2 and a 1/2 years after the released of a critically acclaimed game Smash Bros was released on the Nintendo 64 and it brought some of our favorite characters from the splendid series released to the public by Nintendo, and in 2001 we received a lovely titled and addition to this series known as Super Smash Bros Melee. We've once again begun an adventure through many worlds in order to rid the darkness clogging up this game's lifestyle due to the evil villain known as Master Hand who has come back from the depth of the earth waiting to meet the skilled fighters from before, but just like with the characters he's also received some upgrades from before both in movement and fighting abilities! Can we really make this work out, will we put aside our differences from the other tactical fighters released to the battleground? Or all we just doomed to fight forever in a vicious melee like in the Roman times? Seems like we'll find out answer if we just move ahead so let's get going!
*P1 chooses Sonic57* >>>>> Continue.


                                                           Stage 1 - Vizzed's Humble Kingdom



Graphics: 8 out of 10

In case it's not clear from the past game or images from this one like you may have checked out already, the graphics have always been very simplistic when compared to other games on either system so they obviously won't received a huge score if you look at a different games such as Mario Sunshine...Pac Man World 2...or even Sonic Adventure DX. Although the scenery of the backgrounds are very well detailed compared to it's predecessor which does deserve a bit more praise towards the graphics since it does show a very nice and smooth progression from N64 to the GC some examples are: Hyrule Castle's stage which has ancient pillars from the famous series (with little triforce symbols etched into the grains of stone) and an underground portion of the level with dirt flooring alongside a attached podium to the side probably what it'd look like if Ganon took over. Another good example could be Mute City which is Capt Falcon's Main stage of residence, a scrolling level with the background set from the F-Zero games with the same stage name which does look pretty nice especially for this game series. Now let's take a quick look at the character models in this game which I believe have improved quite alot since Link looks more so like himself from Ocarina of Time than before where his model looked alot like the Beta version of Ocarina of Time's Link, don't believe me just yet well here's another example then a new character that was added into this game which was Peach and let's just say she looks 20x better than how she did in Mario 64 or Mario Kart N64 so that's another plus to this games graphics are definitely more than passable!  

Speaking about graphics there's something interesting you can do if you change the language to Japanese and look at the collection screen underneath the trophy section, now take a quick look  at the back of the room where you'd see the older consoles (NES, N64, Exc.) most of them will  now be changed to their Japanese Counterparts and you'll also find a Virtual Boy in the corner of the screen, pretty incredible and really sweet easter egg if you ask me. All of this combined  leads me to give the graphics and 8 out of 10!


Sound: 10 out of 10

This is going to be another one of those "Do I really have to say anything" moments because the music selection in this game is just too good for my ears and there's a large collection of different songs as well both old and new. Not many people talk in the game so the sound effects wise won't have much importance unless we count smash moves and the announcer that plays during the beginning of a stage or Bonus Area. Moving on though let's talk about some examples on why I like the music in this game for example alot of people consider the Metal Mario stage to be a great fight with the music so perfectly fitting for the previous game, well this game's version of that theme is more so a rock and echo type song which I like because unlike before he's not exactly as strong as he was in the original game so a more fast paced and rock version fits it alot better. The second theme I'd like to discuss is a more relaxing and peaceful tune which plays in only one certain area in the game, which is the resting place for the All-Star Mode, with its nice piano melody and swift changes in range it makes honestly just picture this: you have just beaten three tough enemies and then you have the chance to peacefully sit on the grass near the fountain while looking up at the sky as you try to rest from your previous battle. Now since I shall be ending this soon my last example will be the alternate main menu theme, which sounds like a celebratory and interesting theme as well why is that you ask (because you need to unlock all characters in order to have this song play a % of the time) however if you don't want to do it that way you can just hold L & R to make it possibly switch. So all in all I'd say the sound deserves a solid 10 out of 10!


Addictiveness: 10 out of 10

Now here's the interesting part about this series and the reason why is because each one of them has their own separate reasons for it's high addictiveness and replay-value. Just so that way in case you don't know much about the previous entry into the series I'll update you right now, basically what made the N64 Smash Bros game so great was that not only was it a brand new idea but in the actual gameplay your Punches and Kicks were Very Strong not mentioning how great the throw attack was as well. So that's what made that version great well what does this version do that makes it nice and enjoyable? Alright I'll tell you just don't "Smash" by head off, basically this game does lower the attack power that you had from before however; with this downside they did give you a different greatness which is Speed and I mean alot of it! If you remember how the running was originally kind of sluggish well they fixed that in this game (only certain characters can't run well, usually heavy characters) and if I may so something it's that you probably should practice a little big beforehand since getting used the fast speed can take a while but you should be able to get the hang of it. On a final note this game offers a different playthrough in the Classic/1P Section known as Adventure Mode: which basically takes mostly the main characters level appearance at makes you go through a normal stage like if you  were to play Super Mario World or Sonic The Hedgehog (Minus Sonic's speed of course xD) and then put you into a normal Smash Bros fight with the main character of the level you just played through to put it into perspective Hyrule would = Link followed by Zelda, now like I said mostly you'll do this and sometimes you'll just go into a fight like you will with the Pokémon stage.

What else makes this game highly addictive right? Well the additions of several characters is nice especially considering that "certain" characters weren't supposed to make the US cut of the game AKA Marth and Roy from Fire Emblem which you have to unlock them both. One complaint I do hear alot about this game is the fact that some characters are about the same like: Link and Young Link or Dr.Mario and Mario but honestly I find them to be nice throwbacks to older games like Ocarina of Time and well Dr. Mario on the NES haha but I guess that's true for some players in this game I still don't think it's big deal though. Either way I really need to wrap this up so I'm going to leave this section with my score of a perfect 10 out of 10!


Story: N/A

Just like before there isn't really any story to this game just like the predecessor on the N64 so I can't really rate this as much as the other sections, although to be perfectly honest I actually kind of prefer this game not having a main story since I don't think there really is a great story to fit this game series. Unless it started off with a story or was made to have a story I think it should remain the way it was originally intended, if I had to make something up like before it'd probably be something along the lines of: "The evil Master Hand has returned from the darkness of Final Destination in order to wreak havoc on the smashful residents of this world. He's even made carbon copies of each character in this wonderful land in order to destroy and gain complete dominance of the world, so it's time for the hero of hyrule Link, the Mushroom Kingdom warrior Mario, or even the Space Avenger Fox Mcloud to subdue this evil villain once again...This of course just being made up on my own part from what given to you in the game so unfortunately I still have to leave the score at a N/A rating.


Depth: 9 out of 10

If you remember how I said that I wished the first in this Smash series had added into it, well this game adds A TON of more content. As you read above in the addictiveness section there is a new adventure mode added to this game that has 12 area's in which 5 of them have a linear running/adventuring section while the other 7 are basic fighting matches with 2 acts which is really nice and have secrets within them a perfect example of this is: beating the Kirby Team in the Green Greens stage in 30 seconds or less and you'll fight a huge Kirby, another well known secret is the special final boss characters at the end of both Classic and Adventure mode which are the newest addition to the Master Hand Family known as Crazy Hand and Giga Bowser wherein you can fight Crazy Hand by defeating Classic Mode on Normal or higher without continuing and you can fight Giga Bowser by defeating Adventure Mode on Normal Difficulty or Higher also in under 18 minutes. Seem's pretty basic like before right? Well they also included stadium events such as Home Run Contest (where you smash a sandbag and see how far it goes) Target Test, and Multiman Melee in addition to specific event matches included in One Player Mode so that will give you alot of time to put into this game. Also there are many stages in multiplayer section as well, stretching across from completely newly made area's...Old stages from the previous game redesigned or kept the same...and even one older idea for a stage (Flat Zone because it's a Game & Watch system) which a nice old style touch to the game if you ask me.

Now normally I would end this off but there's ONE last thing I'd like to talk about, I know this is going on for a long time but this could be helpful for some of you whom have this game and are having a hard time on the event matches/multiman melee/or even just wanting to have fun in Multiplayer. This is how to become Master Hand (this is legit in everyway I know it sounds fake) take any controller and put it into the 3rd slot and for the first player mode go to were the create name place is and go onto the new name but only put the cursor there now hold down B and as soon as it starts to go back press A on the new name slot and you should be in the game as Master Hand (DON'T USE IN ANY OTHER PLACES THEN WHAT I MENTIONED ABOVE OTHERWISE IT'LL FREEZE). If you want to play in multiplayer with Master Hand as well for fun you can do the same steps as above just make sure this time you have someone else hit the Back button while you do the same steps listed above. I really need to end this though so I'll leave my score with a 9 out of 10 for it's depth.


Difficulty: 7 out of 10

For sections like this on a game where you can actually chose the difficulty I'd rate it a 5 however; Melee actually can be a difficult change for players of the first game whom are used to more power and not much speed so they could either A - fall down of the stage alot due to not being adjusted to the speed, or B - get defeated easier due to the computers fast and quick reaction times compared to before so that's one of the reasons why I'd rate the difficulty higher. The second and really final reason is the last bosses of the Classic and Adventure Mode which I described above as going through the entire classic/adventure mode on normal or higher can be difficult due to reasons that I mentioned above and the fact that now you have to fight 2 Hands instead of just one or VIA Adventure mode you have to fight a gargantuan sized and more powerful version of bowser so be very cautious and try to keep at least 2 lives near the end since you'll need it! Not much else I can really say here so I'll leave of my score for the difficulty part of the review which is a nice and fair 7 out of 10!


We've reach the final peak at the end of this bloodshedding road, and have come to the Villian's stronghold...this will be our Final Destination to the road ahead of us and it's in our hands to seal this dark evil once again. It's time to put the path of justice back into it's rightful place and restore the peace that was once surrounding this peaceful land,
*Player 1 draws blade* there's only one thing left to do and it's to face off against this dark evil! This is sure to be an enticing fight as we'll be bearing alot of weight onto our shoulders, it's going to be a dangerous attack but let's go...It's time to bring this Melee to and end!

                                                 *Dashes towards Master Hand of Vizzed*

                                                                                                Sonic57 & NFKtm (Erick Davis 2014)

mohammedroxx3 :

GenesisJunkie :

camjim12 :

EideticMemory :

User of this:

Razor-987 :

Sidewinder :

iN008 :

Barathemos :

DenzGamer135 :

Eirinn :  


Hello Everyone just wanted to summon you all and let you know I've finished my newest review, and I hope you all sincerely enjoy it my friends

Nice review! You did a great job. It was funny, and went pretty deep into the game. Something I want to be better at. I like that someone else knew about the Master Hand in multiplayer trick! On the GameCube,  Melee was truly one of the greats.

(P.S, you forgot the A in my summon. )

A user of this : Glad you enjoyed it User, I'm sure you can get better at it all it takes is time and practice and I know I noticed that after I submitted the reply xD I always forget you have the A at the beginning of your user name lol

This is an amazing review for several reasons man, as always your organization and detail is the best quality, but you also kept the mood light and humorous which is a good things because it continues to captivate the reader and grab a hold of their attention, especially with longer reviews. I try to do the same with my reviews as well, but you are quite amazing at it! 

Overall, this is just another flawless review and it was top notch in all aspects, from quality in content and organization, to the way you kept me hooked all the way through, this review came out amazing just like all of yours do. Keep up the great work man and keep making more awesome reviews! I look forward to reading your next one! 

Razor-987 : Glad you really enjoyed the review man, as always I'm glad to hear your good feedback and response on what you read. I would say the only flaw I see in here is at some points I did drag things on a bit too far but when I did I tried to make it interesting, still though it's a flaw. Anyways I'm glad you really like seeing my reviews and if you need to look up at them for reviews it's fine with me see you next month my friend!

sonicthehedgehog57 : Hey man! First of all thank you for continuing to summon me, even though I haven't been on for like 4 months. Anyways, I am glad to see your reviews. It reminds me of how any of my school papers SHOULD look like, lol, they don't. If relating  this to my school papers is werid...sorry lol. Your review never bores me, never gets old, its always fresh. Melee was actually my least favorite Smash Bros game. The N64 was my fav for whatever reason. Anyways, I think I'm back to the site and cant wait for more amazing reviews from you!

sonicthehedgehog57 : good job on this review dude i really enjoyed reading this review because you did very great on all the points

camjim12 : Glad to have you back my friend and of course I'd continue to summon you, just because your gone doesn't mean I'll quit xD. Also glad that you enjoy the review as well, I'm not sure which one is my least favorite because each of them has something great about them...for me Melee was because of it's fast paced fighting, and for the N64 version your favorite one it's how powerful your attacks were .


deg2000 : Glad you enjoyed the review  

What's convenience is that originally sonic and snake was going to be in me lee but both got cancelled due to time problems and got their part in the smash universe in brawl and sonic is confirmed for smash 4 we u and 3ds