| Super Smash Bros. Melee |
| Graphics: 9 Sound: 10 Gameplay: 8 Replay Value: 10 Reviewer's Tilt: 10 Overall: 9.7 |
| It's one of the reasons you'll want a Gamecube. It's fast-paced fun, it's rewarding, and it's brilliant. What is it? It's Super Smash Bros. Melee, and it is one of the most strangely unique games out there. So what separates it from the rest? Simple: It's got characters from the good old days when 8-bit 2D games were the life. Mario, Yoshi, Ice Climbers (?), Donkey Kong, and unfortunately, Pikachu and Jigglypuff from Pokemon. Yuck. Still, you won't want to miss out on this game because it's great fun for dozens of hours. One could waste an entire weekend battling the game's computer itself. There's several modes of play, including Classic and Adventure. Classic is where you battle the computer by fighting in an arcade-style beat-em-up. Adventure is just like old school Mario where you jump on platforms, eat mushroooms to grow, etc. Both of them are great fun for all. There's more: You can do Stadium, where you can hit home-runs with your powers, and battle several computer AI with a time limit. Set and break records with the multi-man melee, in which you can have an infinite number of AI hounding you and see how many you can kill before you die. Die. That seems like a strange word when thinking about Nintendo. This is definately the most violent game that Mario has starred in, and with its hefty T rating, parents should be aware of some violence. Personally, this game should have passed with an E rating, but that's just my opinion. The graphics are pretty amazing too. Sure, there's parts of the game that look better than others, but you can ignore that when you see the game's constant 60 frames per second. Also, you can pause the game and move the camera around, zooming in and out. The game's strongest point, other than huge fun factor, are the excellent character models in the game, which really bring back the Nintendo era. I can't wait for another Mario game on Gamecube. Mario Sunshine should be good. Luigi's Mansion is mostly good. Whatever comes next, I hope it's as good as this...but I doubt anything could come close. |
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| Well, you can "choose" Pokemon, uh...monsters for battle, for better or worse. |
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| Okay. All this cuteness is making me sick. I'm going back for more Resident Evil. |