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"Nintendo
fanatics stand on their 6x6 soapbox holding Super
Smash Bros. Melee high into the air, proclaiming
greatness. Lured in by the hype, I pulled a
no-holds-barred type review and testing."
History repeats itself?
In 1999 the original Super Smash Bros. went down
in gaming history as one of the best N64 titles
ever released. Combining beautiful visuals with
hard-core multiplayer fun; SSB became a fan
favorite and a "first" in its genre.
Super Smash Bros. Melee's predecessor was
enjoyable on the 64. A great party game with cart based
speed and smooth graphics. Once you added in the
whimsical classic characters of past Nintendo games;
this easily became another solid title.
Nintendo banked on SSB, Mario 64, Zelda and Pokemon for
its staple income. Without these titles, Nintendo surely
would have been lost.
Well, a new age in gaming is among us. Playstation 2,
Xbox and GameCube are all lined up as "next-gen"
consoles; and Nintendo still tempts us with Mario
and his uncanny lure. With SSBM it is not only an
"upgrade" from the original; but a whole new
world.
You can now choose up to 25 characters (14 original and
11 hidden). Players range from fun loving Mario, to the
mysterious Samus, to lesser-known characters like
"The Ice Climbers". In addition to the
substantial cast are added areas, secret levels and tons
of hidden features. A huge difference from the two is
the actual play mode. The "classic" mode of
play is just that; duke it out with an opponent until
they get "knocked out". The
"adventure" mode gives a nice warm tinglies
for old school Nintendo fans. Start off platform style
in levels redone from their originals. This includes
Mario Bros., Metroid and Zelda.
Simply smashing?
For those unfamiliar with the series it is quite simple.
Pound your opponent and smash them off the screen until
oblivion. There is a "percentage meter" on the
bottom of screen for each player. The higher the damage
percentage is the easier it is to deal a "knock
out" punch. This "knock out" sends the
player soaring off the screen.
The concept seems elementary, but after testing the game
for easily over 20-hours, I still am confused by
the play. There is no rhyme or reason for a knockout,
and delivering that "final blow" can be done
in 10-seconds or 10-minutes. Probably the biggest flaw
within SSBM is the complexity in simplicity.
Many times I have started off the game, and in a few
seconds the game is over. Sometimes the screen is
nothing short of a cluster bomb, and was clueless on
what happened. On the other side of the ball, the
complete opposite has happened. I've beaten my opponent
into the red with over 200% damage, and still sometimes
can't pull the Mortal Kombat and "finish
him". There are a handful of moves that deliver
this "final" blow, and many times I'll knock
the guy a mile but he still reappears.
Difficulty settings vary within SSBM. The easier
settings are great for younger gamers who button mash;
and it is a necessity to bump up the level to at least
hard to maximize the quality of the game and make it
challenging.
At the end of each level/fight; statistics are thrown at
you at a programmers pace. Bonuses range from 500 points
for simply jumping sideways to 5,000 points for using a
combo/throw/spin. Think I'm exaggerating? There are
literally hundreds of bonus points that can be
earned. While, at first I thought it was a unique idea;
it quickly became enigmatic. The bonus points are
outrageous and frankly pathetic. I mean, when you are
playing the last thing on your mind is how to
rack up these freaky bonuses. The bottom line was that
these were thrown in there for good measure, and I
highly doubt that these play any role within the game
other than to placate single-celled beings ego's.
If anyone remembers the Sega Dreamcast game Power
Stone 2 you can see where Nintendo was trying to go
this time. There are tons of offensive and defensive
items to pick up. These can include guns, hammers,
power-ups and shields. Power Stone was another melee
style bash-em-up game that was not limited to one or two
screens. While, the levels aren't as pretty as SSBM,
Power Stone was far more fun than what Nintendo and HAL
gave us.
Still, what makes the SSB line successful is the
multiplayer aspects. With up to four players this can
truly be a romp. In addition to the standard one player
mode, you can customize your multiplayer experience. You
can change the rules to your liking, or even modify the
actual gameplay. One example is the option of a
"coin hunt". A la Sonic , knock the
other player around and grab the coins lost after doing
so.
Even further within the customizations, you can do
anything from setting up a "slo-mo" match to a
"giant mode" where you fight a super sized
opponent. Overall there are 10 modes of multiplayer
play, that are unique and shows you why this game is the
ideal party game.
Next-gen performance?
Visually, the game is impressive. Each character is
brilliantly rendered, with individualistic lighting
effects and physics. Using your secondary analog
controller, you can zoom in to look at the goodness.
Even close up, the textures are magnificent.
The colors are bright and very Nintendo-esque, and the
attention to detail is unmatched. While the backgrounds
are far less impressive than the foregrounds, it still
shows that this is a next generation console. For
those who like to nit-pick detail, you will find
yourself amazed at the little things that would go
unnoticed. The movement of clothes, the bending of limbs
and the shadowing of background images will leave you
appreciative of the time taken to produce the game.
I was still hoping for the use of cell shading more
throughout the game (yea, I know about the
"secret" level), and more attention to the fog
capabilities, the game was just gorgeous. The physics of
each player was outstanding, and made use of the GC
controller perfectly.
Graphically, this is by far the greatest release on a
visual level for the GameCube. Even though the game was
overall unimpressive, it boosted my confidence to know
that the potential for greatness is there.
For you audiophiles, you will also be quite pleased with
the composer of the game. The original scores taken from
classic Nintendo games have been revamped and
re-mastered in digital brilliance. I'll be the first to
admit that I grinned from ear to ear like a little
schoolboy when I heard the original Mario Bros. theme
and the haunting ambience of Metroid again. Sound
effects were also blended perfectly with the mood of
each level and character.
Voices were also well done but few and far between. I
anticipated better use of the vocal extent but I really
can't complain at all. While there isn't really anything
original about the soundtrack or effects, it was still
evident that a lot of time went into the composer and
release of the musical score.
Wha?
Admitted, I let the hype of the moment go to my head and
had preconceived notions of greatness was going to be
set in front of me. Reviews read at IGN and UGO
basically deemed the game as flawless and trend
setting. However, for those reading be wary of a
$50 purchase.
The ruiner for the game is the gameplay. As many gamers,
and reviewers jaws will drop; I just can't see
what you are seeing. What could have been fun, was
simply perverted from the original and is a classic case
of "trying to hard".
The camera angles were enigmatic and frustrating. The
action on the screen was great when we were fairly close
to the fighting, but once scaled out became chaotic. The
personal feel of smacking each other around when close
was decent and enjoyable; but once the action panned
became impersonal and out of touch.
Aside from the unique panning of the camera and action,
the "meat and potatoes" of the gameplay was
gray. As mentioned, button mashing quickly out shadowed
the strategy and fun; and the charge moves to produce a
knockout punch. Arguable but true. I found by using the
"special attacks" I could wiz through each
level unscathed and in record setting times. These
special moves are just way to powerful and
effective. If implemented better by Nintendo, they could
have been a great addition to gameplay instead of a
cheap alternative of strategy. In reference again to
Power Stone 2 where your special power cannot be
unlocked until you collect three power stones; once
gathered you have a limited time to produce these
devastating blows. Instead, Nintendo allows you to use
these moves any time you want with a simple button
press.
Even if Nintendo implemented a gauge for special moves,
it still wouldn't subject this to greatness. While I
like the concept of "KO'ing" someone; it
became frustrating and questionable. How the heck could
I get knocked out within seconds of the match. And why
the heck do you keep popping back after I spent
10-minutes knocking the crap out of ya?
I loved the concept of the game, but it lacked the
clockworks that make a game like this truly successful.
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