Super Smash Brothers Melee

About

Super Smash Brothers Melee is a fighting game featuring Nintendo characters developed by HAL Laboratories under the direction of Masahiro Sakurai. The second entry in the Super Smash Bros. franchise, Melee is the best selling game in the Nintendo Gamecube's library of video games and is notoriously known for its passionate fan base and a competitive scene that has survived through two sequels in the series' franchise over the course of 17 years.

History and Gameplay

Super Smash Brothers Melee was unveiled at E3 2001 alongside the Nintendo Gamecube. The former released in Japan on November 21st, 2001, with the United States release slated for December 3rd, 2001, in time for the holiday season. Much like it's predecessor on the Nintendo 64, the gameplay involves fighting opponents on unique stages, building up damage (showcased using percentage), and knocking them off the stage after they have accumulated enough damage. The roster consists of 26 characters hailing from Nintendo's flagship franchises, with the likes of Mario of Super Mario, Link of the Legend of Zelda, Kirby of his own lineup of games, and Pikachu of Pokémon.

Reception

Super Smash Brothers Melee proved to be a financial success for Nintendo, being included in the "Player's Choice" catalog of games, as well as being the best selling game in the Nintendo Gamecube's library during its lifespan, selling over 7 million copies.

Super Smash Brothers Melee received widespread acclaim upon its release. Critics praised the game for expanding upon its predecessor along with the addition of new content. The game currently holds a Metacritic^[2] score of 92/100, citing "universal acclaim" based on 667 ratings.

Online Presence

Super Smash Brothers Melee holds a vocal presence online, with a dedicated subreddit^[3] that has over 43,000 readers as of May 26th, 2018. The game also holds a dedicated competitive scene.

Competitive Scene

Super Smash Brothers Melee is notorious for its vocal and passionate competitive scene. Much of competitive play utilizes advanced techniques, such as wavedashing and l-cancelling, combined with fast, cerebral-based play that takes place between competitors. With the competitive scene dating back to shortly after the game's release, tournament play for Melee has had a lifespan of roughly 17 years, even after the sequels of Brawl, 3DS & Wii U, with tournaments being sponsored through Major League Gaming's (MLG) Pro Circuit from 2004 to 2007, and having been featured at the prestigious fighting game tournament series, Evolution Championship Series (EVO) in 2007, and since 2013. Despite the rocky relationship between Nintendo and the competitive Melee scene, Nintendo has sponsored recent major tournaments, including Apex 2015, GENESIS series, and EVO. The presence of the Melee scene, especially in its early years, was highlighted in "The Smash Brothers," a documentary by Travis "Samox" Beauchamp. The 9 part documentary would amass critical acclaim from gaming outlets and usher in a new wave of players into the scene.

Reception to the competitive scene has been mixed. Much of the praise is directed towards the game's fast-paced action, high technical ceiling, and passionate dedication from the community for a game that has lived through two sequels. However, the fighting game community (FGC) has often held a derogatory attitude towards the game and its scene, mainly due to the game itself not being a "real" fighting game in comparison to traditional 2D and 3D fighting games, and for the original intention of it being a party game. Some also criticize the scene for playing a game that has lived longer than most other competitive games, sometimes with some feeling the game has overstayed its welcome, mainly on the EVO lineup, along with holding a spot with one of its successors, that of Wii U. Criticism also comes from the casual fanbase of Super Smash Brothers, who don't view competitive play as the intended way to play the game, along with criticizing the intrusive and derogatory nature that some members of the competitive community have towards casual players.

Related Memes

No Items, Fox Only, Final Destination

No Items, Fox Only, Final Destination is a catchphrase that often parodies the elitist attitude that is often associated with the competitive scene of Super Smash Bros. Melee. Though the quote is often used across the competitive scene of Super Smash Brothers, it's mostly associated with Melee, due to the popularity and strength of the character Fox McCloud, widely considered the best character in Melee.

20XX

20XX is a hypothetical prediction relating to the future optimization of Super Smash Bros. Melee's competitive metagame, where every competitor mains Fox McCloud and the outcome of the match is depicted by port priority.

Melee Hell

Melee Hell is a shitposting group associated with the competitive Super Smash Bros. Melee community. OCs and posts associated with the group often deal with the competitive scene and metagame of Super Smash Bros. Melee.

Roy's Our Boy

Roy's Our Boy is a fanfare cheer in Super Smash Bros. Melee that is popular among fans of Roy, a representative of the Fire Emblem franchise in Super Smash Bros. Melee's character roster.

Wombo Combo

The Wombo Combo is an infamous team play, memorable quote, and viral video referring to the team combo executed by Jeff "SilentSpectre" Leung and Mitchell "Tang" Tang on opponent Julian "Zhu" Zhu at SCSA West Coast Circuit tournament, and the over the top reaction by commentators Brandon "HomeMadeWaffles" Collier, Phil "Phil" DeBerry, and Joseph "Mango" Marquez. The video has often been used in parody and remixes, usually dubbed over videos depicting impressive feats in video games or real life.

Mew2King

Mew2King is the alias of Jason Zimmerman, a top professional competitor in Super Smash Bros. Melee, heralded as one of the 5 "gods" of Melee, due to his dominance of the game alongside 4 other competitors of similar skill. Zimmerman is also known for his antics and memes associated with him, mainly "lol m2k," a phrase often used in reaction to his humorous antics online.

BobbyScar

BobbyScar is the alias of competitive Melee figurehead Bobby Scarnewman, known for his skill at Melee, commentary, and personality in the community. His notoriety in the scene allowed him to get invited to commentate the E3 2014 Super Smash Bros. Invitational alongside fellow commentators D'Ron "D1" Maingrette and Wynton "Prog" Smith. He's also notable for memes in the community such as his 6th placing at GENESIS and twitch emote associated with him.

Search Interest

External References