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Super Smash Bros. Melee

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"Melee" redirects here. For the weapon from Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, see List of weapons in Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle § Melee.
Super Smash Bros. Melee
North American box art for Super Smash Bros. Melee
For alternate box art, see the game's gallery.
Developer HAL Laboratory
Publisher Nintendo
Platform(s) Nintendo GameCube
Release date Original release:
Template:Release Player's Choice:
Template:Release
Language(s) English (United States)
French (France)
German
Spanish (Spain)
Italian
Japanese
Genre Fighting
Rating(s)
ESRB:T - Teen
PEGI:3 - Three years and older
ELSPA:11+ - Eleven years and older
ACB:G8+ - Eight years and older
USK:6 - Six years and older
ClassInd:14+ - Fourteen years and older
GRAC:All - All ages
Mode(s) 1-4 players simultaneous
Format
Nintendo GameCube:
Optical disc
Input
Nintendo GameCube:
Serial code(s) DOL-GALJ-JPN (Japan)

Super Smash Bros. Melee is a fighting game for the Nintendo GameCube. This is the second installment in the Super Smash Bros. series and is the sequel to Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo 64. Various characters from Nintendo's popular franchises battle on different stages, also taken from the Nintendo franchises. Many major characters of the Super Mario franchise make an appearance. The game's major focus is the multiplayer mode, while still offering a number of single-player modes.

Gameplay

In Super Smash Bros. Melee, up to four fighters battle on a side-view stage with invisible boundaries on each side. When a player hits these boundaries, the player is knocked out. Super Smash Bros. Melee and other games in the series rely on damage percentage: Whenever a player is hit, they get 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 it is for the player to be knocked out.

General actions

Mr. Game & Watch uses his neutral special move to attack Ness.

Players move around on the stages using the GameCube controller's control stick, and can jump by pulling it up, or pressing the X or Y buttons. Characters can jump once, though some can perform a double 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 inflict minimal damage. When the A Button button is pressed repeatedly, the character performs a natural combo, a fast sequence of weak attacks. When the Control Stick is titled fast and the A Button button is pressed in time, the player can perform a smash attack. These are very powerful, chargeable attacks, which cause a lot of damage.

Character special moves

SmashWiki article: Special move
Super Jump Punch
Mario using his Super Jump Punch special move.

All characters have their own own set of special moves, which are performed with the B Button button, known as a neutral special move. Moving the Control Stick in a certain direction performs the side special, up special, or down special move accordingly. 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. The up special move of most fighters involve moving into the air, making it possible to perform third jump as a recovery to avoid touching the blast line and being KO'd.

Item use

SmashWiki article: Item
Captain Falcon using a Parasol in Super Smash Bros. Melee
Captain Falcon using a Parasol.

Items have various effects, and some trigger by themselves. They appear on the stage randomly, available for characters to use. Characters next to an item can pick it up by pressing A Button. Some items have effects that are activated upon interaction. Other items can be used as weapons, which are usable with the A Button button, or can be thrown by pressing it again with either the Z, L, or R buttons. A character can take damage from being hit by an item.

Shielding

Kirby shielding in Super Smash Bros. Melee
Kirby using his shield.

When pressing the L Button or R Button triggers, or the Z Button button, the character's shield is activated. These can prevent any kind of attack from a character, except grabbing, or items. With precise timing, shield can reflect any items thrown and most projectile attacks. More powerful ones such as Samus' fully charged charge shot, however, will merely be absorbed by the shield. Yoshi's shield takes on the form of a Yoshi's Egg, while all other fighters use a bubble-shaped shield. A shield has decreased power every time it is used, and when the shield breaks, the character will be unable to move for a certain period of time. The longer the player waits before using the shield, the stronger it becomes. The thickness of a shield depends on how hard the player presses on the L Button or R Button triggers, or Z Button. Thicker shields have a shorter duration but erode slower from damage, whilst thinner shields erode more from damage but significantly less from time duration. Light characters may even be knocked out by the shield break.

Grabbing and throwing

Players are able to grab other characters and hold them, to hit the character while they are incapable of either protecting themselves or fighting back. A character can be thrown in any direction, or smashed to the ground. Other characters can be damaged when a character is thrown at them. A character can be grabbed by pressing Z Button, or L Button and R Button in combination with A Button, if the player is next to them. The grabbed character can be attacked using the Z Button or A Button buttons, as well as thrown in a direction by tilting the Control Stick. It is possible to break free from a grab, unlike in Super Smash Bros. Players with less damage can escape from a grab more easily.

Other actions

In 1-P Mode, the player can use the C Stick to zoom the camera in or out. In VS mode, it is possible to move C Stick in any direction, allowing the player to perform uncharged smash attacks easily. A character can taunt if the player presses +Control Pad Up. Some fighters can perform a meteor smash, which sends opponents falling downwards, and the effectiveness of a meteor smash depends on how strong it is.

Fighting modes

SmashWiki article: Mode
The Coin Battle mode.
A basic VS battle.
The Coin Battle mode.
The Coin Battle mode.

There are four standard fighting modes in Super Smash Bros. Melee. These can be freely chosen in VS mode. The regular matches in 1-P mode only feature Stock matches, but the event matches have different rules. Any match that ends in a tie between two or more players causes a Sudden Death, a quick battle where the fighters (at 300% damage each) battle until only one of them remains.

Time

SmashWiki article: Time

Players gain points by knocking out other players, and lose points by getting knocked out. When the match timer runs out, the player with the most points wins. The player can set the option of whether self-destructs cause players to lose zero, one, or two points. There is an unlockable function that displays the player's points during battle. Time is used by default in VS but rarely in 1-P Mode.

Stock

SmashWiki article: Stock

Players have a set number of lives. A character loses a life whenever they are knocked out. The last player standing wins. Setting a time limit is optional. The player with the most lives by the end is the winner. This mode is featured throughout Classic and All-Star, both of which always have a set time limit.

Coin

Coin Battle Players have to collect Smash Coins and Bills, which appear by hitting an opponent. If a player gets knocked out, they will lose half of their coins. The player with the most coins by when times out is the winner. Coin mode is rarely used in the event matches of 1-P Mode, but is also available in VS matches.

Bonus

Bonus (mode) Players get points for their fighting style. There are 249 different kinds of bonus points, listed here. When the time limit has run out, the player with the most points wins. Most bonuses also have humorous names.

Playable characters

The complete character select roster, from Super Smash Bros. Melee.
The complete character select screen roster in Multiplayer mode.
SSBM.jpg
Group art of the full cast, excluding Sheik.
Main article: List of fighters debuting in Super Smash Bros. Melee

Super Smash Bros. Melee contains a total of 25 playable fighters (26 including Zelda's alter ego, Sheik); the 12 original characters return for this game, while 13 more have been added. 14 characters (15 including Sheik) are available by default, while 11 more can be unlocked. Seven of the fighters represent the Super Mario franchise, being Mario, Luigi, Peach, Bowser, Dr. Mario, Yoshi, and Donkey Kong.

Characters in italics are newcomers.

Default characters

Character Series Description Special moves
Standard Forward Up Down
Mario
Mario
Super Mario Mario is a balanced character with a variety of moves. He attacks quickly but jumps low and has average recovery. His backwards throw can throw almost farther than any other character's throws. His Cape helps deflect oncoming attacks and shoots whatever is being shot at him back to his opponent. Fireball (article) Cape (article) Super Jump Punch (article) Mario Tornado (article)
Super Smash Bros. Melee Artwork: Bowser
Bowser
Super Mario Bowser is the heaviest and one of the slowest characters. Bowser has powerful attacks, and he can use his weight to crush whomever he grabs. Bowser is one of the first villains to be playable in the series. His Fire Breath move burns his enemies down. Fire Breath (article) Koopa Klaw (article) Whirling Fortress (article) Bowser Bomb (article)
Ssbmpeach.jpg
Peach
Super Mario Peach has a unique recovery that makes her slowly float in the desired direction briefly. For her forward smash, Peach swings either a golf club, a tennis racket, or a frying pan. Toad (article) Peach Bomber (article) Peach Parasol (article) Vegetable (article)
Artwork of Yoshi from Super Smash Bros. Melee
Yoshi
Yoshi Yoshi is a heavy fighter with average speed, though he is rather weak, unlike other heavyweights. Yoshi uniquely uses a Yoshi's Egg for shielding, but he is also the only fighter who cannot jump out of shielding. Yoshi lacks a third jump, but he can jump very high. Egg Lay (article) Egg Roll (article) Egg Throw (article) Yoshi Bomb (article)
Ssbmdonkeykong.jpg
Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong Donkey Kong is a strong, heavy, and agile character. When grabbing opponents, Donkey Kong can carry them for a short distance before throwing them. Giant Punch (article) Headbutt (article) Spinning Kong (article) Hand Slap (article)
Artwork of Captain Falcon from Super Smash Bros. Melee
Captain Falcon
F-Zero Captain Falcon can run faster than any other character. His attacks are quick, and a few are particularly power, particularly his Knee Smash and up smash. Falcon Punch Raptor Boost Falcon Dive Falcon Kick
MeleeFox.jpg
Fox
Star Fox Fox is a fast and strong character. He falls very fast, and his Blaster can damage enemies without stopping them. Blaster Fox Illusion Fire Fox Reflector
Ssbmiceclimbers.jpg
Ice Climbers
Ice Climber The Ice Climbers fight as a pair. The player takes control of a Ice Climber and a CPU of the partner, who generally follows the player's moves. By changing colors, the player can choose between controlling Popo or Nana. The Ice Climbers have a low reach. A few of their attacks are powerful, as well as their grab. Ice Shot Squall Hammer Belay Blizzard
Artwork of Ness from Super Smash Bros. Melee
Ness
EarthBound Ness is a slow character who relies on his PSI attacks. He uses a baseball bat and a yo-yo in his smash attacks. His recovery uniquely involves directing the ball of lightning to hit himself, catapulting himself towards the stage. He also uses his PSI Magnet to recover damage with certain enemy projectiles. PK Flash PK Fire PK Thunder PSI Magnet
Ssbmkirby.jpg
Kirby
Kirby Kirby is a light and fairly slow character with weak attacks. He can jump in midair five times. Kirby can swallow a fighter to copy their neutral special move. Swallow Hammer Final Cutter Stone
MeleeSamus.jpg
Samus
Metroid Samus is a heavy character with powerful attacks. Her Grapple Beam is slow but can grab characters from farther distances. Samus can charge a shot, which becomes more powerful the longer it is charged. Charge Shot Missile Screw Attack Bomb
Zeldaart.jpg
Zelda
The Legend of Zelda Zelda is a slow-moving character. Her attacks are fairly powerful, but the strongest attacks have a weak range. Zelda can transform herself into her alter-ego, Sheik. Nayru's Love Din's Fire Farore's Wind Transform
MeleeShiek.jpg
Sheik
The Legend of Zelda Sheik is Zelda's alter-ego. Sheik moves faster compared to Zelda, attacks rapidly and can perform combos effectively. Sheik lacks many powerful moves. Zelda can transform into Sheik at any point during the match and vice versa, though the player can be Sheik at the start of the battle by holding down A Button on the controller. Needle Storm Chain Vanish Transform
MeleeLink.jpg
Link
The Legend of Zelda Link is a character of high weight, medium strength, and slow movement. Many of his attacks involve the use of his sword. Bow Boomerang Spin Attack Bomb
MeleePikachu.jpg
Pikachu
Pokémon Pikachu is fast and light. It uses its electric attacks to damage opponents. Pikachu's recovery can uniquely be used twice, provided that the second recovery is in a different direction. Thunder Jolt Skull Bash Quick Attack Thunder

Unlockable characters

Character Series Description How to unlock Special moves
Standard Forward Up Down
MeleeJigglypuff.jpg
Jigglypuff
Pokémon Jigglypuff is light and has a few powerful attacks. It can jump five times in mid-air and has faster air speed than the other characters, whilst having the slowest movement on ground. Rollout Pound Sing Rest
MeleeDr.Mario.jpg
Dr. Mario
Super Mario Dr. Mario is very similar to Mario. His attacks have different effects (usually electric instead of flame) but function like Mario's. Most of Dr. Mario's attacks are stronger than Mario's, though he moves slower.
  • Clear Classic or Adventure mode with Mario without continues
  • Play 100 Melee matches
Megavitamins (article) Super Sheet (article) Super Jump Punch (article) Dr. Tornado (article)
Pichuart.jpg
Pichu
Pokémon Pichu has moves that are similar to Pikachu's. Pichu is the lighest fighter. Like Pikachu, it moves and attacks quickly. Whenever it uses an electric attack, Pichu will inflict damage to itself. Thunder Jolt Skull Bash Agility Thunder
Artwork of Falco Lombardi from Super Smash Bros. Melee
Falco
Star Fox Falco's moves are similar to Fox's. Falco is slower than Fox, though he jumps higher and has a longer reach. Falco's Blaster fires more slowly, but it can stun enemies.
  • Clear 100-Man Melee
  • Play 300 Melee matches
Blaster Falco Phantasm Fire Bird Reflector
MeleeMarth.jpg
Marth
Fire Emblem Marth is a fast character with average strength and weight. He uses a sword to attack, and he has one of the longest reaches compared to other fighters. Marth is known for his very good air attacks that can easily string together. Marth's attacks are strongest at the tip of the sword.
  • Use the fourteen default characters in either Classic or Adventure modes, or Vs. Melee matches.
  • Play 400 Melee matches
Shield Breaker Dancing Blade Dolphin Slash Counter
Young Link.jpg
Young Link
The Legend of Zelda Young Link's moves are similar to Link's. Compared to Link, Young Link is weaker, lighter, and he is faster. Young Link has the ability to Wall Jump.
  • Clear Classic or Adventure mode with ten characters, including Link and Zelda/Sheik
  • Play 500 Melee matches
Fire Bow Boomerang Spin Attack Bomb
GanondorfMelee.jpg
Ganondorf
The Legend of Zelda Ganondorf's attacks are similar to Captain Falcon's. However, Ganondorf is very slow, fairly heavy, and his attacks inflict the most knockback. Ganondorf has a unique special attack when pressing A Button and moving Control Stick upwards, different from a smash attack. Warlock Punch Gerudo Dragon Dark Dive Wizard's Foot
Mewtwo.jpg
Mewtwo
Pokémon Mewtwo is a slow character with strong grab and some powerful throws. Mewtwo's low weight is attributed to how it hovers above ground.
  • Play a combined total of 20 hours of Melee matches
  • Play 700 Melee matches
Shadow Ball Confusion Teleport Disable
Luigi artwork.
Luigi
Super Mario Luigi is a character with average weight and speed and strength that is above average. Luigi's moves have many similarities to Mario's. He jumps high, but has slow air speed and low traction.
  • Finish the first stage of Adventure mode with ##:#2:## on the timer
  • Play 800 Melee matches
Fireball (article) Green Missile (article) Super Jump Punch (article) Luigi Cyclone (article)
Artwork of Roy from Super Smash Bros. Melee
Roy
Fire Emblem Roy is similar to Marth. Compared to Marth, Roy's attacks are strongest at the base of his sword, and his aerial attacks inflict low damage.
  • Complete Classic or Adventure mode with Marth without continuing
  • Play 900 Melee matches
Flare Blade Double-Edge Dance Blazer Counter
Mr. Game & Watch
Mr. Game & Watch
Game & Watch Mr. Game & Watch's speed and strength are average, but his weight is low due to his 2D appearance.
  • Clear Classic, Adventure or Target Smash with every other character
  • Play 1,000 Melee matches
Chef Judge Fire Oil Panic

Stages

There are 29 selectable stages in total, eighteen of which are available by default, while the other eleven are unlockable. Three of these stages return from Super Smash Bros.

Default stages

Stage Description
Icicle Mountain
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, similarly as in Ice Climber.
A view of Princess Peach's Castle from Super Smash Bros. Melee.
Mushroom Kingdom:
Princess Peach's Castle
Princess Peach's Castle takes place on the roof of the castle of the same name Some hovering platforms appear on either side of the small tower. Switches can be activated, making ? Blocks appear. A Banzai Bill is sometimes launched into the castle, causing an explosion.
A view of Kongo Jungle from Super Smash Bros. Melee.
DK Island:
Kongo Jungle
Kongo Jungle 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.
A view of Great Bay in Super Smash Bros. Melee.
Termina:
Great Bay
The Great Bay stage, based on The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, has two platforms fixed in the water and a swimming stone. The Giant Turtle sometimes rises from the water, and it can be used as an additional platform until sinking back into the water. Tingle is also seen on the stage with a giant balloon, and is forming another platform.
Yoshi's Story in Super Smash Bros. Melee
Yoshi's Island:
Yoshi's Story
Yoshi's Story features elements of the game of the same name. Yoshi's Island is in the center, and three smaller platforms are hovering above it. It also has a cloud moving below it to catch falling characters. Fly Guys fly by occasionally, carrying Food.
A view of Fountain of Dreams from Super Smash Bros. Melee.
Dream Land:
Fountain of Dreams
The Fountain of Dreams stage, from the Kirby series has a fountain that forms a big platform in the middle with three smaller hovering platforms above it, with its height varying.
Corneria from Super Smash Bros. Melee
Lylat System:
Corneria
The Corneria stage, from the Star Fox series, takes place on the Great Fox. Arwings fly by at certain intervals to shoot at the combatants.
Melee Rainbow Cruise.jpg
Mushroom Kingdom:
Rainbow Cruise
Rainbow Cruise (NTSC)/Rainbow Ride (PAL) 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.
A view of Jungle Japes in Super Smash Bros. Melee.
DK Island:
Jungle Japes
Jungle Japes 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. Klaptraps jump out of the water occasionally, damaging fighters on contact.
Hyruletemple.jpg
Hyrule:
Temple
The Temple is the largest stage. It is based mainly on the Palaces in Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. The stage has several different platforms and a tunnel system.
Melee Yoshi's Island.jpg
Yoshi's Island:
Yoshi's Island
Yoshi's Island features a setting based on 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 Rotating Blocks above it, and two groups of Rotating Blocks float on the stage to serve as additional platforms.
Greengreens.jpg
Dream Land:
Green Greens
Green Greens, a stage from the Kirby series, consists of three separated grass platforms. Whispy Woods sometimes tries to blow away the characters, and Apples sometimes fall from him. There are Blocks and Bomb Blocks that commonly fall from the sky in between the platforms.
Venom.jpg
Lylat System:
Venom
Venom is similar to Corneria, aside from taking place in the setting of the same name and having the Great Fox face frontward while the characters fight on it.
Brinstar
Planet Zebes:
Brinstar
Brinstar consists of several platforms that are held together by organic material or other objects. These connections can be destroyed, causing some of the platforms to hover in the air. Acid sometimes rises from below, burning the characters on contact but also restoring broken connections.
Onett stage in Super Smash Bros. Melee
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.
Mute City.jpg
F-Zero Grand Prix:
Mute City
Mute City takes place on a large F-Zero race track. There is a small platform hovering in the middle, and it goes down at intervals, exposing the road. F-Zero Racers will sometimes race into the players, but can also be destroyed.
Melee Pokemon Stadium.jpg
Kanto:
Pokémon Stadium
The Pokémon Stadium looks like a simple stage with two floating platforms. The stage will change at regular intervals into one of four different terrains: Water, Fire, Rock, and Grass, all having different obstacles.
Mushroom Kingdom
Mushroom
Kingdom
The Mushroom Kingdom stage features an environment based on Super Mario Bros. It has objects like Brick Blocks and ? Blocks, which contain items, as well as falling platforms above two gaps.

Unlockable stages

Image Stage How to unlock Description
The Flat Zone stage, from Super Smash Bros. Melee. Superflat World:
Flat Zone
Clear Classic, Adventure, or All-Star with Mr. Game & Watch. The Flat Zone modeled after a Game & Watch system. Wrenches, buckets, and other tools fall from the top occasionally. Oil can spill over the ground and make it hard for characters to move. Some platforms vanish and reappear at different places.
Brinstar Depths from Super Smash Bros. Melee Planet Zebes:
Brinstar Depths
Play 50 Melee matches Unlike Brinstar, this Metroid stage features a large round rock platform found inside a spherical cage covered in embedded spikes. There are few floating rocks, which players can jump onto at any time. From time to time, Kraid slashes the large platform which causes it to rotate in any direction, exposing a different side of it.
Ssbmstagesfourside.jpg Eagleland:
Fourside
Play 100 Melee matches This EarthBound stage takes place high on the skyscrapers of Fourside, with wide gaps appearing between them. There is a UFO that occasionally shows up on the screen and can be used as a platform.
Donkey Kong and Ice Climbers fighting in Big Blue. F-Zero Grand Prix:
Big Blue
Play 150 Melee matches Big Blue is a side-scrolling stage that takes place on top of F-Zero Racers. Due to the high speed of the vehicles, any fighters that touch the road almost immediately hit the blast line on the left side, knocking them out.
Melee Poke Floats.jpg Kanto Skies:
Poké Floats
Play 200 Melee matches Poké Floats takes place on giant floating Pokémon balloons in the skies of Kanto. Players jump from one balloon by the time the others vanish.
Mushroom Kingdom II from Super Smash Bros. Melee Mushroom
Kingdom II
Obtain the Birdo Trophy Mushroom Kingdom II is based on a setting from Super Mario Bros. 2. Logs occasionally down the waterfall, creating temporary platforms. A Pidgit flies in occasionally, creating another platform, and a Birdo sometimes appears to spit eggs at the characters.
The Battlefield stage, from Super Smash Bros. Melee. Special Stages:
Battlefield
Clear All-Star for the first time Battlefield takes place in space, featuring a big platform and three smaller platforms above it. The only hazards are the gaps on each end of the stage.
Final Destination in Super Smash Bros. Melee Special Stages:
Final Destination
Clear Event 51: The Showdown Final Destination does not have any features. It is where Master Hand and Crazy Hand are fought.
Dream Land Past Stages:
Dream Land
Clear Target Test with every character 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.
The Super Happy Tree stage from Super Smash Bros. Melee. Past Stages:
Yoshi's Island
Hit Sandbag at least 1,325 feet (400 meters) in Home-Run Contest Yoshi's Island is a stage returning from Super Smash Bros. It has a big platform with the Super Happy Tree in the background, three other smaller floating platforms above, and three temporarily cloud platform at the edges that vanish when stood on for too long.
Kongo Jungle from Super Smash Bros. Melee. Past Stages:
Kongo Jungle
Clear 15-Minute Melee Kongo Jungle is a stage returning from Super Smash Bros. It is made out of a large wooden platform with several smaller, sometimes floating ones around it. A Barrel Cannon is underneath the arena.

Items

Image Name Series Description
Barrel Barrel Super Smash Bros. The Barrel contains a single random item, which can be released by destroying the barrel. When thrown to the ground, the barrel rolls onward to hit players.
Barrel Cannon Barrel Cannon Donkey Kong The Barrel Cannon can trap a character inside. The barrel rotates and fires them out at a certain angle, depending on when the player presses a button. The Barrel Cannon vanishes shortly after appearing on the stage.
Beam Sword Beam Sword Super Smash Bros. The Beam Sword can be used to hit other characters. It is powerful, but the hits are rather slow.
Bob-omb Bob-omb Super Mario The Bob-omb can be thrown at another character to cause an explosion. The Bob-omb walks around after being left on the ground for a few seconds. It explodes either from contact with a character or surface or after a certain amount of time.
Bunny Hood Bunny Hood The Legend of Zelda The Bunny Hood makes a character faster and capable of jumping higher.
Capsules Capsule Super Smash Bros. The Capsule contains one small item. It can be thrown easily and sometimes explodes when hitting the wall or a character.
Cloaking Device Cloaking Device Perfect Dark The Cloaking Device makes the player invisible. They are still damaged regardless of being clear and harder to hit, but invisible characters do not have increased damage percentages.
Crate Crate Super Smash Bros. The Crate contains three different random items. A Crate sometimes explodes when hit.
Egg Egg Super Smash Bros. The Egg contains one item, similarly to a Capsule. It can contain either a weapon or Food, depending on the stage. An Egg can also explode.
Fan Fan Super Smash Bros. The Fan can be used to smack other characters with. The Fan does not inflict much damage per hit.
Flipper Flipper Balloon Fight When thrown, the Flipper remains in place, attack others on contact as well as repelling projectiles.
Fire Flower Fire Flower Super Mario The Fire Flower can shoot a stream of fire, similarly to Bowser's Fire Breath.
Food Food Super Smash Bros. The player's damage meter is reduced by a small amount, depending on which food they ate.
Freezie Freezie Super Mario The Freezie glides along the stage and can fall off edges. It can freeze other players into an ice block on contact, though fiery attacks will return the characters to normal.
Green Shell Green Shell Super Mario When thrown, the Green Shell slides along the ground, being able to hit multiple characters.
Hammer Hammer Donkey Kong A massive hammer from Donkey Kong that can inflict lots of damage unto whomever it hits
Heart Container Heart Container The Legend of Zelda The Heart Container reduces the player's damage meter by 100%.
Home-Run Bat Home-Run Bat Super Smash Bros. Using a Home-Run Bat while performing a smash attack can instantly knock out whomever it hits. The Home-Run Bat is the item used in Home-Run Contest.
Lip's Stick 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.
Maxim Tomato Maxim Tomato Kirby A Maxim Tomato can be picked up to reduce the player's damage meter by 50%.
Metal Box Metal Box Super Mario Hitting a Metal Box gives the player metallic properties, making them heavier. Metallic characters are more resistant to knockback but are less effective at performing their recovery.
SSBM Motionsensorbomb.png Motion-Sensor Bomb GoldenEye 007 / Perfect Dark The Motion-Sensor Bomb can be placed on any surface, and it explodes on contact.
Mr. Saturn Mr. Saturn EarthBound A Mr. Saturn can be thrown at a character several times, though it does not inflict much damage.
Parasol Parasol Kirby The Parasol can hit other characters. A character holding a parasol while falling glides down slowly.
Party Ball Party Ball Super Smash Bros. When a Party Ball opens, it releases several items, commonly Food or Bob-ombs.
Poison Mushroom Poison Mushroom Super Mario A Poison Mushroom shrinks a player temporarily. Any shrunken character is weaker and more vulnerable to being KO'd, though they are more flexible and evasive.
Poké Ball Poké Ball Pokémon When the Poké Ball is opened, a Pokémon appears. Most Pokémon attack the opponents of its user, though some attack all players within their range.
Ray Gun Ray Gun Super Smash Bros. The Ray Gun can shoot up to 14 laser projectiles.
Red Shell Red Shell Super Mario The Red Shell is much like the Green Shell, except it homes in on characters and does not fall off the stage.
Screw Attack Screw Attack Metroid If a is holding the Screw Attack in their hand, they jump similarly to Samus' Screw Attack move. Any character hit by a Screw Attack take damages and also performs said type of jump.
Star Starman Super Mario The Starman grants players temporary invincibility, protecting them from all forms of damage, hits, and grabs. The blast line is the only obstacle that the Starman does not protect against.
Star Rod Star Rod Kirby The Star Rod can shoot a limited number of star projectiles.
Super Mushroom Super Mushroom Super Mario The opposite of a Poison Mushroom, the Super Mushroom makes the player larger, stronger, and harder to KO. Their large size makes them easier to hit and less flexible.
Super Scope Super Scope Super Famicom/SNES peripheral The Super Scope shoots out a limited number of small energy balls, or up to three big energy balls if charged.
Warp Star Warp Star Kirby When picked up, a Warp Star flies a character up into the air and crashes right down, creating an explosion that damages other players. By tilting the Control Stick while in the air, the player can take influence on the landing point.

1-P Mode

Classic

SmashWiki article: Classic Mode (SSBM)}
Mario faces Kirby in stage 1 of Classic Mode.
Mario faces Kirby in stage 1.

Classic is based on the 1P Game from the game's predecessor, Super Smash Bros. Unlike the previous game, the opponents and the stage are chosen at random, but the matches retain a consistent pattern. For setup, the player has to choose the difficulty (Very Easy, Easy, Normal, Hard, or Very Hard) and their number of stock (1 - 5). All battles are in stock mode, with the opponents having one life, and a five-minute match timer that costs the player a stock if it runs out. There are three Bonus Stages, where winning is optional. If the players loses all of their stock, they are given the option to continue to regain all stock, though they lose several points in the process. In any setting except for Very Easy, the player will have to pay coins for the Continue. The players' scores are saved after every stage. They get awarded points for the time remaining when a battle ends, as well as for the damage they dealt. They also get bonuses, just as in the Bonus mode. The scores are saved separately for each character, and there is also a total score for all characters combined.

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 every target within two minutes. Each character has their own arena for the target test.
Stage 4 The player fights a single opponent.
Stage 5 A team of the player and two allies fight a giant opponent.
Bonus Stage 2: Snag the Trophies Up to three falling Trophies can be collected by hitting them into their collection spot while they fall.
Stage 7 The player fights a single opponent. When the player plays on the Hard setting or above, the opponent's CPU will change. The opponent will always escape to the borders of the stage after hitting the player.
Stage 8 The player has to fight 10 opponents of the same character, all significantly more vulnerable to being KO'd.
Bonus Stage 3: Race to the Finish The player runs along a tunnel with many doors. They can take any available door to complete the level, but the farther the door the player takes from the beginning, the more coins they earn. The time the player has for this varies from character to character, but it is usually around 45 seconds; for some examples, Captain Falcon only has 39 seconds, while Ganondorf has 54 seconds.
Stage 10 The player has to fight one opponent, like in Stages 1 and 4, but the opponent is metal, as if they grabbed a Metal Box. The battle is held on the Battlefield stage.
Stage 11 The player has to fight 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 150 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 without using any Continues, 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.

Adventure

SmashWiki article: Adventure Mode (SSBM)
The stage 1 intro for Adventure Mode.
The Mushroom Kingdom stage intro

Adventure takes place in settings based on the universes represented in Super Smash Bros. Melee. It features some side-scrolling stages only available in Adventure. Like Classic mode, the player chooses the difficulty as well as number of stock for their fighter. When the player runs out of stock, they can similarly use a continue to regain their stock, at the cost of coins. Players' scores are saved after every stage. They get awarded points for the time remaining by the end of the battle, as well as for the damage inflicted upon opponents. Bonus points can also be received, and special Bonus points are awarded for fulfilling certain objectives, with the Super Mario-related ones being defeating Luigi, Metal Mario and Metal Luigi, or Giga Bowser. The scores are saved separately for each character, as well as a combined total score for every character.

The first two stages pertain to Super Mario, and Giant Bowser is featured as the final boss. In harder difficulty settings, Giant Bowser is fought first, followed by Giga Bowser, an alternate form exclusive to the Super Smash Bros. series.

Stage 1: Mushroom Kingdom
Part 1 Mushroom Kingdom is a side-scrolling level based on the overworld settings in Super Mario Bros. It features Goombas, Koopa Troopas, and Koopa Paratroopas as enemies, as well as Warp Pipes and Brick Blocks. Toads and golf courses are seen in the background. There are ten Yoshis to battle towards the end of the stage.
Part 2 The player has to fight a team of Mario and Peach on Princess Peach's Castle. If players have completed the first part with a 2 in the seconds place (XX:X2:XX) on their time counter, Luigi will kick Mario off the castle, taking his place in the battle instead.
Stage 2: Kongo Jungle
Part 1 The first part of Kongo Jungle involves fighting two mini-sized Donkey Kongs.
Part 2 The second part involves fighting a Giant DK.
Stage 3: Underground Maze
Part 1 The Underground Maze is an underground stage based around The Legend of Zelda series. There are ReDeads, Like Likes, and Octoroks. The Triforce is located in one of six random areas, and touching it completes the stage; the five other areas have a Master Sword, and touching it forces the player to battle a Link to battle.
Part 2 The second part involves fighting Zelda on top of the Temple
Stage 4: Brinstar
Part 1 The first part involves fighting Samus. Defeating Samus activates a self-destruction mechanism.
Part 2 For the second part, the player is in a small vertically-scrolling level. The goal is to reach the top to evacuate the exploding planet. If time runs out, they lose a stock.
Stage 5: Green Greens
Part 1 The first part involves battling Kirby.
Part 2 After Kirby is defeated, 18 weaker Kirbys appear, each having copied abilities from other fighters, and all of them have to be defeated.
Part 3 Optionally, a Giant Kirby is fought if the Kirby team is defeated in under 30 seconds.
Stage 6: Corneria
Part 1 The first part involves battling Fox. No Arwings appear in this segment.
Part 2 Arwings arrive, with Peppy, Slippy, and Falco announcing to Fox that they will assist him. Players will then fight Fox again, but more Arwings appear on stage than usual. If Falco is unlocked, he may sometimes be fought instead of Fox.
Stage 7: Pokémon Stadium
A team of 12 Pokémon, mainly Pikachus, are fought at the Pokémon Stadium, in a match with only Poké Balls. The team may also have Jigglypuffs and Pichus if they have been unlocked, each.
Stage 8: F-Zero Grand Prix
Part 1 The first part has a side-scrolling level taking place on Big Blue - Cylinder from F-Zero X during a GP race. The F-Zero Racers approach at set intervals, forcing players to go on a platform hovering above the track to dodge them.
Part 2 The second part involves battling Captain Falcon in Mute City.
Stage 9: Onett
Players have to fight three Nesses at the Onett stage. Mr. Saturns are the only items present in the match.
Stage 10: Icicle Mountain
Taking place on a vertically scrolling stage, Icicle Mountain first involves the goal of reaching a certain height of the level. Many Topis, Polar Bears, and Freezies are encountered along the way. If nearly a minute is left on the match timer, two pairs of Ice Climbers will appear.
Stage 11: Battlefield
Part 1 The first part involves fighting twenty Fighting Wire Frames in a low-gravity match.
Part 2 The second part involves fighting Metal Mario, as well as Metal Luigi if Luigi had been unlocked beforehand. Defeating Metal Mario and Metal Luigi awards the player with 8,000 points.
Stage 12: Final Destination
Part 1 The first play have to fight Giant Bowser on the Final Destination stage. On the Very Easy and Easy skill levels, by default, Giant Bowser will be green (or red if the player is already playing as Green Bowser). However, if the difficulty is set to Normal or higher, Giant Bowser, by default, will use his black palette swap instead (back to green if the player is Black Bowser).
Part 2 If players play on a difficulty setting of Normal or higher, while completing the past stages of the Adventure mode in less than 18 minutes without using a continue and defeating Bowser in less than one minute, they will have to fight Giga Bowser as well. Unlike with Crazy Hand, players can use a continue against Giga Bowser and still be able to fight him again. Players earn 100000 points for KOing Giga Bowser, and receive the Giga Bowser trophy as well.

Unique non-Super Mario stages

Underground Maze
SmashWiki article: Underground Maze
Sheik exploring the Underground Maze

The Underground Maze is the third level of Adventure mode in Super Smash Bros. Melee. It is based on The Legend of Zelda series. The goal of this level is to find the Triforce, hidden in one of five Battlefield-like areas in the maze. The artifact's location is randomly selected each time Adventure mode is played. The level also features ReDeads, Octoroks, and Like Likes as enemies. If the player comes across a battle area without the Triforce, they will have to fight Link and KO him to proceed.

Once the Underground Maze is completed, the player is sent to the Temple to battle Princess Zelda.

Names in other languages
Language Name Meaning Notes
Japanese 迷宮[?]
Meikyū
Labyrinth
F-Zero Grand Prix
smashwiki article: F-Zero Grand Prix
The level F-Zero Grand Prix in Super Smash Bros. Melee

The F-Zero Grand Prix is the eighth stage of Adventure mode in Super Smash Bros. Melee. After defeating the challengers of Pokémon Stadium, the player will find themselves stampeding across this race track (Big Blue - Cylinder from F-Zero X, specifically) in the Grand Prix, taking place on an F-Zero Grand Prix race. Being a race track, F-Zero machines will occasionally zoom through this course, potentially doing severe damage. One several floating platforms can be jumped on to for safety along the way. Somewhere towards the end of the course, the player will use platforms to jump across a large gap in the race track. Since F-Zero machines only hover about a foot over the ground, the hovercars will fly right above the player, rather than under them. After finishing the "race", the player will fight Сaptain Falcon in Mute City.

F-Zero Grand Prix is the setting for Event 33: Lethal Marathon.

Names in other languages
Language Name Meaning Notes
Japanese F-ZERO グランプリ[?]
F-ZERO Guran Puri
F-Zero Grand Prix

All-Star

SmashWiki article: All-Star Mode
The All-Star Mode rest area.
The rest area

All-Star is an unlockable mode. It is unlocked after every fighter is unlocked. Players have to fight all 25 characters in single-stock matches. Like the Classic and Adventure modes, the difficulty setting can be adjusted. The player has only one life for the whole mode. Their damage percentage does not reset after a battle, but to compensate, the mode has a Rest Area that is entered after each battle, and it has up to three Heart Containers. If the player is defeated, they can still continue, but at the cost of points and coins. The first four rounds involve battling a single opponent in their home stage. Rounds five to eight involve fighting two opponents at a time. Rounds nine to twelve involve fighting three opponents. The 13th round involves fighting 25 Mr. Game & Watches in the Flat Zone, five at a time. The players' scores are saved after every stage. They get awarded points for the damage they dealt. 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. The stage that is used is depended on what character plays as player 2. The stages go as follows:

P2 Character Stage
Mario Rainbow Cruise
Donkey Kong Kongo Jungle
Link Great Bay
Samus Brinstar
Yoshi Yoshi's Story
Kirby Green Greens
Fox McCloud Corneria
Pikachu Pokémon Stadium
Ness Onett
Captain Falcon Mute City
Bowser Yoshi's Island
Princess Peach Princess Peach's Castle
Ice Climbers Icicle Mountain
Zelda Temple
Luigi Mushroom Kingdom
Jigglypuff Poké Floats
Mewtwo Battlefield
Marth Fountain of Dreams
Mr. Game & Watch Flat Zone
Dr. Mario Mushroom Kingdom 2
Ganondorf Brinstar Depths
Falco Venom
Young Link Jungle Japes
Pichu Fourside
Roy Final Destination

Event Match

smashwiki article: Event match
"Girl Power" redirects here. For the Play Nintendo gallery also called "Girl power", see Nintendo Female Characters List.

Event Matches are missions with a certain goal having to be achieved. Several event matches have a predetermined playable character, but a few allow the player to choose theirs. None of the event matches have any recovery items. The following table provides a rules summary of each of the 51 event matches.

# Name Character Stage Description
1 Trouble King Mario Battlefield It is a stock match against Bowser, with both him and the player having two stock each.
2 Lord of the Jungle Giant DK Kongo Jungle It is a stock match against Tiny DK, with both him and the player having two stock each.
3 Bomb-fest Selectable Princess Peach's Castle It is a stock match against Link and Samus, each having one stock. Link and Samus only use their bomb attacks. The only items are Bob-ombs, Motion Sensor Bombs, and Poké Balls containing Electrodes.
Upon winning the event match, the player obtains a trophy of the Motion-Sensor Bomb.
4 Dino-wrangling Selectable Yoshi's Story A Super Giant Yoshi is fought a stock match; the player starts with three lives and the Giant Yoshi has only one.
5 Spare Change Ness Onett 200 coins have to be obtained while fighting Captain Falcon and avoiding being KO'd.
6 Kirbys on Parade Selectable Fountain of Dreams It is a stock match against three tiny Kirbys, each having two lives.
7 Pokémon Battle Selectable Pokémon Stadium It is a stock match against Pikachu, with both it and the player having two stock each. A difference is that regular attacks do not affect Pikachu, and the only way of doing so is using Poké Balls, the only items appearing in the match.
8 Hot Date on Brinstar Selectable Brinstar It is a stock match against Samus, with both her and the player having two stock each. The player and Samus begin with 102% and 130% damage, respectively.
9 Hide 'n' Sheik Selectable Great Bay The player has to fight two Zeldas, each having a single life, and KO one of them while she is Sheik.
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 match involves battling two pairs of Ice Climbers while avoiding being KO'd for one minute.
12 Seconds, Anyone? Selectable Mute City The goal is to KO Captain Falcon within seven seconds. Both the player and Captain Falcon start with 100% damage.
13 Yoshi's Egg Yoshi Rainbow Cruise The goal is to protect Yoshi's Egg from Pikachu, Fox, and DK for 55 seconds.
14 Trophy Tussle 1 Selectable Goomba Trophy The goal is to fight three randomly chosen opponents, each having two lives, in a 3-minute match. Winning the match unlocks the Goomba trophy.
15 Girl Power Selectable Fountain of Dreams The match involves battling a giant Peach, Zelda, and Samus, each having two lives.
16 Kirby's Air-raid Kirby Corneria The goal is to KO 10 Kirbys within 38 seconds using Warp Stars only.
17 Bounty Hunters Samus Jungle Japes The goal is to KO Bowser before Captain Falcon. If Bowser self-destructs himself, the player will lose, but not if Captain Falcon does so.
18 Link's Adventure Link Temple The goal is to fight Dark Link. Both he and the player each begin with two lives.
19 Peach's Peril Mario Final Destination The goal is to protect Peach from Bowser, who has unlimited stock, for one minute.
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 Two pairs of Ice Climbers are fought. Both Nanas have to be defeated, though the player loses if they KO either Popo.
22 Super Mario 128 Selectable Mushroom Kingdom II The match involves battling 128 tiny Marios, five of whom appear on the stage at a time.
23 Slippy's Invention Selectable Venom The match involves battling an invisible Fox and Falco, each having two lives.
24 The Yoshi Herd Selectable Yoshi's Island The goal is to defeat 30 Yoshis, the last of which is a Giant Yoshi, within 2 minutes.
25 Gargantuans Giant Bowser Fourside The goal is to defeat Giant DK. The player has one life, while DK has two. A tiny Mario and tiny Peach both appear as well, each having one stock, and defeating them is optional.
26 Trophy Tussle 2 Selectable Entei Trophy The player has to fight in a 3-minute match against three randomly chosen opponents, each combatant having two lives. The Entei trophy is rewarded for winning.
27 Cold Armor Samus Brinstar Depths The match involves fighting three Metal Samuses. The player has only one life, while the opponents each have two lives.
28 Puffballs Unite! Selectable Green Greens The goal is to defeat 14 Kirbys, each having a different copied character ability, within two minutes.
29 Triforce Gathering Link Temple The goal is for the player, who is helped by Zelda, to defeat Ganondorf. Both player and Zelda have one life each, and Ganondorf has two. After winning the event match, Ganondorf is fought in a separate match, where defeating Ganondorf unlocks him as a playable character.
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 match involves battling Mario and Luigi in a time match. The goal is to earn the most points within two minutes.
32 Target Acquired Falco Corneria The player has one minute to KO Jigglypuff as often as possible. The player 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 (Adventure) The goal is to reach the end within 45 seconds. The stage is at twice the speed than in Adventure mode.
34 Seven Years Young Link Great Bay The player has to fight Link in a stock match, with both of them having three lives each.
35 Time for a Checkup Luigi Yoshi's Story The goal is to defeat a team of Dr. Mario and Peach, each having a single life, within two minutes.
36 Space Travelers Ness Fourside, Battlefield The goal is to defeat Samus, Kirby, Fox, Captain Falcon, and Falco in a row. The first three are fought on Fourside, and the other two on the Battlefield stage. The player and every opponent have one life each.
37 Legendary Pokémon Selectable Battlefield The goal is for the player, with one life, to defeat four giant Fighting Wire Frames, as well as Jigglypuff, each having two lives. Poké Balls are the only items, and they contain either a Legendary Pokémon or a Wobbuffet. Winning the event match initiates a separate battle with Pichu, where defeating Pichu unlocks it as a playable character.
38 Super Mario Bros. 2 Selectable Mushroom Kingdom II The match involves fighting Mario, Luigi, and Peach in a stock battle, with each having two lives.
39 Jigglypuff Live! Jigglypuff Pokémon Stadium The match involves fighting three Jigglypuffs, each having three 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, Jigglypuff, 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 both of them start with two lives each.
42 Trouble King 2 Luigi Poké Floats A Giant Bowser is fought in a stock match, with both him and the player having two lives. Bowser is given a huge handicap, which allows him to quickly KO the player.
43 Birds of Prey Fox Big Blue The match involves battling a team of Captain Falcon and Falco, each having two lives.
44 Mewtwo Strikes! Selectable Battlefield The match involves battling Zelda in a stock battle. After a time of 15 seconds, Mewtwo appears and has to be defeated, whilst defeating Zelda causes the player to lose.
45 Game & Watch Forever! Mr. Game & Watch Flat Zone The goal is to defeat 25 Mr. Game & Watches, three of which appear on stage at a given time. The player starts with three stock. Winning the event match unlocks the Game & Watch trophy.
46 Fire Emblem Pride Selectable Temple It is a stock match against Marth and Roy, who are on a team, each having three lives.
47 Trophy Tussle 3 Selectable Majora's Mask Trophy It is a 3-minute match against three randomly chosen opponents, each combatant having two lives. Completing the event match unlocks the Majora's Mask trophy.
48 Pikachu and Pichu Selectable Dream Land (Past Stage) The goal is for the player, starting with two lives, to defeat 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 match involves the player, who has one life only, battling Master Hand and Crazy Hand, each having 300 HP.
51 The Showdown Selectable Final Destination The match involves battling Giga Bowser, Ganondorf, and Mewtwo, each having three lives. Winning the match unlocks both the Final Destination stage and trophy.

More event matches can be unlocked by winning a certain number of the previous ones and unlocking additional characters.

Events # Unlocked by
11 - 15 Winning at least 6 of the event matches #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 Complete 27 out of the 30 events and unlock Jigglypuff, Luigi, Dr. Mario, Young Link, and Falco.
40 - 50 Complete 27 of the first 39 events and unlock all the rest of unlockable characters (including: Marth, Roy, Ganondorf, Pichu, Mewtwo, and Mr. Game & Watch).
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 Acquired, the number of KOs the player achieves is stored instead.

Stadium

SmashWiki article: Stadium

In the Stadium, special minigames are available. Each minigame 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, unlike 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. The player has ten seconds 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 KO 10 Wire Frames in the fastest time possible.
  • 100-Man Melee: The player has to KO 100 Wire Frames in the fastest time possible. When winning, the player can unlock Falco Lombardi.
  • 3-Minute Melee: The player has 3 minutes to KO as many Wire Frames as possible.
  • 15-Minute Melee: The player has 15 minutes to KO as many Wire Frames as possible. When winning, the player can unlock the Past Kongo Jungle stage.
  • Endless Melee: The player has an unlimited amount of time to KO as many Wire Frames as possible.
  • Cruel Melee: As in Endless Melee, there is an unlimited amount of time. However, there are no items, the Wire Frames are harder to KO, and the player can get KO'd easily at low damage percentages.

Training

SmashWiki article: 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 maximum 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

SmashWiki article: Versus Mode

Melee

Mario does an aerial attack.
Mario in midjump

Melee mode allows players 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 choose 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. 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 by other fighters, items, and the stage environment. When characters have a high handicap, they are more resistant to stage hazards, and can easily KO opponents with lower handicaps. Whereas, for the low handicapped characters, they can be sent flying (even get KO'd) pretty easily by stage hazards, and will have a very hard time KOing higher handicapped players. If the handicap is set to "Auto", all players will start with a handicap of 5. With the "Auto" handicap setting, the winner of the next match will get their handicap lowered, while the loser will get their handicap heightened. On a side note, unlike in Super Smash Bros., CPU players can have their handicaps adjusted in this game.

The character selection screen (Camera mode)
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, they can press START/PAUSE Button to rejoin the battle, but takes 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 by stage hazards or other fighters. 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 Button+R Button+A Button+START/PAUSE Button.

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 players have unlocked all the stages, except for the Past Stages, they 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 Button+R Button when a stage is selected, the stage's alternate music track will play during battle, if it is available. When players are playing as Zelda and hold A Button after a stage has been selected, they will start the battle as Sheik.

The pre-match countdown from 3 by the announcer, cheering for characters by the crowd, and unique on-screen appearances for each playable fighter are absent. Instead, the announcer says, "Ready... Go!" at the start of a match, and when the match ends in a tie, the announcer says, "Sudden Death... Go!" at the start of a sudden death match, and all fighters share the same animation of a trophy coming to life. In Time matches, the announcer counts down from 5 during the last five seconds before shouting, "Time!"

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 in all the VS Game Modes, except for Camera Mode and Stamina Mode.

Tournament Melee

SmashWiki article: Tournament Mode (SSBM)

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 canceled. Players are free to change their characters while the tournament is ongoing. When they hold down L Button and R Button, 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

SmashWiki article: Special Smash

This mode offers a couple of different rules settings for the Melee mode. Any records (such as amount of KOs) are not counted.

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. The player gets KO'd if their HP hits 0. 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 almost instantly when hit by a strong attack.
Giant Melee All players are giant, as if they had taken Super Mushrooms. Handicaps do not work properly for this game mode.
Tiny Melee All players are tiny, as if they had taken Poison Mushrooms. Handicaps do not work properly for this game mode.
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 button work in this mode, allowing only basic attacks. This mode is designed for beginners, but it renders the Y Button and X Button buttons useless. The C Stick can still be used.
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: List of trophies in Super Smash Bros. Melee
Viewing a trophy

Trophies can be collected in 1-P Mode, won in the Lottery, 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, 292 in the PAL version), with several of them representing the Super Mario franchise. Each of the playable characters have three trophies: One explains the character's backstory in the game they originated from, and is collected by completing Classic mode, while other two explain their background in the game itself. These trophies can be collected by completing the Adventure and All-Star mode with them, or by completing a sufficient amount of VS mode matches with the respective character.

Unlockable features

Unlocking a secret character always involves fulfilling a certain criteria and then defeating them in a single-stock. All unlockable characters have a unique method of being unlocked, or alternately from playing a certain number of matches in the VS mode.

Character First unlock method Number of VS matches
Jigglypuff Completing Classic or Adventure with any character. 50
Dr. Mario Completing Classic or Adventure with Mario without using a continue. 100
Pichu Beating Event Match #37 200
Falco Completing the 100-Man Melee 300
Marth Completing or failing Classic or Adventure mode with all default characters or playing as every default character in VS. Mode. 400
Young Link Completing Classic or Adventure with ten different characters. 500
Ganondorf Completing Event Match #29 600
Mewtwo Playing in VS. Mode for 20 hours with one controller, ten hours with two controllers, six hours with three controllers or four hours with four controllers. 700
Luigi Finishing the first stage of Adventure with a XX:X2:XX on the countdown timer, then defeating Luigi in the battle on Princess Peach's Castle, and then fighting him again after completing Adventure. 800
Roy Completing Classic or Adventure with Marth without using a continue. 900
Mr. Game & Watch Completing Classic, 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
Battlefield 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 or Pidgit Trophies.
Yoshi's Island Getting the Sandbag over the 400 meter/1,325 feet mark at the Home-Run Contest.

Soundtrack

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 L Button or R Button when selecting a stage on the stage selection screen. If more than one player is playing, however, every player has to do this action to get the alternate music.

When all stages are unlocked, the player gains access to the Sound Test, where the player can play all music tracks and voices from the game, and might occasionally hear an alternate music track in the menu. Also, if the player uses sound test and then opens the trophy gallery, whichever song was played last in sound test is played in the trophy gallery. However, the music has to loop, or else it will not be played in the trophy gallery.

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

Critical reception

Like its predecessor, 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, being frequently played at tournaments alongside more traditional fighting games such as Street Fighter.

Reviews
Release Reviewer, Publication Score Comment
Nintendo GameCube Tom "Mugwum" Bramwell,
Eurogamer
10/10 Overall it's an exotic cocktail of entertainment for Nintendo fans, who will slurp up every last drop, and if you want to talk about longevity, I've had this game on import for about six months and I still haven't finished it. People talk about killer apps and games that sell systems, and if you can put aside any preconceptions of this as a kiddie title or a game for beat 'em up virgins only, then you will have one of the finest videogames ever to issue forth from the caring hands of a developer. One to be remembered, and definitely one to own.
Nintendo GameCube Bryn "hardcore_pawn" Williams,
Gamespy
9/10 here is no doubt that Super Smash Bros. Melee is one the top games on the GameCube and will be a huge hit this Christmas. But does it really do that much more than the original N64 title? In terms of design, control and gameplay, it doesn't. Instead, Super Smash Bros. Melee adds, adds and adds some more fun to the already superb original game. The extra attention to detail, characters, sights and sounds are a Nintendo enthusiasts' wet dream. Be assured that all those people you call friends that stare at the TV screen in total disbelief and utter confusion at the carnage they are witnessing will soon be sniffing around that spare joypad, wondering how they can get in on the action. HAL and Nintendo have done a stellar job at bringing a massive amount of in-depth fun to the GameCube. This is one game you won't put down until every technique, option and secret has been revealed.
Nintendo GameCube Miguel Lopez,
GameSpot
8.9/10 Super Smash Bros. Melee has clearly been designed to appeal, foremost, to Nintendo's die-hard fans. Those who are familiar with the company's long and illustrious history will no doubt enjoy the game much more than the casual passerby. Judged on its own merits, though, Nintendo's spastic tribute to itself stands quite strong as one of the most engaging multiplayer games available for any console platform. Nintendo's last console was especially strong in the multiplayer department, and, if games like Melee are any indication, the GameCube seems like it will be too. Super Smash Bros. Melee is simply a huge game that, while best enjoyed in the company of others, will also keep the lone, die-hard fan busy for a good, long while.
Aggregators
Compiler Platform / Score
Metacritic 92
GameRankings 90.52%

Sales

Super Smash Bros. Melee is the best-selling game for the Nintendo GameCube, selling about 7.09 million copies worldwide, as of December 31, 2009.

Media

Main article: List of Super Smash Bros. Melee media
Audio.svg Menu theme - Theme that plays in the menu of the game.
File infoMedia:SSBM Menu.oga
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Audio.svg Princess Peach's Castle
File infoMedia:SSBM Princess Peach's Castle.oga
0:30
Audio.svg Rainbow Cruise
File infoMedia:SSBM Rainbow Cruise.oga
0:30
Help:MediaHaving trouble playing?

Staff

Main article: List of Super Smash Bros. Melee staff

Voice actors

Characters Voice actor
Mario, Luigi, Dr. Mario Charles Martinet
Princess Peach Jen Taylor
Link Nobuyuki Hiyama
Kirby, Ness Makiko Ohmoto
Yoshi Kazumi Totaka
Fox McCloud Shinobu Satouchi
Fox McCloud (cutscene) Steve Malpass
Pikachu Ikue Ohtani
Captain Falcon Ryo Horikawa
Jigglypuff (English) Rachael Lillis
Jigglypuff (Japanese) Mika Kanai
Jigglypuff (French) Guylaine Gibert
Jigglypuff (German) Mara Winzer
Ganondorf 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

Pre-release and unused content

Main article: List of Super Smash Bros. Melee pre-release and unused content

Through the use of an Action Replay, many unused/unfinished stages can be found. The first is a large, gray stage with the background appearing to be some kind of pub. The music is the same as used on Fox McCloud and Falco Lombardi's stage Corneria. This is assumed to be a test stage because of its name, which on the debug menu is TEST. There are three other stages, "AKANEIA" (a possible predecessor to Castle Siege from Super Smash Bros. Brawl, a home world for Fire Emblem), "10-2", and "Dummy", which all crash the game when loaded. The last stage is named IceTop, which simply loads Icicle Mountain except without music.

Glitches

Main article: List of Super Smash Bros. Melee glitches

Ice Climbers freeze

To perform this glitch, the player should select the Ice Climbers, and while wall walking up to the opponent, have the partner grab the opponent. Right as the opponent is grabbed, the main Ice Climber needs to perform Side+B, resulting in the opponent being frozen in place. They can be unfrozen by using a Screw Attack. This does not seem to cause any damage to the disc.

Infinite Super Scope

There is an in-game glitch to get an infinite Super Scope that will never run out of bullets. It is obtained by shooting fifteen small shots then two charged shots and during charging of the third shot the player must get hit, that will result in an infinite Super Scope. If the player throws the scope, it will disappear.

References to other games

References in later media

Gallery

For this subject's image gallery, see Gallery:Super Smash Bros. Melee.

Names in other languages

Language Name Meaning Notes
Japanese だいらんとうスマッシュブラザーズDXデラックス[?]
Dairantō Sumasshu Burazāzu Derakkusu
Great Fray Smash Bros. Deluxe
Korean 대난투 스매시브라더스 DX[?]
Daenantu Seumaesi Beuradeoseu DX
Great Fray Smash Bros. Deluxe

Trivia

  • In Classic Mode, for some unknown reason, the player never fights against Ganondorf or Roy. Ganondorf appears only as a teammate in Classic Mode, while Roy never appears at all as a CPU player. In addition, Zelda is never a teammate for the player in that game mode. Also, the player only fights Mr. Game & Watch in the multi-man battle.
  • Super Smash Bros. Melee is not only the first in its franchise to be Teen-rated, but it's also the first time that any of those Nintendo characters that appear in-game, with the exception of Fire Emblem characters, appeared in a game rated Teen or a foreign equivalent.
  • There were three versions of this game released in the NTSC format. The first version was 1.0 NTSC DOL-GALE 0-00, which was the original version with the words "Nintendo's best in 4-player action" labeled on the front. The second version was 1.1 NTSC DOL-GALE 0-01, which was the Player's Choice version. The last version was 1.2 NTSC DOL-GALE 0-02, which had the words "Best Seller" labeled on the front. While the first two had the original "Official Nintendo Seal of Quality" labeled on the boxes and the discs, the last version had Nintendo's revised "Official Nintendo Seal" on the box due to the patch being released after December of 2003. Despite this, the seal on the updated disc still says "Official Nintendo Seal of Quality". The instruction booklet was additionally not revised for the last version, retaining the original seal on the copyright page. Each newer version had different patches and gameplay improvements.
  • This is the first GameCube game appearance for all of the playable characters excluding Mario, Luigi, and Bowser, whose first appearance in a GameCube game was Luigi's Mansion.
    • However, Mario and Bowser were not playable on the GameCube until this game, making Luigi the only playable character in Super Smash Bros. Melee to be playable in a previous GameCube game, as Luigi's Mansion was released before Melee.

References