Super Smash Bros. Melee

Super Smash Bros. Melee is a Nintendo GameCube game that serves as the sequel to the Nintendo 64 title, Super Smash Bros.. It was first released in Japan and North America in 2001. Players can fight with 25 of Nintendo's mascots on over 20 stages. This game is known for its ease for new players to pick up and play, yet holds enough depth to keep veteran fighter fans occupied. Unlike other fighting games, SSBM places emphasis on platforming in combat, and does away with complicated button combos and the life bar. The game features many unlockables, such as characters, stages, and trophies that give trivia and background info on a wide range of Nintendo products.

Even though it was almost a launch title for the Nintendo GameCube (although it is one in Europe and Australia), it has almost always been a top 10 weekly seller for the GameCube, years after its release. It is also still the best selling game on the GameCube (over three million sold).

In 2008, a sequel was released for the Wii, titled Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Gameplay and features
The games fighting engine is a much more refined version of the first game, Super Smash Bros. for the N64. For those that don't know what it's like, it's completely different from a traditional fighting game. There are no long button combos, but instead simple button + direction attacks. There is much less focus on combos and much more on platforming. Items can be thrown in for added mayhem, giving characters weapons or health or invincibility or something that will just blow everything up. Instead of a lifebar, you are given a "damage percentage counter", which gets higher the more you are hurt. The higher your damage, the farther you fly when you're hit hard, until eventually, you just fall too far off the stage that you can't jump/fly back.

The controls are almost identical, except with the addition of a new special attack, B and Forward. Some attacks have been moved to different combinations (such as Link's boomerang) to make room for new moves (Link's Bow & Arrow). Additionally, Smash Attacks can now be charged up, and also used with the C-Stick (Vs. mode only).

Several tweaks were made to existing characters, to the dismay of some fans. The biggest tweaks are with Kirby & Ness who were drastically weakened or nerfed. Some feel this is a good thing, since they were arguably too strong in the previous game, while others feel like their favorite character has been made useless. To add another level of obscene replay value, the game also lets you collect trophies of various Nintendo franchises, some of which are not even known in the United States. There are exactly 293 trophies representing characters, items & stages; from the well known Goomba of Super Mario Bros. and Octorok of The Legend of Zelda to the unknown Ray Mk II from Japan's Custom Robo V2 and Tom Nook from Animal Crossing (labeled as "FUTURE RELEASE"). Trophies are won in several ways: Completing requirements (Play a certain number of games/hours/ranks), putting coins earned into a gumball machine, beating All-Star mode or collecting them in Adventure mode.

There are three multi-match single-player modes. Classic is just like 1P Game from Super Smash Bros. except opponents are randomized. Adventure takes players in a preset path through the world of Nintendo, combining matches with platforming (such as the escape from Brinstar). All-Star has the player face off against all characters with a single life and only three 0% Hearts (damage is carried over between matches).

Advanced techniques
Super Smash Bros. Melee, despite being a simple fighter, can actually have depth and advanced moves that are hard to pull off, like wavedashing. Some of these moves probably weren't intended to be used by the developers, since they are the result of taking advantage of the games physics and mashing together different moves.

Starter

 * Bowser - from the Mario series
 * Captain Falcon - from the F-Zero series
 * Donkey Kong - from the Donkey Kong series
 * Fox - from the Star Fox series
 * Ice Climbers - from Ice Climber
 * Kirby - from the Kirby series
 * Link - from The Legend of Zelda series
 * Mario - from the Mario series
 * Ness - from Mother 2 (EarthBound)
 * Pikachu - from the Pokémon series
 * Peach - from the Mario series
 * Samus - from the Metroid series
 * Yoshi - from the Mario series
 * Zelda/Sheik - from The Legend of Zelda series

Unlockable

 * Dr. Mario - from Dr. Mario
 * Falco - from the Star Fox series
 * Ganondorf - from The Legend of Zelda series
 * Jigglypuff (Purin) - from the Pokémon series
 * Luigi - from the Mario series
 * Marth - from the Fire Emblem series
 * Mewtwo - from the Pokémon series
 * Mr. Game & Watch - from Game & Watch games
 * Pichu - from the Pokémon series
 * Roy - from the Fire Emblem series
 * Young Link - from The Legend of Zelda series

Starter

 * Princess Peach's Castle
 * Rainbow Cruise
 * Kongo Jungle
 * Jungle Japes
 * Great Bay
 * Temple
 * Yoshi's Story
 * Yoshi's Island
 * Fountain of Dreams
 * Green Green
 * Corneria
 * Venom
 * Icicle Mountain
 * Brinstar
 * Onett
 * Mute City
 * Pokémon Stadium
 * Mushroom Kingdom

Unlockable

 * Brinstar Depths
 * Fourside
 * Big Blue
 * Poke Floats
 * Mushroom Kingdom 2
 * Flat Zone
 * Battlefield
 * Final Destination
 * Dream Land (N64)
 * Yoshi's Island (N64)
 * Kongo Jungle (N64)

Items

 * Maximum Tomato
 * Heart Container
 * Starman
 * Warp Star
 * Food
 * Super Mushroom
 * Poison Mushroom
 * Bunny Hood
 * Metal Box
 * Home-Run Bat
 * Hammer
 * Fan
 * Parasol
 * Lip's Stick
 * Star Rod
 * Super Scope
 * Ray Gun
 * Fire Flower
 * Green Shell
 * Red Shell
 * Screw Attack
 * Bob-omb
 * Freezie
 * Motion-Sensor Bomb
 * Cloaking Device
 * Pokeball
 * Mr. Saturn
 * Barrel Cannon
 * Beam Sword
 * Flipper

Pokémon

 * Chikorita
 * Wobbuffet
 * Unown
 * Scizor
 * Bellossom
 * Raikou
 * Entei
 * Suicune
 * Lugia
 * Ho-oh
 * Goldeen
 * Snorlax
 * Clefairy
 * Togepi
 * Charizard
 * Blastoise
 * Weezing
 * Electrode
 * Moltres
 * Zapdos
 * Articuno
 * Mew
 * Celebi
 * Staryu
 * Chansey
 * Porygon2
 * Cyndaquil
 * Marill
 * Venusaur