Super Smash Bros. Melee

Template:Infobox Super Smash Bros. Melee is a fighting game for the Nintendo GameCube. It is the sequel to Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo 64 and the predecessor to Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii. Super Smash Bros. Melee is the best selling game for the Nintendo GameCube. It is a fighting game where various characters from Nintendo's popular franchises battle on different courses, also taken from Nintendo franchises. Many of the major characters of the Mario series make an appearance. The game has its major focus on the multiplayer mode, while still offering a number of single-player modes.

Gameplay

In Super Smash Bros. Melee, up to four characters fight on a side-view stage with invisible boundaries on each side. When a player hits these boundaries, he or she is knocked out. Unlike other fighting games, the Super Smash Bros. series thus does not rely on hit points for each character which have to be brought down to zero, but on damage percentage. Whenever a player is hit, he or she gets a certain amount of percent damage. The maximum damage that can be dealt to a player is 999%. The higher the damage percentage is, the easier can the player be knocked out.

General Actions

File:Mrgamewatchmovea.jpg

The basic A attack. Here, Mr. Game and Watch attacks Ness with his A attack.

Players move around on the stages using the GameCube Controller's control stick, and can jump by pulling the control stick up or pressing the X or Y button. It is possible to jump again in the air a single time. Some characters also have the ability to multi-jump in the air. By moving the control stick down, the player can crouch or move a layer down on the stage.

A basic attack is performed with the A button. When moving the control stick into a direction, the player can attack upwards and downwards or to either side. These attacks are usually weak and do not do very much damage. When the A button is pressed repeatedly, the character performs a standard combo, a fast sequence of weak attacks. When the control stick is titled fast and the A button is pressed in time, the player can perform a Smash Attack. These are very powerful, chargeable attacks which cause a lot of damage. Each character's moves for the side, up and down Smash Attacks are different.

Character Special Moves

Mario using his Super Jump Punch special move.

Each character has his or her own set of special moves, which are performed with the B button. When moving the control stick in a certain direction, or not moving it at all, a different special move is performed. The special moves are influenced by the character's individual personality, and have various effects, from doing more damage than with a normal attack, attacking from a distance or repelling projectiles. Most characters' Up + B moves involve jumping, which makes it possible to perform a third jump in the air to prevent the character from falling down. The sideways special move was a new addition to the series.

Item Use

Captain Falcon using a Parasol.

Items appear on the stage at random and can be used by the players. Items have various effects, and some trigger by themselves. They can grant the character special abilities for a short time, like becoming invisible, contain a number of items themselves, explode when hitting or can be used as a weapon. When a player is standing next to an item, he or she can use the A button to pick the item up. Some items have effects that are activated when the item is picked up or touched, such as reducing the character's damage percentage or turning the character into a giant version of him- or herself. Other items can be used as weapons. A held weapon can be used with the A button. With the Z button, or L or R in combination with A, the weapon can the thrown away. This thrown item can also hurt other characters when it hits them.

Shielding

Kirby using his Shield.

When pressing the L or R triggers, or the Z button, the character's shield is activated. Shields can be used to prevent any kind of attack from a character or an item, only grabbing cannot be prevented. If used at the right time, and for only a split second, the shield can be used as a reflector for items thrown and most projectile attacks. More powerful ones such as Samus' fully charged charge shot, however, will merely be absorbed by the shield.The shield has the form of a bubble (except for Yoshi, where it is a Yoshi Egg). The shield's power decreases every time it is used, and when the shield breaks, the character is unable to move for a longer period of time. The longer the player waits before using the shield the stronger it becomes, similar to Bowser's fire breath. Also, the harder the player presses on the L R triggers or Z button depends on how thick the shield is, a thicker shield will erode slower from damage but faster from time, while a thinner shield will erode more from damage but significantly less from time duration, adding to shielding strategy. Light characters may even be knocked out by the shield break.

Grabbing and Throwing

Players are able to grab other characters and hold them. This allows the player to hit the character while he is not able to protect himself or fight back. The player can also throw the character in any direction, or smash them to the ground. A thrown character can hit other characters and damage them this way, too. When not holding item and standing next to a character, the player can press Z, or L and R in combination with A, to grab the character. The player can now attack the grabbed character by using the Z or A buttons, and can also throw the other character in a direction by tilting the control stick.

Other Actions

In single-player mode, the player can use the C-Stick to zoom the camera in or out. In VS mode, the player can move the C-Stick in any direction, allowing him or her to perform uncharged smash attacks easily. By pressing Up on the D-Pad, the player can use the Taunt.

Fighting Modes

A basic VS battle.

There are four standard fighting modes in Super Smash Bros. Melee. These can be freely chosen in VS mode. The Regular Matches in Single-Player mode only feature Stock matches, but different rules appear in the Event Matches. In all modes, it is possible that there is a tie between one or more players. When this happens,there will be a Sudden Death. It is a quick battle, where each of the players who are tied will fight. They each start with 300% damage, and the last player standing wins. The winner of the Sudden Death wins the entire battle.

Time

Players gain points by knocking out other players, and lose points by going knocked out. When the time limit has run out, the player with the most points wins. It can be set by the player whether self-destructs cause players to lose 0, 1 or 2 points. A special function that displays the players' points during battle can also be unlocked. This mode is used by default in the VS Mode, though it is rarely used in the Single-Player events.

Stock

Players have a set number of lives. They lose lives when they are knocked out. The last player standing wins. Optionally, a time limit can be specified. When the time has run out, the player with the most lives wins. This mode is featured throughout the Classic and All-Star Mode, and there is always a set time limit in these modes.

The Coin Battle mode.

Coin

Players have to collect Smash Coins. Coins appear by hitting an opponent. When a player gets knocked out, he will lose half of his coins. When the time limit has run out, the player with the most coins wins. This fighting mode is rarely used in the Event Matches of the single-player mode, but is also available in VS matches.

Bonus

Players get points for their fighting style. There are 249 different kinds of bonus points. Bonus points can be simply for knock outs, for jumping a lot, for looking in the same direction all the time, for getting a rare Pokémon out of a Pokéball, etc. They often have humorous names. When the time limit has run out, the player with the most points wins.

Playable Characters

All playable characters.

There are 26 playable characters in Super Smash Bros. Melee. Seven of them are from the Mario series.

Legend:

Special Moves
B move
Smash B move
Up & B move
Down & B move

Default Characters

	Name	Series	Description	Special Moves
	Mario	Mario series	Mario is a balanced character with a variety of moves. He attacks quickly but jumps low and has difficulty recovering, despite his reputation as Jumpman.	Fireball
				Cape
				Super Jump Punch
				Mario Tornado
	Donkey Kong	Donkey Kong series	Donkey Kong is a strong, heavy character. When he grabs enemies, he can carry them for a short distance.	Giant Punch
				Headbutt
				Spinning Kong
				Hand Slap
	Link	Legend of Zelda series	Link is a character of high weight and medium strength. However, he is rather slow. He uses his sword to attack.	Bow
				Boomerang
				Spin Attack
				Bomb
	Samus Aran	Metroid series	Samus is a heavy character with powerful attacks. Her Grappling Beam, while slow, allows her to grab characters from farther away.	Charge Shot
				Missile
				Screw Attack
				Bomb
	Yoshi	Yoshi series	Yoshi is a fast and heavy fighter with strong smash attacks. Unlike other fighters, Yoshi's shield is not an energy bubble but a green-spotted Yoshi Egg. He lacks a third jump.	Egg Lay
				Egg Roll
				Egg Throw
				Yoshi Bomb
	Kirby	Kirby series	Kirby is a light and fast character with weak attacks. He can jump five times in mid-air. His Swallow attack allows him to copy other characters' B abilities.	Swallow
				Hammer
				Final Cutter
				Stone
	Fox McCloud	Star Fox series	Fox is a fast and light character with average strength. His Blaster has the unique ability to do damage to an enemy without stopping them.	Blaster
				Fox Illusion
				Fire Fox
				Reflector
	Pikachu	Pokémon series	Pikachu is fast and light. It uses its electric attacks to damage other enemies.	Thunder Jolt
				Skull Bash
				Quick Attack
				Thunder
	Ness	Earthbound series	Ness is fast character who relies on his PSI attacks. He can attack with a baseball bat and a yo-yo as his smash attacks. To recover with his PK Thunder, Ness must direct the ball of lightning to his rear end to catapult himself towards the stage.	PK Flash
				PK Fire
				PK Thunder
				PSI Magnet
File:Ssbmpicfalcon.gif	Captain Falcon	F-Zero series	Captain Falcon is the fastest-running character in the game. His attacks are strong, particularly his forward aerial knee attack.	Falcon Punch
				Raptor Boost
				Falcon Dive
				Falcon Kick
	Bowser	Mario series	Bowser is the heaviest and slowest character, but has powerful attacks and is hard to hit off of the stage. He can use his weight to crush the characters he grabs. He is one of the first villans to be playable in the series.	Fire Breath
				Koopa Klaw
				Whirling Fortress
				Bowser Bomb
	Peach	Mario series	Peach has a special ability to float above the ground for a short amount of time. In her forward smash, she swings a golf club, a tennis racket or a frying pan.	Toad
				Peach Bomber
				Peach Parasol
				Vegetable
	Ice Climbers	Ice Climber	The Ice Climbers fight as a pair. The player only controls one Ice Climber, and a CPU plays the partner, who generally follows the player's moves. The Ice Climbers have low reach but high power and dangerous grabs. By changing colors, the player can choose between controlling Popo or Nana.	Ice Shot
				Squall Hammer
				Belay
				Blizzard
	Zelda	Legend of Zelda series	Zelda is a slow-moving character. Her attacks do much damage, but do not hit the enemy easily. She has the ability to transform herself into Sheik, giving her a wide range of different special moves.	Nayru's Love
				Din's Fire
				Farore's Wind
				Transform
	Sheik	Legend of Zelda series	Sheik is Zelda's faster alter-ego. Sheik attacks rapidly and combo well. She lacks powerful ground attacks but her aerials can kill quickly. Zelda can become Sheik at the start of the battle when the player holds down A.	Needle Storm
				Chain
				Vanish
				Transform

Unlockable Characters

	Name	Series	Description	Special Moves
	Luigi	Mario series	Luigi is a character with average weight and speed but with above average strength. He has many similarities to Mario in his move set. He jumps slowly and has low traction, giving him the game's longest wavedash.	Fireball
				Green Missile
				Super Jump Punch
				Luigi Cyclone
	Jigglypuff	Pokémon series	Jigglypuff is weak and light. It can jump five times in mid-air. Its Rest attack has very low reach but can KO at low damage.	Rollout
				Pound
				Sing
				Rest
	Mewtwo	Pokémon series	Mewtwo is a slow, light character. The game attributes his low weight to the fact that he hovers above ground.	Shadow Ball
				Confusion
				Teleport
				Disable
	Marth	Fire Emblem series	Marth is a fast character with average strength and weight. He uses a sword to attack, granting him the game's longest reach. Marth's attacks are strongest at the tip of the sword.	Shield Breaker
				Dancing Blade
				Dolphin Slash
				Counter
	Mr. Game & Watch	Game & Watch series	Mr. Game & Watch has average speed and strength but low weight. His Judgment attack chooses from nine effects at random.	Chef
				Judgment
				Fire
				Oil Panic
	Dr. Mario	Mario series	Dr. Mario is very similar to Mario. His attacks look different, but act the same way as Mario's.	Megavitamins
				Super Sheet
				Super Jump Punch
				Dr. Tornado
	Ganondorf	Legend of Zelda series	Ganondorf has a moveset similar to Captain Falcon. However, he is not fast, but slow and heavy. He also has a special attack when pressing A and moving the control stick upwards, different from a Smash Attack.	Warlock Punch
				Gerudo Dragon
				Dark Dive
				Wizard's Foot
File:Falcomeleeduhjerk.PNG	Falco Lombardi	Star Fox series	Falco has a moveset similar to Fox. He is not as fast as Fox but jumps higher. His Blaster also functions differently; it fires more slowly but can stun enemies.	Blaster
				Falco Phantasm
				Fire Bird
				Reflector
	Young Link	Legend of Zelda series	Young Link is similar to Link. However, he is considerably weaker, lighter and faster and can Wall Jump.	Fire Bow
				Boomerang
				Spin Attack
				Bomb
	Pichu	Pokémon series	Pichu is similar to Pikachu. It is the lightest character of the game. Like Pikachu, it moves and attacks quickly. Whenever it uses an electric attack it inflicts damage to itself.	Thunder Jolt
				Skull Bash
				Agility
				Thunder
	Roy	Fire Emblem series	Roy is similar to Marth. Unlike Marth, his attacks are strongest at the center of his sword. His fully-charged Flare Blade is the game's strongest non-reflected attack, but it backfires when charged maximally, doing 10 damage to Roy himself.	Flare Blade
				Double-Edge Dance
				Blazer
				Counter

Stages

There are 29 selectable stages in Super Smash Bros. Melee.

Default Stages

	Stage	Description
	Infinite Glacier: Icicle Mountain	Icicle Mountain is a stage that scrolls up and down at different speeds. It has many different small platforms to jump on, similar to the classical platforming game Ice Climber.
File:Castle.jpg	Mushroom Kingdom: Princess Peach's Castle	In this stage, the battle takes place on the roof of Princess Peach's Castle from Super Mario 64. There are some hovering platforms at either side of the small tower. Switches can be activated, making ? Blocks appear. From time to time, a Banzai Bill is shot into the castle, causing an explosion.
File:Melee Kongo Jungle.jpg	DK Island: Kongo Jungle	The Kongo Jungle stage is set on logs over a waterfall. A small platform also appears to the right, and sometimes logs are falling down the waterfall, creating temporary platforms. Below the stage is a Barrel Cannon which shoots out characters in a random direction when they fall into it.
File:Greatbay.jpg	Termina: Great Bay	The Great Bay stage, based on The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, has two platforms which stand fixed in the water, and a swimming stone. Sometimes, a turtle rises from the water, creating additional platforms. Tingle is also seen on the stage with a giant balloon, and is forming another platform.
File:Meleeyoshi'sstory.jpg	Yoshi's Island: Yoshi's Story	Yoshi's Story features elements of the game Yoshi's Story. In the center is Yoshi's Island, and three smaller platforms are hovering above it. It also has a cloud moving below it to catch falling characters. Flying Shy Guys fly by occasionally, carrying Food.
File:Ssbm-nd-kirbystage1.jpg	Dream Land: Fountain of Dreams	On the Fountain of Dreams stage from the Kirby series, the fountain itself forms a big platform in the middle with three smaller hovering platforms above it, whose height varies.
File:Corneria.jpg	Lylat System: Corneria	In the Corneria stage from the Star Fox series, the battle is held on the Great Fox, a spaceship. From time to time, Arwings fly by and shoot at the combatants.
	Mushroom Kingdom: Rainbow Cruise	Rainbow Cruise is a moving stage with different environments based on Rainbow Ride from Super Mario 64. It starts on a floating ship, which falls down after a certain time, and players have to move on over the various platforms.
File:Melee Jungle Japes.jpg	DK Island: Jungle Japes	The Jungle Japes stage from the Donkey Kong series is set on a river, with three ledges made of wood with a house and a toilet house found on them. The players fight on these platforms. Occasionally, Klaptraps jump out of the water, trying to drag characters downwards into the water.
	Hyrule: Temple	The Temple is the biggest stage of the game, designed after several games from the Legend of Zelda series. It features many different platforms and a tunnel system. Despite its size, it does not have any side effects.
	Yoshi's Island: Yoshi's Island	The Yoshi's Island stage is set in a scene from Super Mario World. The area is enclosed by a slope on the one side and a Warp Pipe on the other. In the middle, there is a hole with Turning Blocks above it. There are also two groups of turning blocks floating on the stage serving as additional platforms.
	Dream Land: Green Greens	Green Greens from the Kirby series is consisting of three separated grass platforms. The huge tree, Whispy Woods, blows the characters away. Sometimes, apples fall from him. Also, blocks and bomb blocks fall from the sky in between the platforms.
	Lylat System: Venom	Much like Corneria, Venom is featuring the Great Fox flying over the surface. But unlike Corneria, the battle is fought on the Great Fox's four wings, the ship is seen from the front. Arwings also appear and shoot at the players.
File:Brinstar.jpg	Planet Zebes: Brinstar	Brinstar from Metroid is consisting of several platforms which are held together by organic material or other objects. These connections can be destroyed, causing some of the platforms to hover in the air. Sometimes, acid rises from below burning the characters, but also restoring broken connections.
	Eagleland: Onett	In Onett from EarthBound, the battle takes place on a few houses in the village and a nearby tree. Cars drive by and hit characters when they do not avoid them. There are warning signs announcing the cars. The platforms of the drug store in the middle can collapse, but restore themselves after a certain time.
	F-Zero Grand Prix: Mute City	Mute City takes place on a large F-Zero race track with a small platform hovering in the middle of it. Occasionally, this platform will go down, exposing the road. F-Zero gliders will sometimes race into the players, but can also be destroyed.
	Kanto: Pokémon Stadium	The Pokémon Stadium looks like a simple stage with two floating platforms, but every once in a while the stage will change into one of four different terrains: Water, Fire, Rock, and Grass, which all have different features obstacles.
File:Melee Mushroom Kingdom.jpg	Mushroom Kingdom	The Mushroom Kingdom stage features many objects from classical Super Mario Bros. games, such as Brick Blocks and ? Blocks, which contain items, as well as falling platforms above two gaps.

Unlockable Stages

	Stage	Description
File:FlatZone.jpg	Superflat World: Flat Zone	The Flat Zone modelled after a Game & Watch system. From time to time, wrenches, buckets, and other tools fall from the top. Oil can also be spilled over the ground, making it hard for the players to move. Some platforms vanish and appear at different places.
File:Ssbmstagesbrinstardepths.jpg	Planet Zebes: Brinstar Depths	Brinstar Depths from Metroid features a large rock platform. There are few floating rocks, which players can jump at times. When Kraid hits it, the large rock is rotating in any direction, exposing a different side of it.
	Eagleland: Fourside	This EarthBound stage is set high on the skyscrapers of Fourside. Players have to be carefully not to fall into the gaps between the buildings. It has a giant UFO that occasionally shows up on the screen and can be used as a platform.
	F-Zero Grand Prix: Big Blue	Big Blue is side-scrolling, and the fight takes place on top of the F-Zero gliders. Players have to be cautious not to hit the track, as they would stay behind and, because of the high speed of the gliders, would hit the barrier at the left end of the stage, knocking them out. There are also numerous platforms that pass by.
	Kanto Skies: Poké Floats	The Poké Floats stage takes place in the skies of Kanto, where giant floating Pokémon balloons are found. To survive on this stage, the player must jump from one Pokémon balloon to the next.
	Mushroom: Kingdom II	Mushroom Kingdom II, actually featuring Super Mario Bros. 2, has a generic scene from the game with several platforms and a waterfall that forms gorges between them. Occasionally, logs will fall down the waterfall, creating temporary platforms. A Pidgit will also occasionally fly in, creating another platform, and a Birdo appears from time to time, spitting Birdo Eggs at the characters.
File:MeleeBattlefield.jpg	Special Stages: Battlefield	Battlefield is a floating stage consisting of a big platform in the middle and three smaller platforms hovering above it. The stage does not have any side effects, which allows players to solely concentrate on the fight.
File:Ssbmstagesfinaldestination.jpg	Special Stages: Final Destination	Final Destination has absolutely no features, so the combatants are not bothered by the stage in any way.
File:Ssbstagesdreamland2.gif	Past Stages: Dream Land	The Dream Land is a stage returning from Super Smash Bros. The only feature is Whispy Woods who occasionally blows a harsh wind in a random direction.
File:Melee Yoshi's Island N64.jpg	Past Stages: Yoshi's Island	Yoshi's Island is a stage returning from Super Smash Bros. It is consisting of a big platform with the Super Happy Tree in the background, three other smaller floating platforms above, and three clouds at the edges of the stage, which vanish when a character stands on them too long.
File:Melee Kongo Jungle N64.jpg	Past Stages: Kongo Jungle	The Kongo Jungle is a stage returning from Super Smash Bros. The stage is made out of a large wooden platform with several smaller, sometimes floating ones around it. There is also a Barrel Cannon underneath the arena.

Items

	Name	Series	Description
File:Trophy116.PNG	Barrel	Super Smash Bros. series	The Barrel contains a single random item, which can be released by smashing the barrel or throwing it against a wall. When thrown to the ground, it will roll onwards and hit players.
File:Trophy113.PNG	Barrel Cannon	Donkey Kong series	The Barrel Cannon is used to trap a character inside. Then the barrel rotates, and depending when the trapped character presses a button, he or she will be fired out in a certain angle. However, the Barrel Cannon vanishes quite quickly after appearing on the stage.
File:Trophy94.PNG	Beam Sword	Super Smash Bros. series	The Beam Sword can be used to hit other characters. It is powerful, but the hits are rather slow.
File:Trophy103.PNG	Bob-omb	Mario series	The Bob-omb can be thrown at another character to cause an explosion. If left on the ground for a few seconds, it starts walking around. It then explodes after a certain amount of time or if it walks into a character.
File:Trophy111.PNG	Bunny Hood	Legend of Zelda series	The character wearing the Bunny Hood is faster and can jump higher.
File:Trophy117.PNG	Capsule	Super Smash Bros. series	The Capsule contains a single random item that is small. It can be easily thrown and sometimes explodes when hitting the wall or a character.
File:Trophy112.PNG	Cloaking Device	Perfect Dark	The Cloaking Device makes the player invisible. The player also takes no damage from attacks, but is thrown away by them nevertheless.
File:Trophy115.PNG	Crate	Super Smash Bros. series	The Create contains three different random items. Sometimes, it explodes when hit.
File:Trophy118.PNG	Egg	Super Smash Bros. series	The Egg contains a single item and is very similar to the Capsule. Whether it is a weapon or Food depends on the current stage.
File:Trophy96.PNG	Fan	Super Smash Bros. series	The Fan is used to smack other characters. It is difficult to escape the Fan's fast hits, though they do no do much damage per hit.
File:Trophy100.PNG	Flipper	Balloon Fight	When thrown, the Flipper stops hovering in the air, creating an obstacle for players. It can also repell projectiles.
File:Trophy91.PNG	Fire Flower	Mario series	The Fire Flower is used to shoot fire at other characters. It is not, like in the Mario series, similar to the Fireball attack, but to Bowser's Fire Breath.
File:Trophy85.PNG	Food	Super Smash Bros. series	The player's damage meter is reduced by a small amount. The actual amount varies from food to food.
File:Trophy101.PNG	Freezie	Mario series	The Freezie glides along the stage and can fall off edges. It can be destroyed before it has been picked up. It can be used to freeze other players in an ice block when throwing it at them. Using fiery attacks will make them normal again.
File:Trophy98.PNG	Green Shell	Mario series	The Green Shell can be thrown, and then slides along the ground, being able to hit multiple characters.
File:Trophy97.PNG	Hammer	Mario series	A massive hammer from Donkey Kong. If picked up, it can do great damage, but the player cannot double jump, nor can he or she drop the item. The head may fall off and be picked up and thrown.
File:Trophy87.PNG	Heart Container	Legend of Zelda series	The Heart Container reduces the player's damage meter by 100%.
File:Trophy95.PNG	Home-Run Bat	Super Smash Bros. series	When a Smash Attack is performed with a Home-Run Bat, the hit character is knocked out instantly. It is also featured in the Home-Run Contest.
File:Trophy92.PNG	Lip's Stick	Panel de Pon	The character hit by Lip's Stick gets a flower on their head, which is doing continuous little damage. The more often a character is hit, the bigger the flower grows, and the more damage it will do.
File:Trophy86.PNG	Maxim Tomato	Kirby series	The player's damage meter is reduced by 50%.
File:Trophy110.PNG	Metal Box	Mario series	Hitting the Metal Box makes the player metal. They weigh a lot and cannot be thrown off the stage easily, but if he or she get thrown off, they cannot jump easily and it is harder to survive for them.
File:Mine.jpg	Motion-Sensor Bomb	GoldenEye 007	When placed on the ground or on the side of a ledge, the Motion-Sensor Bomb stays on the ground and explodes when someone comes nearby.
File:Trophy102.PNG	Mr. Saturn	Earthbound series	They are used to throw it at other characters. When they are caught by the player again, they do not vanish, and can hit the other character many times.
File:Trophy108.PNG	Parasol	Kirby series	The Parasol can be used to hit other characters. When falling, the character holding the parasol glides down slowly.
File:Trophy114.PNG	Party Ball	Super Smash Bros. series	When the Party Ball opens, items appear at random. There is a high chance that the items will be Food or Bob-ombs.
File:Poisonmushroommelee.jpg	Poison Mushroom	Mario series	The opposite of Super Mushrooms. The player shrinks in size, gets easier to K.O., gets weaker but runs faster. He or she also gets more flexible and easier to miss.
File:Trophy120.PNG	Poké Ball	Pokémon series	When the Poké Ball is opened, a Pokémon appears. The effect of the Pokémon varies, but they mostly involve attacking the players' enemies without hurting their owner. However, some Pokémon hurt all players within their range. See the List of Pokémon in Super Smash Bros. Melee.
File:Trophy89.PNG	Ray Gun	Super Smash Bros. series	The Ray Gun can shoot out laser beams.
File:Trophy99.PNG	Red Shell	Mario series	The Red Shell is much like the Green Shell, but does less damage and homes in on characters.
File:Trophy109.PNG	Screw Attack	Metroid series	As long as a character is holding the Screw Attack in their hand, their jump is in the form of Samus's Screw Attack move. When another character is hit by it, they also do that jump.
File:Trophy107.PNG	Starman	Mario series	The Starman makes the player invincible for a moment. They do not take damage from their enemies and cannot be hit or grabbed, but they can still fall off the stage and get knocked out this way.
File:Trophy93.PNG	Star Rod	Kirby series	When the Star Rod is used, stars come flying out of it, hitting other characters.
File:Trophy105.PNG	Super Mushroom	Mario series	It makes the player double in size, and thus become stronger, harder to K.O., and slower, but easier to hit (due to the size) and less flexible.
File:Trophy90.PNG	Super Scope	Super Nintendo peripheral	The Super Scope shoots out many small energy balls, or, when charged up, up to three big energy balls.
File:Trophy88.PNG	Warp Star	Kirby series	The character who picks the Warp Star up will fly up into the air, and then crash right back down, causing an explosion that damages other players. By tilting the control stick while in the air, the player can take influence on the landing point.

Single-Player Mode

Classic Mode

The Classic Mode is based on the single-player mode of the game's predecessor. However, it is no longer set what opponents will be fought where. They are chosen randomly. Still, there is a set pattern for the battles. For setup, the player chooses the difficulty (very easy - easy - normal - hard - very hard) and the number of lives (1 - 5) he will have for the whole mode.

All battles are in stock mode, with the opponents having one life, and a 3 minutes time limit. The arena is one of the opponent's home arenas. There are also three bonus stages. When failing in one of them, the player does not lose a life for his upcoming battles.

When the player runs out of stock lives during the mode's progress, they can use a continue to gain all lives again, but they lose points for that, and at any setting except for Very Easy, they will have to pay coins for the Continue. Those coins are won in any regular battle by performing Smash Attacks, or in the Bonus Stages of the Classic Mode. They can also be used to pay for the Continue in the Adventure and All-Star mode and in the Trophy Lottery mode.

Classic Mode
Stage 1	The player fights a single opponent.
Stage 2	A team of the player and an ally fight against a team of two opponents.
Bonus Stage 1: Break the Targets!	The player has to hit all the targets within a time limit of 2 minutes. Each character has their own arena for the target test.
Stage 3	The player fights a single opponent.
Stage 4	A team of the player and two allies fight a single opponent. However, the opponent appears in his or her giant form, just if he or she had a Super Mushroom.
Bonus Stage 2: Collect the Trophies!	The player has to collect the Trophies falling from above. To do this, he has to hit them so that they fall into his collection spot.
Stage 5	The player fights a single opponent. When the player plays on the Hard setting or above, the opponent's CPU will be changed. The opponent will always escape to the borders of the stage after hitting the player.
Stage 6	The player has to fight 10 opponents, all being the same character. He fights three at a time. When one gets knocked out, another takes its place.
Bonus Stage 3: Race to the Finish!	The player runs along a tunnel with many doors. He can take any available door to complete the level, but the farther the door he takes is from the beginning, the more coins he earns. The time he has for this varies from character to character, but it is usually around 45 seconds.
Stage 7	The player has to fight an opponent in his metal version. The battle is held on the Battlefield stage.
Stage 8	The player has to fight the Master Hand on the Final Destination stage. Unlike the player, the Master Hand has hit points instead of percentage of damage. The number of hit points varies between the difficulty settings, anywhere from 250 to 360. Additionally, when the player is fighting on the normal or a higher difficulty setting and has finished the other stages of the classic mode in a time lower than 10 minutes, Crazy Hand will appear when Master Hand's HP hits its half. Then the player has to fight both hands at the same time. Crazy Hand starts with the same number of HP as Master Hand did.

The player's scores are saved after every stage. The player gets awarded points for the time remaining when a battle ends, as well as for the damage he dealt. He also gets Bonus Points, just as in the Bonus mode. In the Bonus Stages, the player gets points for how many targets he has hit, or how far he made it in Race to the Finish!. Special Bonus points are awarded in the end for hitting all targets in the Break the Targets! stage, collecting all trophies in the Collect the Trophies! stage, beating Crazy Hand, beating the mode on the Very Hard setting, or beating the mode without losing a life. The scores are saved separately for each character, and there is also a total score for all characters combined.

Adventure Mode

The Adventure Mode is a mode taking place in most of the worlds of the games featured in Super Smash Bros. Melee. It features some special side-scrolling stages only available in adventure mode. As in the Classic Mode, the player chooses the difficulty (very easy - easy - normal - hard - very hard) and the number of lives (1 - 5) he will have for the whole mode.

When the player runs out of stock lives during the mode's progress, they can use a continue to gain all lives again, but they lose points for that, and will have to pay coins. Those coins are won in any regular battle by performing Smash Attacks, or in the Bonus Stages of the Classic Mode. They can also be used to pay for the Continue in the Classic and All-Star mode and in the Trophy Lottery mode.

Adventure Mode
Stage 1	Mushroom Kingdom
Stage 1-1	This side-scrolling level is completely influenced by the Mushroom Kingdom's appearance in Mario games. It features classical Mario enemies, namely Goombas, Koopa Troopas and Koopa Paratroopas, as well as Warp Pipes and Brick Blocks. Toads and golf courses are seen in the background. Near the end of the stage, the player has to battle 10 Yoshis, three at a time.
Stage 1-2	When the player has completed the side-scrolling stage, he gets to Princess Peach's Castle. There, he has to fight Mario and Peach, who are in a team. Template:Spoiler When the player has completed the first part of the Mushroom Kingdom stage with a 2 in the seconds place (XX:X2:XX) on his time counter, Luigi will kick Mario off the castle before the battle begins. Then, the player will have to fight Luigi and Peach instead. When the player then completes the rest of the Adventure Mode, he will get to unlock Luigi in the end. Template:Endspoiler
Stage 2	Kongo Jungle
Stage 2-1	In the first part of the DK stage, the player has to fight two mini-versions of Donkey Kong at the same time. The battle is in the Kongo Jungle stage.
Stage 2-2	After defeating the mini DKs, the player will fight Giant DK in the Jungle Japes stage.
Stage 3	Hyrule
Stage 3-1	This side-scrolling level takes place in the Underground Maze. The player has to fight ReDeads and other enemies from the Legend of Zelda series. There are six special places in the dungeon. One is containing the finish, the Triforce. In the other five places with the Master Sword in the room, Link will appear and battle the player. He has a different color each time.
Stage 3-2	When the player has completed the Dungeon, he gets to Hyrule Temple, where he has to fight Princess Zelda.
Stage 4	Brinstar
Stage 4-1	In the first part of the stage, the player has to fight Samus in Brinstar. When Samus is defeated, a self-destruction mechanism will be activated.
Stage 4-2	The player then gets to a small side-scrolling level, where he has to jump upwards to escape the exploding planet. When he fails to do it in time, he will lose a life.
Stage 5	Green Greens
Stage 5-1	The player has to fight a single Kirby in the Green Greens stage.
Stage 5-2	When it is defeated, a team of 18 Kirbys, all having copied abilities from other characters, will fight the player. He fights three Kirbys at a time.
Stage 5-3	When the player has defeated the Kirby team within 30 seconds, Giant Kirby will appear and also fight him.
Stage 6	Corneria
Stage 6-1	The player has to fight Fox on the Corneria stage. In this battle, no Arwings can be seen. In this battle Fox just avoids the player and attacks sometimes.
Stage 6-2	When Fox is defeated, the Arwings will arrive and intervene in the battle on the Star Fox by heavily bombing it. In the meanwhile, the player has to fight Fox again. If Falco is unlocked, he might be there instead of Fox in the second battle.
Stage 7	Pokémon Stadium
Stage 7-1	The player has to fight a team of 12 Pokémon in the Pokémon Stadium. The team mainly consists of Pikachus. When they are unlocked, Jigglypuffs and Pichus can also be seen. Additionally, the only item in this battle is the Pokéball.
Stage 8	F-Zero Grand Prix
Stage 8-1	The stage begins with yet another special side-scrolling level. It is a part of the track of a GP race. The player has to complete it by foot. Occasionally, the F-Zero drivers will pass the player. He then has to hide on one of the platforms hovering above the track. Else, he is knocked out by them.
Stage 8-2	After completing the race, the player has to fight Captain Falcon in Mute City.
Stage 9	Onett
Stage 9-1	The player has to fight three Nesses in the Onett stage. The only item found here is Mr. Saturn.
Stage 10	Icicle Mountain
Stage 10-1	As Icicle Mountain is a scrolling stage regularly, is acts like that here, too. In the beginning, the player has to reach a certain height of the level. On his way are a lot of Topis, Polar Bears and Freezies. When he has reached the certain height, the player will fight two pairs of Ice Climbers at the same time.
Stage 11	Battlefield
Stage 11-1	The player has to fight 20 Fighting Wire Frames, five at a time.
Stage 11-2	When the player has defeated the Wire Frames, the player has to fight Metal Mario. When Luigi is unlocked, the player will have to fight Metal Luigi at the same time as well.
Stage 12	Final Destination
Stage 12-1	The player has to fight Giant Bowser on the Final Destination stage.
Stage 12-2	When the player plays on a difficulty setting of normal or higher and has completed the past stages of the Adventure Mode in a time lower than 18 minutes, he will have to fight Giga Bowser as well.

The player's scores are saved after every stage. The player gets awarded points for the time remaining when a battle ends, as well as for the damage he dealt. He also gets Bonus Points, just as in the Bonus mode. Special Bonus points are awarded for collecting a trophy that randomly appears in a stage, fighting Luigi, Giant Kirby, the Metal Bros. or Giga Bowser, as well as beating the mode on the Very Hard setting, or beating the mode without losing a life. The scores are saved separately for each character, and there is also a total score for all characters combined.

All-Star Mode

The All-Star mode can be unlocked by unlocking all secret characters. Unlike other modes, the player only has one life for the whole mode, and his percentage of damage is not set back after a battle. However, the player can use up to three Heart Containers to restore his health. For setup, the player chooses the difficulty setting (very easy - easy - normal - hard - very hard).

In the All-Star mode, the player has to fight all 25 characters of the game. All battles are in the stock system, with each combatant having one life. When the player is defeated in a battle, they can use a continue to continue playing, but they lose points for that, and will have to pay coins. Those coins are won in any regular battle by performing Smash Attacks, or in the Bonus Stages of the Classic Mode. They can also be used to pay for the Continue in the Classic and Adventure mode and in the Trophy Lottery mode.

In the first four rounds, the player will fight a single opponent in their home stage. In round five to eight, he has to fight two opponents at a time, and in round nine to twelve three opponents. In the 13th round, he has to fight 30 Mr. Game & Watches in the Flat Zone, five at a time. After each battle, he returns to a stage in-between, with his remaining Heart Containers, showing which characters he has already beaten and which he will fight in the next battle. Occasionally, a trophy can be collected here.

The player's scores are saved after every stage. The player gets awarded points for the time remaining when a battle ends, as well as for the damage he dealt. He also gets Bonus Points, just as in the Bonus mode. Special Bonus points are awarded for not taking any of the Heart Containers, beating the mode on the Very Hard setting, or beating the mode without losing a life. The scores are saved separately for each character, and there is also a total score for all characters combined.

Event Match

Event matches are specially designed missions. They have a certain goal to be achieved. All the player can choose is his character, though even that is pre-defined sometimes. Event matches can break the rules of a normal battle in Super Smash Bros. Melee. The following table provides a rules summary of each of the 51 event matches.

Event matches
#	Name	Character	Stage	Description
1	Trouble King	Mario	Battlefield	The player has to fight Bowser in a simple stock match, each starting with two lives.
2	Lord of the Jungle	Giant DK	Kongo Jungle	The player has to fight a Tiny DK in a stock match of two lives each.
3	Bomb-fest	Selectable	Princess Peach's Castle	The player has to fight Link and Samus in a stock match of one life each. Link and Samus only use their bomb attacks. The only items appearing are Bob-ombs, Motion Sensor Bombs, and Pokéballs containing Electrodes. Upon winning the event match, the player obtains a trophy of the Motion Sensor Bomb.
4	Dino-wrangling	Selectable	Yoshi's Story	The player has to fight Super Giant Yoshi in a stock match, him-/herself starting with three lives and Giant Yoshi with a single one.
5	Spare Change	Ness	Onett	The player has to obtain 200 smash coins before Captain Falcon does so.
6	Kirbys on Parade	Selectable	Fountain of Dreams	The player has to fight 3 tiny Kirbys, each having two lives.
7	Pokémon Battle	Selectable	Pokémon Stadium	The player has to fight Pikachu in a stock battle with each having two lives. However, regular attacks to not damage the opponent. The only way of doing so is using Pokéballs, the only items appearing in this Event Match.
8	Hot Date on Brinstar	Selectable	Brinstar	The player has to fight Samus in a stock match with each having two lives. The player's character enters battle with 102% of damage, Samus enters it with 130%.
9	Hide 'n' Sheik	Selectable	Great Bay	The player has to fight two Zeldas, each having a single life. However, if Zelda is in her Zelda form, she will respawn when KOed. The player has to KO her in her Sheik form in order to defeat her.
10	All-Star Match 1	Selectable	Yoshi's Island, Jungle Japes, Yoshi's Story, Peach's Castle, Rainbow Cruise	The player, starting with two lives, has to fight Mario, DK, Yoshi, Peach and Bowser in a row, battling each in a different stage.
11	King of the Mountain	Selectable	Icicle Mountain	The player has to fight two pairs of Ice Climbers. All he has to do is survive in battle for 1 minute.
12	Seconds, Anyone?	Selectable	Mute City	The player has to KO Captain Falcon in the short time limit of seven seconds. Both he and the player start with 100% of damage.
13	Yoshi's Egg	Yoshi	Rainbow Cruise	The player has to protect the Yoshi Egg, a special item that can take damage, from the opponents Pikachu, Fox and DK for a time of 55 seconds.
14	Trophy Tussle 1	Selectable	Goomba Trophy	The player has to fight three randomly chosen opponents, each combatant having two lives. Upon winning the event match, the player obtains the Goomba trophy.
15	Girl Power	Selectable	Fountain of Dreams	The player has to fight Peach, Zelda and Samus, who are all bigger than the player's own character, with each having two lives.
16	Kirby's Air-raid	Kirby	Corneria	The player has to KO 10 Kirbys in 38 seconds. The only way to damage them is using the Warp Stars appearing from time to time.
17	Bounty Hunters	Samus	Jungle Japes	The player has to KO Bowser before Captain Falcon does the same. However, it is not possible for the player to damage Captain Falcon.
18	Link's Adventure	Link	Temple	The player has to fight Dark Link in a stock match with each having two lives.
19	Peach's Peril	Mario	Final Destination	The player has to protect Peach from Bowser for one minute. When Bowser is defeated, he will respawn instantly.
20	All-Star Match 2	Selectable	Brinstar, Great Bay, Temple, Mute City, Corneria	The player, starting with two lives, has to fight Samus, Link, Zelda, Captain Falcon and Fox in a row, battling each in a different stage.
21	Ice Breaker	Selectable	Princess Peach's Castle	The player has to fight two pairs of Ice Climbers. The goal is to defeat both Nanas. When a Popo is defeated, the Event Match is failed.
22	Super Mario 128	Selectable	Mushroom Kingdom II	The player has to fight 128 tiny Marios. Five appear on the stage at a time.
23	Slippy's Invention	Selectable	Venom	The player has to fight Fox and Falco, each having two lives, and Falco and Fox being invisible.
24	The Yoshi Herd	Selectable	Yoshi's Island	The player has to defeat 30 Yoshis in 2 minutes. The last one of the Yoshis is a Giant Yoshi.
25	Gargantuans	Giant Bowser	Fourside	The player has to fight Giant DK, each combatant having two lives. Additionally, a tiny Mario and tiny Peach appear on the stage. However, they are defeated by Giant DK seconds after the Event Match begins.
26	Trophy Tussle 2	Selectable	Entei Trophy	The player has to fight three randomly chosen opponents, each combatant having two lives. Upon winning the event match, the player obtains the Entei trophy.
27	Cold Armor	Samus	Brinstar Depths	The player has to fight three Metal Samuses, with each combatant having two lives.
28	Puffballs Unite!	Selectable	Green Greens	The player has to defeat 14 Kirbys, each having a different copied character ability. There is a time limit of two minutes.
29	Triforce Gathering	Link	Temple	The player has to fight Ganondorf, and is helped by Zelda. The player and Zelda have one live, Ganondorf has two. If Zelda is defeated, the Event Match is failed. After winning the event match, the player can unlock Ganondorf as a playable character if s/he beats him in a one-on-one match.
30	All-Star Match 3	Selectable	Fountain of Dreams, Pokémon Stadium, Onett, Icicle Mountain	The player, starting with two lives, has to fight Kirby, Pikachu, Ness and the Ice Climbers in a row, battling each in a different stage.
31	Mario Bros. Madness	Selectable	Mushroom Kingdom	The player has to fight Mario and Luigi in a regular time match. He has to earn more points than the other two in a time of two minutes.
32	Target Aquired	Falco	Corneria	The player has 1 minute to KO Jigglypuff as often as possible. He has to defeat it more often than the Arwings. Jigglypuff starts and reappears each time with 70% damage.
33	Lethal Marathon	Captain Falcon	F-Zero Grand Prix (from Adventure mode)	The player has to reach the finish of the stage in a time of 45 seconds. However, the speed of the game is raised by far, making it difficult to control, and the player is KOed instantly when touching the F-Zero racers.
34	Seven Years	Young Link	Great Bay	The player has to fight Link in a stock match with each having three lives.
35	Time for a Checkup	Luigi	Yoshi's Story	The player has to defeat Dr. Mario and Peach, who are in a team, which each having a single life.
36	Space Travelers	Ness	Fourside, Battlefield	The player, starting with a single life, has to defeat Samus, Kirby, Fox, Captain Falcon and Falco in a row. The first three are fought on Fourside, the others on the Battlefield stage.
37	Legendary Pokémon	Selectable	Battlefield	The player, with one life, has to defeat four giant Fighting Wire Frames, as well as Jigglypuff, who all have two lives. The only way doing to is using the Pokéballs around the stage, which all contain powerful legendary Pokémon. Upon winning the event match, the player gets the possibility to unlock Pichu as a playable character.
38	Super Mario Bros. 2	Selectable	Mushroom Kingdom II	The player has to fight Mario, Luigi and Peach in a stock battle, with each having two lives.
39	Jigglypuff Live!	Jigglypuff	Pokémon Stadium	The player has to fight three Jigglypuffs, with each combatant having two lives.
40	All-Star Match 4	Selectable	Temple, Mushroom Kingdom II, Poké Floats, Final Destination, Flat Zone	The player, starting with two lives, has to fight Marth, Luigi, Jigglpuff, Mewtwo and Mr. Game & Watch in a row, battling each in a different stage.
41	En Garde!	Marth	Temple	The player has to fight Link in a stock match with each having two lives.
42	Trouble King 2	Luigi	Poké Floats	The player has to fight Super Giant Bowser in a stock match, with each having two lives.
43	Birds of Prey	Fox	Big Blue	The player has to fight Captain Falcon and Falco, who are in a team, in a stock match, with each combatant having two lives.
44	Mewtwo Strikes!	Selectable	Battlefield	The player has to fight Zelda in a stock battle. After a time of 15 seconds, Mewtwo appears and fights on Zelda's side. The player's goal is to KO Mewtwo. KOing Zelda will cause the Event Match to fail.
45	Game & Watch Forever!	Mr. Game & Watch	Flat Zone	The player, starting with three lives, has to fight 25 Mr. Game & Watches. Five of them are on the stage at a time. Upon winning the event match, the player obtains the Game & Watch trophy.
46	Fire Emblem Pride	Selectable	Temple	The player has to fight Marth and Roy, who are in a team, in a stock match, with each combatant having three lives.
47	Trophy Tussle 3	Selectable	Majora's Mask Trophy	The player has to fight three randomly chosen opponents, each combatant having two lives. Upon winning the event match, the player obtains the Majora's Mask trophy.
48	Pikachu and Pichu	Selectable	Dream Land (Past Stage)	The player, starting with two lives, has to defeat the two Pichus. They are defended by a Pikachu which respawns when defeated.
49	All-Star Match Deluxe	Selectable	Mushroom Kingdom, Venom, Pokémon Stadium, Great Bay, Temple, Final Destination	The player, starting with two lives, has to fight Dr. Mario, Falco, Pichu, Young Link, Roy and Ganondorf in a row, battling each in a different stage.
50	Final Destination Match	Selectable	Final Destination	The player, having a single life, has to battle Master Hand and Crazy Hand at the same time, each having 300 HP. No items will appear.
51	The Showdown	Selectable	Final Destination	The player has to fight Mewtwo, Ganondorf and Giga Bowser in a stock match, with each combatant having three lives. Upon winning the event match, the player unlocks Final Destination as a selectable stage for the VS mode, as well as the Final Destination trophy.

To unlock more event matches, the player has to win a certain number of the previous ones, and sometimes unlock additional characters.

Events #	Unlocked By
11 - 15	Winning at least 6 of the event machtes #1 - 10
16 - 20	Winning at least 10 of the event matches #1 - 15
21 - 25	Winning at least 16 of the event matches #1 - 20
26 - 29	Winning at least 22 of the event matches #1 - 25
30	Winning at least 27 of the event matches #1 - 29
31 - 39	Unlocking Luigi, Falco, Dr. Mario, Jigglypuff and Young Link, and winning all of the event matches #1 - 30
40 - 50	Unlocking all unlockable characters
51	Winning all event matches #1 - 50

By playing in event matches, the player's record for each event is saved. Most events are stock matches, and in those the time the player needs to clear the event is saved as a record. For the few events in the Time setting, e. g. Event #31: Mario Bros. Madness and #32: Target Aquired, the number of KOs the player achieves is stored instead.

Stadium

In the Stadium, special mini-games are available. Each mini-game opens the way to unlock one of the Past Stages from the original Super Smash Bros.

• Target Test: Here the player can play the Break the Targets! test, as it appears in Classic mode, separately. There is no time limit in this mode, as compared to the one in Classic mode.
• Home-Run Contest: The goal of the Home-Run Contest is to throw the Sandbag as far as possible. The player gets a Home-Run Bat to do this. He has a limited amout of time to damage the Sandbag before hitting it, so that it will fly farther away.
• Multi-Man Melee: In this special mode the goal is to fight Fighting Wire Frames.
  • 10-Man Melee: The player has to fight 10 Wire Frames in the fastest time possible.
  • 100-Man Melee: The player has to fight 100 Wire Frames in the fastest time possible. When winning, he can unlock Falco.
  • 3-Minute Melee: The player has 3 minutes to kick out as many Wire Frames as possible.
  • 15-Minute Melee: The player has 15 minutes to kick out as many Wire Frames as possible. When winning, he can unlock the Past Kongo Jungle stage.
  • Endless Melee: The player has an unlimited amount of time to kick out as many Wire Frames as possible.
  • Cruel Melee: As in Endless Melee, there is an unlimited amount of time. However, the Wire Frames are a lot harder to beat and there are no items.

Training Mode

The player can practice here. There are no rules such as Stock or Time, and the opponent can be controlled either by the Training menu, and set to actions such as walking and standing, or by a human player. Items can be created to practice with them specially. When the player performs standard combos here, the maximun number of combos is saved for each playable character, and the player can unlock several Trophies when getting a high number of them.

VS Mode

Melee

File:Tn cfhuston star.jpg

Mario reaching for a Star.

Melee mode allows the player to set up the battles entirely for themselves. They can freely choose their characters, the stage and have a variety of modes to play in. When using names, records are saved for the Melee mode which can be viewed in the Data menu. Up to four players can join the fight, either human or CPU-controlled players. It is possible to only let CPU players fight against each other.

Players chose their characters from the selection screen and human players can set names for their characters to be displayed above the characters' heads during battle, and also recognizing the battle for their individual Melee Records rating. It should be noted that multiple players can choose the same character to play as, and the characters then come in alternate outfits for each player. Each character has at least three alternate outfits for the team color red, blue and green, but there can be up to six different costumes. Some costumes feature gimmicks; for example, one of Peach's costumes looks like Daisy, and Mario has an outfit in Wario's colors. When the same characters are on a team, they appear in different shadings.

The CPU levels range from 1 to 9, with 9 being the most advanced AI. An optional handicap mode also ranges from 1 to 9. The handicap determines how fast a character is knocked out. The average handicap is 5. The higher the handicap, the harder the character flies of the screen, the lower, the easier. When set to Auto mode, the handicap decreases after the match's end for the match's winner and increases for the loser.

File:Ssbcamerac1.jpg

The character selection screen in the camera mode (see Special Melee).

In the optional team battle mode, players can set up to three teams. The characters in the team work together and win or lose the match together. In Coin, Bonus and Time mode, the points of each team are added and compared. In Stock mode, after a player of the team has been defeated, he or she can press Start to rejoin the battle, but taking away a life from one of their teammates. Optionally, the Friendly Fire option can be set, which makes it possible for teammates to accidentally hurt each other with their attacks.

The battle mode can be set to Time, Stock, Coin and Bonus. For Time, Coin and Bonus, the time limit can be set, and is 2 minutes by default. It can range from 1 minute to 99 minutes, or no time limit at all. The default Stock level is 3, the maximum number of lives is 99. Optionally, a time limit can be set for the Stock mode, too. After it has run out, the player with the most lives remaining wins. For the Time mode, it can be determined how many points a player loses when doing a self-destruct. It can either be 1 (default), 2 or 0 points.

A special score display can be unlocked by reaching a total of 5000 KOs in VS mode. It displays the players' current score in Time Mode during the battle, which they would only know after the battle's end otherwise. Another optional setting is the Damage ratio, ranging from 0.5 to 2, default being 1. The higher it is, the faster do all players fly from the screen when hit. Lastly, it can be decided whether players are allowed to pause the battle by hitting Start. Turning this off also prevents players from resetting the battle while it is paused by pressing L+R+A+Start.

On the item switch, the player can turn off specific items, change the chance of items appearing, or turn off items entirely. It can also be set which player is to select a stage for the next battle. By default, everyone can move the cursor and select a stage. It is also possible to allow only the loser of the last match to select, or to let the players select stages in turns, or to make the stage selected by the computer, either in a set order, or completely at random. When the player has unlocked all stages except for the Past Stages, he can alter the random stage selection to exclude certain stages from the random routine.

After all preferences have been set, the players get onto the stage selection screen, which once again allows players to choose a random stage to play on. When all competing human players hold L+R when a stage is selected, the stage's alternate music track will play during battle, if it is available. When a player is playing as Zelda and holding A after a stage has been selected, he or she will start the battle as Sheik.

As the battle ends, the players get to the battle results screen, where they can view their KO scores, a list of their bonus points and special statistics about their movements. These lists are available regardless of the mode played in battle.

Tournament Mode

Tournament: In this mode, played as a single-elimination tournament, the winner of a battle passes on to the next round CPU-only matches can be skipped. The number of combatants per battle ranges from 2 to 4. The number of entrants is selected and can be up to 64. It is selected how many humans are among the competing players. The stage selection mode is selected; "Single Random" chooses a stage at random on that every match of the tournament is played, "Always Different" chooses a new random stage for each battle, "Choose First" lets the player select the stage for the tournament in the beginning and "Choose All" lets the player choose a new stage for each match of the tournament. The level of additional computer opponents can be set from 1 to 9, applied to all, or to a random value applied to each CPU player. The rules settings for the battles have the same choices as the VS mode. Each player chooses their character and the tournament begins.

Winner out/Loser out: This mode is for human players only. A number of players fight against each other. The winner or the loser of the match, depending on the setting, gives his controller to the next player waiting for his turn to come. This continues endlessly, until the mode is cancelled. Players are free to change their characters while the tournament is ongoing. When they hold down L and R, their character image changes to a Ditto, the placeholder for a random character. Here, too, the number of combatants per battle ranges from 2 to 4, and the number of entrants can be up to 64. The stage selection mode has the same options as in the regular tournament.

Special Melee

This mode offers a couple of different rules settings for the Melee mode.

Special Melee modes
Name	Description
Camera Mode	In this mode, the players can take screenshots. These screenshots are saved on the memory card. The number of blocks a screenshot takes is defined by how many objects are visible on it.
Stamina Mode	As it is seen at the Master Hand in Classic mode, players have 150 HP instead of percentage of damage. When a player's HP hits 0, he dies. The amount of HP the players start with, however, cannot be changed.
Super Sudden Death	All players start with 300% damage. This will cause them to be knocked out instantly when hit.
Giant Melee	All players are giant, as if they had taken Super Mushrooms.
Tiny Melee	All players are tiny, as if they had taken Poison Mushrooms.
Invisible Melee	All players are invisible, as if they had Cloaking Devices.
Fixed Camera Mode	The camera is zoomed out as far as possible, showing the whole stage, and does not move during the battle.
Single-Button Mode	Only the control stick and the A button work in this mode, allowing only basic attacks. This mode is designed for beginners.
Lightning Melee	In this mode, the game plays a lot faster, making it hard for players to execute and react on attacks.
Slo-Mo Melee	The opposite of Lightning Melee. The game is a lot slower, making it easier to execute and react on attacks.

Trophies

Main article: Trophy

Trophies can be collected in single-player mode, won in the special lottery mode, or acquired on special events, such as playing a certain number of matches in VS mode. There are 290 trophies in the game (293 in the Japanese version), with an large percentage being Mario series characters, items, and locations. Each of the playable characters has three trophies, and two of them explain their Super Smash Bros. Melee background. They can be collected by completing the Adventure or All-Star mode with them. the other one is collected by completing Classic mode.

Unlockable Features

When unlocking any of the secret characters, the player first has to beat them in a stock battle with one life each. When the player loses, several characters will appear again after the player has played the next VS match. Other characters require the player to achieve the task again. In addition to their special method of unlocking, all characters can alternately be unlocked by playing a certain number of matches in the VS mode.

Character	First unlock method	# of VS matches
Jigglypuff	Completing the Classic Mode with any character	50
Dr. Mario	Completing the Classic Mode with Mario	100
Pichu	Beating Event Match #37 or completing the Classic Mode with Mewtwo	200
Falco	Completing the 100-Man Melee	300
Marth	Completing the Classic Mode with all default characters or playing as every default character in Vs. Mode.	400
Young Link	Completing the Classic Mode with 10 different characters	500
Ganondorf	Completing Event Match #29	600
Mewtwo	Playing in the VS mode for 20 hours with one controller, 10 hours with two controllers, 7 hours with three controllers or 5 hours with four controllers	700
Luigi	Finishing the first stage of the Adventure Mode with a XX:X2:XX on the countdown timer, then defeating Luigi in the battle on Princess Peach's Castle, and fighting Luigi at the end of the Adventure Mode again	800
Roy	Completing the Classic Mode with Marth	900
Mr. Game & Watch	Completing the Classic Mode, Adventure or Break the Targets with all other 24 characters	1000

There is only one method to unlock the stages, and the player does not have to unlock them by an additional battle like the characters.

Stage	How to unlock
Battefield	Beating the All-Star mode
Brinstar Depths	Playing 50 VS matches
Fourside	Playing 100 VS matches
Big Blue	Playing 150 VS matches
Poké Floats	Playing 200 VS matches
Dream Land	Beating the Target Test with all 25 characters
Final Destination	Beating Event Match #51
Flat Zone	Beating the Classic Mode with Mr. Game & Watch
Kongo Jungle	Beating the 15-Minute Melee
Mushroom Kingdom II	Getting the Birdo Trophy
Yoshi's Island	Getting the Sandbag over the 400 meter/1,325 feet mark at the Homerun Contest.

Soundtrack (Media)

Each stage has a track from the game it is from, and some stages also have alternate music tracks which are not necessarily from the game the stage is from. The alternate music is heard more rarely than the regular one. However, the player can force the game to play a stage's alternate music by holding the L and R triggers when selecting a stage on the stage selection screen.

When all stages are unlocked, the player gains access to the Sound Test, where he can play all music tracks and voices from the game, and might occasionally hear an alternate music track in the menu.

An orchestrated version of the game's soundtrack was released as a special CD known as Super Smash Bros. Melee: Smashing...Live!.

Critical Reception

Super Smash Bros. Melee received very positive reviews from most critics. The game came in sixth for two GameFAQs events: the Best...Game...Ever contest and as a poll for the 100 best games ever. Nintendo Power named Super Smash Bros. Melee the 16th best game ever to appear on a Nintendo console, and "Game of the Year" in 2001. IGN gave Super Smash Bros. Melee a rating of 9.6 out of 10, and ranked it as the 3rd best Nintendo GameCube game, out of all GameCube games released to date. Electronic Gaming Monthly gave the game a 9.5 out of 10, and it was ranked 92nd on the Electronic Gaming Monthly's "Top 200 Games of Their Time" list. In fact, it was ranked as the 3rd best Video Game of all time during the 2001 Penny Arcade Award Ceremony.

It was praised for its increased number of modes and characters, as well as improved graphics. The inclusion of the Adventure Mode and Event Match was highly complimented. Overall, the game's critical reception was very positive, and the game still continues to be a gamer favorite.

Voice Actors

Character(s)	Voice Actor
Mario, Luigi, Dr. Mario	Charles Martinet
Peach	Jen Taylor
Link	Nobuyuki Hiyama
Kirby, Ness	Makiko Ohmoto
Yoshi	Kazumi Totaka
Fox McCloud	Shinobu Satouchi
Fox McCloud (cutscene)	Steve Malpass
Bowser	Isaac Marshall
Pikachu	Ikue Ohtani
Captain Falcon	Ryo Horikawa
Jigglypuff	Rachael Lillis
Purin	Mika Kanai
Ganondorf	Takashi Nagasako
Donkey Kong	Takashi Nagasako
Popo, Nana	Sanae Kobayashi
Zelda, Sheik	Jun Mizusawa
Young Link	Fujiko Takimoto
Falco Lombardi	Hisao Egawa
Falco Lombardi (cutscene)	Ben Cullum
Pichu	Satomi Koorogi
Mewtwo	Masachika Ichimura
Marth	Hikaru Midorikawa
Roy	Jun Fukuyama
Announcer, Master Hand, Crazy Hand	Dean Harrington

Beta Elements

For a list of this game beta elements, see here.

Trivia

• Using an Action Replay code, it is possible to access the debug menu. There, characters such as Master Hand and Crazy Hand or Giga Bowser can be used. It is also possible to play in side scrolling levels, the health regain area in all-star mode, Peach wearing a skirt, and a test level.
• Lucas was originally meant to replace Ness, however due to a delay of MOTHER3 in Japan, Ness was kept in.
• Marth and Roy were originally going to be only in the Japanese version, however they were kept in the final version. Because of this, they do not talk in English, rather they speak in Japanese.
• In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, one of the names that appears when the player presses the "Random Name" button when naming their custom stage is MELEE; a reference to this game.
• This is Mario's first time as a playable character in a T rated game.

External links

• SmashWiki - a wiki dedicated to Super Smash Bros.

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