Ok, so you've got your Gamecube,
now do you want to play an intellectual plot-driven RPG about inhabitants of a
mystical forest, or do you simply want to round up all of Nintendo's most
famous characters and bash the hell out of each other? If it's the latter, then
Super Smash Bros Melee has the answer.
Following a gorgeous cartoony FMV sequence showing you who's in town to be
bashed about (eg. Mario, Pikachu, Yoshi, Donkey Kong and many others including
a few hidden characters waiting to be unlocked), the options present you with
a one-player option, multiplayer,
the trophy cabinet, a further set of options to alter the screen, sound and
language, plus further data accumulated during the game.
In-game proper, the options are all variants along similar lines. On your own,
you can play a regular match in 'classic' or 'adventure' mode, the latter
differing by starting you at the Mushroom Kingdom, thus mixing in parts of a
regular match in with a
'Super Mario'-style
platformer. There are nine event
matches - one has you fighting Bowser in a clash at the Mushroom Kingdom,
another one litters the arena with bombs and you can battle with Pikachu.
Also you can attempt various tests in the Stadium section such as to pick off
all the targets on a level, or knockout 100 characters in the 100-Man Melee.
For the multiplayer action there's a standard melee for up to four players,
a tournament mode which can house as many as 64 individual combatants, a
Special Melee section with various bizarre options such as a 'Camera Mode'
which lets you take snapshots with the Smash Cam for later viewing from your
memory card, 'Giant Melee', in which all the players are... yes, you guessed
it - giant, as well as 'Super Sudden Death' in which all players start with 300% damage.
Custom rules can also be created to set time limits on matches, handicap those
combatants who are doing well, alter the damage ratio so you could get KO'd
quicker the more damage you sustain and various ways to select the next stage
on which to take your grudges out on each other.
The graphics are brilliantly colourful and move as fast as required, but I
do feel that a game with such a simple premise as this isn't testing the Gamecube
to its limits and that we've still got plenty more to look forward to, such as
with the forthcoming release of Mario Sunshine.
The sound is reasonable, with expected thuds and thwacks as you kick your
opponents into next week, but there's not a great deal of difference from one
match to the next and your neighbours won't be banging on the walls.
As I looked at the menu options for a while whilst writing this review, it
struck me that the music is very reminiscent of one of the original Soul
Blade levels. I wonder if this is intentional?
When it comes to the gameplay, the rules are simple - hit your enemies, pick them
up and hit them before throwing them about, or just rush at them and thump them
instead. Often, though, things rush by so fast you don't know exactly what you've
done to win the level, apart from the fact that you all seem to have to sustain
around 150% damage before death comes calling.
After working your way through the levels in a regular match, each character
must destroy a giant hand. Yes, someone had been on the happy pills the day this
was created. Note that you can even shoot at the end-credits list once you've
completed a level.
GRAPHICS SOUND EFFECTS AND MUSIC PLAYABILITY ENJOYMENT
DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TXW32R4 32" widescreen TV
connected to either a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player or Microsoft Xbox and
played through a Sony STR-DB930 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
For the multiplayer action there's a standard melee for up to four players,
a tournament mode which can house as many as 64 individual combatants, a
Special Melee section with various bizarre options such as a 'Camera Mode'
which lets you take snapshots with the Smash Cam for later viewing from your
memory card, 'Giant Melee', in which all the players are... yes, you guessed
it - giant, as well as 'Super Sudden Death' in which all players start with 300% damage.
The graphics are brilliantly colourful and move as fast as required, but I
do feel that a game with such a simple premise as this isn't testing the Gamecube
to its limits and that we've still got plenty more to look forward to, such as
with the forthcoming release of Mario Sunshine.
When it comes to the gameplay, the rules are simple - hit your enemies, pick them
up and hit them before throwing them about, or just rush at them and thump them
instead. Often, though, things rush by so fast you don't know exactly what you've
done to win the level, apart from the fact that you all seem to have to sustain
around 150% damage before death comes calling.
