| Super Smash Bros Melee Review In the days of the N64 one of the factors that led to the dominance of the PS1 was the lack of beat 'em ups. While Tekken was doing the rounds on the Playstation, Nintendo decide to do something about the situation, and so released Smash Bros 64. The game took the concept of beat 'em ups, added all your favourite characters, original 1 player modes and squashed it all into 1 title, which probably explains why it went on to sell over 5 million copies world-wide, a feat which not many games can claim to have accomplished. I remember my little brother getting it for Xmas, and I played it all morning, it was so addictive. For some reason, he didn�t like it and it was traded in the next day. But on the 24th on May I got the chance again. Firstly, I would like to say that this game is huge, of epic proportion etc. etc. With 9 levels of difficulty, more than 20 levels, around 20 characters and over 290 trophies to collect, I am still playing this game just now. The single player does get a little easy, but it is the multiplayer where this game really shines. With all the different game modes, such as lightning melee, tiny melee, giant melee, super sudden death, team death match the list goes on. Whether its link against Ganondorf, Mario and luigi vs. Bowser and DK, Kirby vs. Jigglypuff you can finally decide who is the ultimate Nintendo character. The game does not play like a standard fighting game either, the game adds the random effects of Poke balls, which when opened can unleash the useless Goldeen which flaps about the screen, to the devastating Snorlax which crushed everything in its path. The graphics are not spectacular, but they do the job. Sharp and colourful, just as it should be. Seeing the mushroom kingdom in full 3D, or the huge monster of Brinstar depths is amazing. All the characters are rendered perfectly, even Mr. Game and watch looks quite good. The levels are well detailed, and are actually 3D, despite the front on view. In particular, the fountain levels reflection effects are absolutely brilliant. Some of the attacks effects are really good, and there is never any slow down, unless you go on slow melee mode. The game looks very polished and there are never any instances of bad pop up or blurry visuals. The characters are all very well animated, and have a wide variety of different moves. The sounds are brilliant; there is no other word for it. From the roars of Pokemon to the classic tunes of times forgotten, everything is brought up to date perfectly. Just try the Mushroom kingdom level, hearing the classic Mario Bros theme in orchestral type sound. All the themes are there, from Star Fox, to Pokemon, To Mario Bros, to Zelda or Kirby. The characters voices are very good, for example peppy sounds exactly like he does in SFA. There isn�t ever any fuzz or background sound, overall very good. Like TS2, it is the multiplayer that stands out. With so many modes and characters, such as tournament, lightning melee, team melee, fast mode, giant melee to name just a few, it lasts for months. This has to be one of the most popular games on the cube, and it was the first title to reach the million seller status. Try fighting against 3 level 9 CPU player who are on a team, and you�ll see that it isn�t easy. With so many characters, levels, game modes and trophies to unlock, it is certainly not going to get boring. Even after constant playing for months, my little brothers were playing this game just this morning. If you want a game that will last, look no further. A master piece from Nintendo, and with rumours that an online version is in development, the potential is there for an absolute classic. 93% |
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