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    [ROTM Winner]Super Smash Bros Melee
    Topic Started: Feb 26 2005, 09:44 PM (698 Views)
    APM
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    [size=14]Super Smash Bros. Melee [/size]

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    Publisher: Nintendo
    Developer: HAL Laboratories
    ESRB Rating: T (Teen)
    Platform: Gamecube
    Release Date: December 3, 2001
    # of Players: 1-4 Simultaneously

    [size=7]Storyline: 0.5 [/size]

    The closest thing SSBM (Super Smash Bros Melee) has to a story is its single-player modes. There are three one player modes to choose from, Adventure, Classic, and the ever elusive and incredibly hard All-Star mode. Adventure mode takes you through exclusive stages and battles with predetermined opponents. You're journey will end in a bout with Bowser. Classic is similar to the original Super Smash Bros, in that it takes you through random stages fighting randomly selected characters. There are also several bonus stages where you can collect trophies among other things. Classic ends with a boss fight with Master Hand, a floating magical hand.

    All-Star mode is opened when you unlock every character, and is where you go through and fight all 25 characters in a random order, and you only get one life. The damage you sustain one match carries over to the next match, but luckily between fights, you get a chance to use a heart container, which will fully restore your health. Use them wisely, because you only get three.

    You of course get to select which character you want to play as before you begin one of the modes. At the end of one of the modes you'll get a score based on how well you fought and how much time it took you, as well as many other little bonuses or fighting styles that you did. It only takes about 30 minutes to beat any given mode, at least on easier skill levels, but it's so fun and there are so many characters and difficulty levels, it'll take a while to fully beat the single-player mode. A nice little fun addition is that SSBM actually makes the credits fun! Whenever you complete a mode, the credits will roll like most games, but this time you're in a spaceship and you have a laser with which you will shoot the credits that are flying by. At the end, it'll tell you how many credits you hit so you can compete with your friends to top their hiscores.

    To sum things up: SSBM doesn't really have a story, but it is still fun and has a fairly deep and engaging single-player mode.

    [size=7]Gameplay: 9.9 [/size]

    SSBM is a solid fighting game. You can choose to play as any one of 25 characters, each with their own unique set of moves and attacks. All the characters have "special" attacks that allow them to do more damage and attack from a distance, among other things. They also have "regular" attacks that include standard punches, kicks, sword slashes, etc. In addition to both of the styles of attacking there are "smash" attacks, where you "smash" the control stick in a particular direction (either up, left, right, or down) and then hit the A button. You can charge these attacks up and release the control stick to perform a very powerful attack that will knock your opponents senseless into tomorrow.

    All characters can jump, and then perform a double jump while in the air. When you're in the air, you can perform variants on the regular and special attacks, but not smash attacks. Characters like Bowser, who do more damage and knock enemies farther, move slowly and can't jump very high, while the lighter fighters, like Fox, move quickly and jump higher.

    The final types of moves are grabbing and shielding. As the name implies, grabbing allows you to grab your opponents and either hold then and punch them while they dangle helplessly in your clutches (although they can wiggle free with the control stick), or just throw them to kingdom come. Several characters such as Samus and Link, can grab from long range, using the grapple beam and hookshot respectively. Shielding is a technique that creates a bubble-gum like barrier around you, protecting you from enemy attacks, though not from enemy grabs. The longer you hold you shield up, the smaller it will get, and thereby, the less of you it will protect. You'll need to let it regenerate for a little while before using it again. When your shield shrinks to nothing, it'll break and you'll be unable to move for a while. Shields will be depleted even faster if an enemy is attacking it.

    To add to the funness, each character can perform a unique taunt that you can use just to make your friends even more annoyed when you start whooping up on them.

    Items will randomly appear on stage while you are playing. Items have different effects on the battle when picked up, such as altering you character's attributes or appearance temporarily. Many items, like the beam sword of ray gun, are kept when picked up and used to attack enemies either directly or from a distance. Some items are used up immediately, like healing items. And still other, like the pokeball and bob-omb are thrown and initiate a one-time attack.

    To sum things up: The action in SSBM is fast and varied, providing a fun overall experience.

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    We see DK has grabbed a mushroom and has grown to an enourmous size, while his opponents tremble in fear.

    [size=7]Controls: 9.1 [/size]

    SSBM's controls don't take long to learn and are relatively easy to use. For new players, it will probably take a while to learn advanced moves and string together attacks fluidly, but once you learn them, you won't want to put the controller down.

    To sum things up: I think things are summed up well enough already. :P

    [size=7]Graphics: 8.4 [/size]

    The graphics in SSBM are nothing special by today's standards, but considering SSBM was one of the early GCN games, they're pretty good, though the camera mode lets you freeze, change the camera angle, and zoom in on the action. The results yield some pretty amazing screenshots. Also, I must say that metallic effects in the game are done beautifully. It's incredible how, for example, Marth's wafer-thin cape when metal will flicker and glisten in the sun, even though it's supposedly metal, which brings me to another point, the realisticness of the wind. When you're riding atop a stage that's flying through the air, your character's clothes will ripple realistically and accordingly in the wind. Now, while this is standard for today's games, SSBM brought a whole new meaning to the words "realistic cartoons".

    To sum things up: The graphics are certainly no reason to buy this game, but they are still pretty decent.

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    Here Mario is launching a fireball at some Koopa Troopas in Adventure Mode.

    [size=7]Audio: 9.4 [/size]

    The background music in SSBM is wonderful. The game has taken many classic Nintendo characters' them songs and reproduced them in full orchestral versions. Some may prefer the original versions of the songs, but I personally think the newer versions are done very well. Each character is accompanied by a variety of sound effects and voices (mainly "aaah"s and grunts, though some characters' taunts have actual words).

    Additionally, there's an unlockable sound test that lets you listen to every song and sound in the game, right down to Falco's blaster and DK's "huuuhs".

    To sum things up: The background songs in this game are awesome, and the sound effects are great. In fact, the songs are fun to just listen to like you would today's modern pop songs.

    [size=7]Multiplayer: 10.0 [/size]

    Multiplayer mode is where SSBM really shines. There are a variety of multiplayer modes to choose from, the three basic types begin Tournament Melee, Special Melee, and just plain old Melee. Tournament Melee lets you set up a tournament with up to 64 players! Special Melee consists of matches that you can set to do special things, like make all characters invisible, giant, tiny, and in slow motion, among others. Melee is, of course, where you select your character and stage and fight regularly. There're also a bunch of options that let you tweak the rules, such as an item switch that allows you to change what and how often items appear. Twenty-nine unlockable stages based on places from previous Nintendo games, each with their own special environment, are available to choose from (once unlocked of course). For those of you who need to set handicaps, those are available, as wellas team oriented battles.

    To sum things up: The multiplayer mode will keep you busy for hours, duking it out with your friends. Don't worry, though, you can set AI bots and changes their skill level too.

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    Four players are bashing and smashing each other in a coin battle.

    [size=7]Replay Value: 10.0 [/size]

    Where to begin? there are so many things to do and unlock in this game, it's mindblowing. In addiiton to having single and multiplayer modes that many dedicated gamers will spend 1000+ hours playing, there are 290 trophies to unlock. Trophies depict myriad video game characters and scenes, and each one must be unlocked by completing a certain requirement. Also to unlock are 25 fighters (many are unlocked from the stars). Once you meet the requirements for unlocking a particular character, you fight him/her in a battle to unlock him/her as a playable character.

    To add to the fun even more, there's a Stadium mode consisting of three events. The first event is Target Test. Target Test requires you to choose a character and then break 10 targets in a Target Test-exclusive stage as fast as you can. The second is Home Run Cntest, where you damage a sandbag as much as you can in 10 seconds to see how far you can hit it with a home run bat. The last event is Multi-Man Melee, which is basically just a few tests to see how many enemies you can KO in a set time, how long you can survive against super-tough enemies, and see how fast you can kill a set number of enemies.

    To sum things up: There's an insanely large amount of replay value here, in fact more so than any other game I've ever played.

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    A Super Mario World trophy being viewed in the Gallery mode.

    [size=7]Overall: 9.8 [/size]

    Bottom Line: SSBM is an excellent pick-up-and-play game, as well as a sit-down-and-play-for-two-hours-at-a-time game. It has tons of replay value and the action is always intense and fun. So whether you're an amateur gamer or a hardcore gamer, this game is definitely well worth your money.
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    Samthewise7
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    Nice review dude, this should deffently contend in next months Review of The Month contest.
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    APM
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    Thank you. Your Skies review is kickin' though. :woot:
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    Pulse
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    Great Review!! SSBM is one of my favorite games of all time.
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    Sontailsic
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    Chelsea FC Champions 55-05-06-10

    Awesome review dude!

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    Sky_Blue_Yoshi
    Jedi Master
    HOW IN THE WORLD did you get that SMW trophy???i want it but it was only supposed to be in Japan!once again,HOW DID YOU GET IT?PLZ tell me!i REALLY want that trophy,i love yoshi a ton!thanks in advance.
    *Needs a new sig*
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    APM
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    Calm down, I'm fully aware of that. I didn't get it. How would I be able to take a picture like that? I just used it as an example from IGN. ;)
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    fantanoice
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    Quiet, please, it's snack time!
    I think it was given out as a prize in a tounament in Japan, or as sweepstacks like Mew/Celebi. There's also a trophy with Samus with her helmet off that can't be gained.
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    Use an Action Replay to get it. You will get the SMW trophy, Samus without her helmet trophy, and another one(forgot what it was called).
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    sodaku
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    Goomba
    :P heh i got that trophy i got all of the trophys when u beat every thing and get all trophys you got a new song too :P
    I need a avatar sniff
    pm plzz highest price I go is 5 nintendo dollars any metroid avatar
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    Snake_Skull
    Proudly humping your leg since 2005!

    There's also the 'Samus Unmasked' Trophy and another...
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    I know what you mean. Sometimes I just feel like I'm giving birth to a flaming porcupine on the floor of an igloo during a hemmorage attack while simultaneously being given a root canal by a blind dentist while he plays Taylor Hicks songs to old folks with overflowing bladder bags.
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    Sontailsic
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    Chelsea FC Champions 55-05-06-10

    ....And whats that?

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    Canttouchthis04


    Wow, very nice review. If it isn't posted on Nsider already, you should definitely post it there. You have a good shot at rotm!

    It was pretty organized, had nice pictures, and detailed. Those make a good review.
    "I arrested a man-lady once... who was legally named Phuck."
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    APM
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    Canttouchthis21
    Mar 22 2005, 03:13 PM
    Wow, very nice review. If it isn't posted on Nsider already, you should definitely post it there. You have a good shot at rotm!

    It was pretty organized, had nice pictures, and detailed. Those make a good review.

    Thanks, but I don't think it really stood a chance. When I posted it, I wasn't even close to Koopa, so that might've hurt it a bit. I just added the pictures for this. Besides, I can't compete with guys like ViewtifulHenshinJoe56 and SMITBG. ;)
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    Sontailsic
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    Chelsea FC Champions 55-05-06-10

    Don't worry dude, this still PWN's no matter what anybody else has done.

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