Gamecube Melee opinions?

[fishboneKiller]

i feel like this is probably a thread that's been done already, but i have no idea how to search threads by name so i'll just throw this one out there.

on a pure gameplay level, taken away from its community, how do we feel about melee?

i grew up with melee because my neighbor Mark gave it to me loose one day on a whim, but it always just felt kinda... wrong. i do harbor nostalgia for it, don't get me wrong, but i definitely wanted Brawl WAY more as a kid. it didn't help that i didn't have a memory card for a long time, so i was stuck playing with the base roster for a good 4 years. by the time i got a memory card, i think i already had gotten smash 4 wii u, so melee just felt obsolete. i've come back to it as an adult and i can appreciate it a bit more now, the soundtrack is excellent and the visual style is really interesting. every character looks more like their N64 designs but with the beefed up power of the gamecube, and it makes for a unique look. plus, if i got anything out of this game as a kid, it was absolutely learning about tons of random games through the trophies. i remember seeing the trophy for Ayumi Tachibana and wondering what the hell she was from for YEARS afterwards (i guess i couldn't be bothered to look at the bottom right corner of the screen...)

 

[bjork]

I bought it because it was an early GC game and I thought unlocking characters would be fun, but Smash has just never clicked for me. I wound up giving it to a buddy for free.

 

[Tonberry]

It's still fun to play, but for me, I've become much more used to how much actions in Ultimate flow into each other, so Melee ends up feeling rigid to me (Like how precise you have to be when doing the smash attack inputs). Though I love the presentation and the game overall, I just don't go back to it as much anymore.

 

[RanmyakuIchi]

I enjoyed it as a kid a lot, haven't really played it much past that. I never really had a ton of interest in competitive Smash.

 

[RustySK]

I've never played it competitively either, but I remember loving it.
Might have just been the right window in time for me though. Had plenty of friends around to just faff about with the game and for the purposes of a casual fan with access to a steady supply of beer it did the job more than adequately.

Now, Brawl though? Oof.

 

[TruxtonTatsujin]

Competitive players will hate this but Brawl is the best Smash game. Has the best single player content out of all of em. subspace emissary is just that good and nothing they did after ever came close to matching it.

 

[RageBurner]

I bought it because it was an early GC game and I thought unlocking characters would be fun, but Smash has just never clicked for me. I wound up giving it to a buddy for free.

It's the same for me. The only reason I even remotely enjoy smash is because of Ike, and I'd never play it competitively.

 

[Tonberry]

I've never played "competitively", but I don't consider the singleplayer content the main part of any of them. Subspace Emissary was fun back in the day, but I've never felt any urge to revisit it, especially since the core of Brawl is so boring.

I like playing matches, no matter if it's Stock or Time, with items or without. Just duking it out against friends or the CPU with Nintendo characters for billions of hours.

 

[Eclipse14]

I've only played the N64 one and a single bout of Ultimate on the Wii U. It just isn't my thing.

Only thing I remember of it now is one dood I knew that ran a game store did tournaments every once in a while, and the only thing anyone in the region cared about/requested was Smash. He ultimately gave up doing them because he wanted to do a variety of games as supposed to just Smash, and it never worked out.

 

[Ikagura]

Honestly, Smash has always been a party game before anything else (despite that competitive exists).

I understand speedrunning using exploits to finish a game faster in any% but I am pretty sure that Smash bros fundamentally never planned these advanced techniques (which came mostly from an engine's quirk than the game design).

The default mode in Smash is timed with items. I feel like some people like to optimise the fun out of a game for the sake of balance.

 

[RageBurner]

Honestly, Smash has always been a party game before anything else (despite that competitive exists).

That's what I think too, and some people get mad when that's pointed out.

 

[MemeAlert]

I know people love Melee for its speed, its definitely an improvement over Smash Bros 64. People like me don't like how you try to grab someone but they end up grabbing you first and they made Bowser a slow close range fighter when everybody else is fast like fuck you. For all the praised Melee gets it is unbalance. Smash Bros for 3DS will always be my favorite because most of the characters are fun to play and Smash Run just rocks. World of Light should of been a glorify Smash Run instead its just a dookie ass glorified Event Mode...

 

[Stookymalarkey]

I loved Super Smash Bros. Melee when it came out on Gamecube, but to be honest I haven't touched it since the other games came out. They've increased the roster so much and it just felt it feel redundant for multiplayer. I know there's control differences compare to say Ultimate, but to me it's not enough to make want to go back to it. The only thing that might tempt me is if I feel nostalgic for Adventure mode.

I do admit, I do miss being able to unlock characters in Ultimate. It's good for multiplayer sessions, but it never really incentivized me to play the hell outta the game like Melee did.

 

[peachgummyz]

Aside from 64 (the Smash Remix mod of it specifically), I'm 100% one of those "Melee is the only one I care about" types. But to be fair, I hover around that era of gaming exclusively. Like for example, I don't care about Pokemon past like Sapphire. I'm just Gamecube/64 era brained.