Super Smash Bros. Melee

Overview

Super Smash Bros. Melee is a 2001 crossover fighting game developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the GameCube. It is the second installment in the Super Smash Bros. series. It features characters from Nintendo video game franchises such as Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Star Fox, Pokémon, and Donkey Kong among others. The stages and gameplay modes reference or take designs from these franchises as well.

Melee includes all playable characters from the first game and also adds characters from additional franchises such as Fire Emblem, of which no games had been released outside Japan at the time, in addition to new stages and gameplay modes. Like other games in the Smash Bros. series, Melee's gameplay system offers an unorthodox approach to the fighting game genre, with a counter that measures damage with increasing percentages, representing the knockback the character will experience, rather than the depleting health bar seen in most fighting games.

Melee was first released in Japan on November 21, 2001, in North America on December 3, 2001, in Europe on May 24, 2002, and Australia on May 31, 2002. The game received widespread acclaim from critics, earning praise for its visuals, simple controls, gameplay, and orchestrated soundtrack, as well as several awards and acknowledgments from various publications; it is now considered one of the greatest video games ever made. It achieved strong sales upon its release, becoming the GameCube's best-selling title, with over seven million copies sold by 2008.

Official trailer

Trailer. Watch on YouTube

Gameplay

GameCube Longplay [009] Super Smash Bros. Melee, World-of-Longplays. Watch on YouTube

Screenshots

Game details

Genres

Fighting, Platform

Developer

HAL Laboratory

Publisher

Nintendo

Series

Super Smash Bros.

Platforms

Nintendo GameCube

Age rating

ESRB T

Modes

Single player

Yes

Local multiplayer

Yes

Online multiplayer

No

Co op

Yes

Age ratings

ESRB

T

CLASS IND

14

PEGI

3

GRAC

ALL

CERO

A

ACB

PG

USK

12

Release dates

Editions

Check out the store

Space and patches

Update patchNo patch

DLC

No DLC. GameCube games had no downloadable content.

Playable today

Playable offline todayYes

No online features; every mode works today. The disc runs on a GameCube or a Wii with GameCube ports.

Online

Plays offlineYes

Reception

Aggregates

Outlet	Platform	Score	Scale
Metacritic	GameCube	92	100

Critics

Outlet	Score	Scale
Eurogamer	10	10
IGN	9.6	10
Official Nintendo Magazine	95	100
Famitsu	37	40
GameSpot	8.9	10
GameSpy	4.5	5
AllGame	4.5	5
Edge	6	10

Staff and cast

Staff

Role	Name
Developer	HAL Laboratory
Publisher	Nintendo
Director	Masahiro Sakurai
Designers	Masahiro Sakurai, Hitoshi Kobayashi
Producers	Masayoshi Tanimura, Hiroaki Suga, Shigeru Miyamoto, Kenji Miki
Programmer	Yoshiki Suzuki
Artist	Hitoshi Kobayashi
Composers	Hirokazu Ando, Shogo Sakai, Tadashi Ikegami, Takuto Kitsuta

Notes for collectors

• The best-selling GameCube game, with over seven million copies sold by 2008.
• Still played at tournaments long after its release, kept alive by its competitive community.
• Up to four players fight free-for-all or in teams, with unlockable characters and stages.
• Reissued as a Player's Choice title, and bundled with a GameCube for US$99.99 in August 2005.

Credits

Publisher

Nintendo

Developer

HAL Laboratory

Director

Masahiro Sakurai

Released

2001-12-03

Age rating

ESRB T

Region

US

Time to beat

about 10 hours