For many fans the favourite Smash across every generation. Wild speed, demanding tech, a tightly cut roster and combat physics never matched since. Tournaments still going twenty years on. Quite simply a fighting game high point.
Your verdict
Category
Fighting4 players12+
Description
Super Smash Bros. Melee fighters clash in epic battles in this Nintendo GameCube founding game. Published by Nintendo, released in the United States in May 2002. Iconic fighting game with all iconic Nintendo characters, complete multiplayer and solo modes.
Super Smash Bros. Melee review
4/5
Art direction
★★★★★
"Striking"
MAX
Music
★★★★★
"Legendary"
1/5
Story
★★★★★
"Anecdotal"
Re-arranged with pomp, Nintendo's emblematic melodies become grand orchestral pieces full of flair here. Each stage summons a memory, sublimated by triumphant brass and vibrant strings. This great, jubilant medley celebrates a whole heritage and still galvanises players.
Gameplay
"Masterful"
Knocking your rival off the stage instead of draining a health bar: this crystal-clear premise opens fights of unexpected richness. The speed, the precision of movement and the immense technical freedom made it a pillar of competition, still contested today. Teeming and snappy, it stays as gleeful four-player on a couch as in a fierce tournament.
Fun
"From the very first seconds"
Bringing dozens of Nintendo heroes together to throw them into a brawl as crazy as it is technical: that's the recipe of a party game turned legend. The basics are instant, yet the depth of the fighting fuels years of mastery. With four players, the gleeful chaos never lets up. An absolute must of friendly fighting.
Addictiveness
"Obsessive"
Launching a rival clean off the screen with a well-placed smash delivers an instant satisfaction that demands a rematch. Unlocking characters, stages and trophies sustains steady progress, while the multiplayer turns every evening into an endless tournament. The technical curve is dizzying and some solo modes show their age, yet the alchemy pad in hand stays irresistible.
Difficulty
"Balanced"
Lifespan
"Massive"
Unlocking the full roster, the stages and the trophies already eats up dozens of hours, but it's the multiplayer that makes this entry inexhaustible. Bouts between friends renew themselves endlessly, carried by rare mechanical precision. Between a generous solo offering and competitive depth, it keeps its reputation as a timeless benchmark of the party fighter.
Technical info
💾1,1 GB📅21/11/2001
Published by Nintendo
Super Smash Bros. Melee (GameCube) price, value & rarity
The initial NTSC pressing of Super Smash Bros. Melee is the Sakurai/HAL launch edition, predating revisions. Collector value comes from this first print containing the original build with the famous wavedash and competitive techniques that founded the Melee subculture.
Better with friends
A platform melee where beloved mascots are launched off the ring on rising percentages, up to four in a gleeful free-for-all. Depending on the settings, you swing from total item-strewn chaos to a technical versus of unsuspected depth. Immediate for novices, inexhaustible for diehards, it weds competition and laughter and remains an unshakable pillar of pad-in-hand evenings.
Is Super Smash Bros. Melee still worth playing in 2026?
An undisputed peak of the series for many, Super Smash Bros Melee imposes unmatched speed and technical depth that still feeds an intense competitive scene more than twenty years after release. The Nintendo mascot roster, the varied levels and the side modes overflow with generosity. Wavedashing, L canceling and advanced techniques created a unique meta. For anyone wanting to understand why Melee became a versus myth, the title remains absolutely unmissable on the console for any serious fighting devotee.
