dreamland (unlockable) Classic Yoshi's Story (unlockable) Classic Kongo Jungle (unlockable) Flat Zone (unlockable)

Unlocking secret characters

Spoiler warning: Plot or ending details follow.

Jigglypuff is the easiest to unlock. To unlock Jigglypuff, one must complete the Classic Mode or Adventure Mode once, or play 50 Versus Mode matches.

To unlock Dr. Mario, one must beat the Classic Mode or Adventure Mode using Mario, or play 100 Versus Mode matches. Dr. Mario is very similar to Mario, but throws capsules instead of fireballs and wields a white sheet instead of a gold cape.

To unlock Pichu, Pikachu's evolutionary predecessor, one must clear Event Match #37 or play 200 Versus Mode matches. Unlike Pikachu, Pichu's electrical attacks do damage to itself.

To unlock Falco, one must beat the 100-Man Melee, or play 300 Versus Mode matches. Falco's blasters are not as rapid as Fox's, but they cause opponents to flinch.

To unlock Marth, a character from the Fire Emblem series, one must use all of the initial (non-secret) characters in Regular Match mode or Versus mode at least once, or play 400 Versus Mode matches. Marth is a "magnificent swordsman", according to the his trophy description. Like Samus, his standing B-button attack is chargeable. His Down-B move serves as a counterattack move.

To unlock Young Link, one must complete Classic Mode ten times, or play 500 Versus Mode matches. Young Link is faster but weaker than adult Link. He shoots fire arrows, but his grab maneuver is shorter than adult Link's grab maneuver. Young Link's Kokiri Sword and bombs inflict less damage than adult Link's Master Sword and bombs. He can do wall jumps.

To unlock Ganondorf, one must complete Event Match #29, or play 600 Versus Mode matches. Ganondorf is a slower, more powerful copy of Captain Falcon.

To unlock Mewtwo, one must play 700 Versus Mode matches or 20 total hours of Versus Mode. Mewtwo uses mainly its mental powers to fight.

To unlock Luigi, one must finish the first level of Adventure Mode with the time limit seconds ones digit being a "2" (e.g. 1:32:87). After that one must finish the Adventure Mode in order to fulfill the goal, then Luigi is unlocked. Another way is to play 800 Versus Mode matches. Unlike Mario, Luigi's cyclone and uppercut attacks hit once per attack, and his fireballs defy gravity. His Green Missile move is similar to Pikachu's Skull Bash move.

To unlock Roy, another character from Fire Emblem, one must complete Classic or Adventure Mode using Marth without using continues (or Smash tokens), or play 900 Versus Mode matches. Roy is a replica of Marth, but he is stronger and slower.

To unlock Mr. Game & Watch, one must complete Classic or Adventure Mode with the other characters, or complete the Target Test for all the other characters, or play 1000 Versus Mode matches.

Home run contest

Super Smash Bros. Melee includes a home run contest, in which the player's goal is to hit a character named Sandbag as far as possible. Only 10 seconds are allowed and the more Sandbag is beaten before time's up, the farther it will go when hit. (This all has to be done on a small platform, though, and if Sandbag goes off you'll have to restart.) If you hit Sandbag 984 feet you'll get the Sandbag trophy, and if you get a combined total of 16,404 ft in the contest you'll get an Unown trophy. Also, if you hit Sandbag over 1,350 feet at once (recommended by using Yoshi's downward standard attack, or Ganondorf's downward attack and then using bat, to damage it, then his smash attack to hit it) you'll get the Classic Yoshi's Story Stage (the Yoshi stage from the N64 version of Super Smash Bros.).

Character "clones"

There are 6 character pairs that each contain 2 characters that resemble each other a lot (having similar moves). Although the moves of the characters may appear similar at first glance, there are very subtle differences between the characters that keep them distinct, especially to more advanced players.

• Mario and Dr. Mario (and Luigi, to a lesser degree)
• Link and Young Link
• Pikachu and Pichu
• Fox and Falco
• Captain Falcon and Ganondorf
• Marth and Roy

Luigi was a more of a clone of Mario in the original Super Smash Bros. game. Falco is an adaptation of Fox in the original Super Smash Bros. game.

"Super Smash Bros. 3?"

There have been a load of speculations about a "Super Smash Bros. 3." The future of Super Smash Bros. series currently lies in the balance. Masahiro Sakurai, the creator of Super Smash Bros. and Kirby video game franchises, resigned from HAL Laboratories, Inc. in June 2003. He said that he left of his own free will and neither because of poor relationships nor because of a desire to establish a new corporation. Some other sources said that Sakurai felt that he was unable to develop the games he desired for Nintendo to publish. He eventually decided to resign on this basis, and engage in free lance work that befits his skills and talents. As for the worries, Sakurai said that even though the Kirby video game franchise will still be developed by HAL Laboratories, Inc., he has not said a word about the future of the Super Smash Brothers video game franchise.