Format: GameCube Publisher/developer: Nintendo Release: December 2001 (US/Japan), May 2002 (EU/AUS)
Whoever had the idea of Mario asking Link if he’d spilled his pint is a genius. Super Smash Bros Melee is a fighting game where just that happens: the fighters are fluffy pink blobs, plumbers, boys in baseball caps or apes, and the rings are bright and cheery dreamlands of colour. Starring Nintendo’s flagship characters in a sumo-inspired arena battle, where the only way to win is to knock your opponents off the edge, Super Smash Bros debuted on the N64, but it was with the transition to GameCube and Super Smash Bros Melee that the frenetic action created a beat ’em up niche to call its own.
But beat ’em ups, and even bright, cartoony beat ’em ups with licensed characters, are ten a penny. Why is Super Smash Bros Melee special? The appeal lies in the control system: consisting of simply two buttons combined with directional movement, it removes any hierarchy between the players who can rotate a control stick 360 degrees then press heavy-punch and those who can’t. Simplicity itself: the interface barrier that stops most potential beat ’em up fans before they’ve begun is gone. Nor does this mean that the fighting is simplistic – on the contrary, the combination of movement and button pressing allows dozens of moves dependent on situation, and while it’s a world away from scissors-paper-stone, the combat system places a strong emphasis on attacking and countering appropriately.
Whether this means jumping over Mario’s fireball with Yoshi’s bottom-bounce, or rolling past, grabbing and throwing off the edge depends on situation, character and (of course) reflexes. As well as offence, characters can escape falling with moves from the humble jump to a double jump, rolling, shielding, or dodging in mid-air, and some can use a special move to gain an extra few inches in flight or even, in Link’s case, use the hookshot to grab hold of a platform edge that’s just too far away for fingers. It’s a system that allows infinite variation from finite starting points, and ensures that no fights are the same.
The exterior is typically Nintendo-smooth, but there’s a surprisingly sophisticated heart beating underneath.
But all this would be for naught were it not for the balance of the characters. Nintendo heroes from a wide range of games are included, and while there are obviously the likes of Mario, Pikachu and Samus, the undercard is more than capable of holding its own with the likes of Captain Falcon (F-Zero), Ness (Earthbound) and even Mr Game & Watch. Ganon and Bowser are powerhouses, capable of sending smaller characters flying across the screen with a single hit or juggling them with quick and brutal uppercut attacks. But compared to, say, Fox McCloud or Link, they’re as manoeuvrable as a big rig. Link has a sizeable utility belt that includes bombs, boomerangs, arrows and the hookshot, allowing you to keep multiple opponents at a distance but also to hamper their attempts to get back on to the stage after a particularly vicious smash attack. Pikachu can electrocute opponents with a mere touch, act as a conductor to call lightning bolts from the sky or even zip across stages at speed as a bolt of electricity. And this doesn’t even begin to explore the intricacies of Ness, a character whose offensive and defensive capabilities are based on telekinesis (and, when occasion demands, a baseball bat), or the Ice Climbers, who depend on hammers, ropes, a sure footing and teaming up to confuse opponents.
Each character also has their own distinct stage: there’s Hyrule Castle, a cavernous edifice that allows for a multitude of strategies; or Brinstar, a rock set above molten lava that rotates 360° during the battle; or even the neutral Battlefield stage, a simple, straight platform with three smaller platforms to jump around. Power-ups are Nintendo icons themselves: a super mushroom will make a character a screen-filling behemoth, capable of smashing opponents huge distances (but also less manoeuvrable and more susceptible to group attacks). A pokéball could contain a legendary Pokémon that will instantly destroy your opponents and win the game, or it could contain a useless Goldeen (it’s a fish, so with the stages being out of water it acts much like one). Items can be used to lay traps, melee, or simply be thrown at your opponents, and there is no shortage: fireflowers, beam swords, home-run bats, bob-ombs, mines, cloaking devices, maxim tomatoes, ray guns, star rods, warp stars, red shells, starmen and heart containers are only the beginning.
The stages are varied, the characters are distinct, and the controls are as simple as can be. In a sense, Super Smash Bros. Melee is the perfect beat ’em up: bloodless and comedic enough for the family, demanding and deep enough to satisfy those of us who graduated from Street Fighter II. Of course, its aesthetics mean that it will never be played in the battle arenas of arcades, or be anything but sneered at by Virtua Fighter purists – but, as players fly in all directions and a mad scramble begins for the newly spawned DK hammer, even a fool could see that it’s their loss.
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