Editing Super Smash Bros. Melee

{{italic title}}
{{FA}}
{{redirect|Melee|the weapon from [[Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle]]|[[List of weapons in Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle#Melee|List of weapons in Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle § Melee]]}}
{{game infobox
|image=[[File:SSBM cover art.jpg|250px]]
|developer=[[HAL Laboratory]]
|publisher=[[Nintendo]]
|release='''Original release:'''<br>{{release|Japan|November 21, 2001|USA|December 3, 2001|Europe|May 24, 2002|Australia|May 31, 2002|South Korea|2002<ref>http://scanlines16.com/en/collection/smash-brothers-dx-kor/</ref>}} '''[[Player's Choice]]:'''<br>{{release|USA|September 25, 2002|Europe|April 4, 2003|Australia|April 4, 2003}}
|languages={{languages|en_us=y|es_es=y|fr_fr=y|de=y|it=y|jp=y}}
|genre=[[Genre#Fighting|Fighting]]
|modes=1-4 players simultaneous
|ratings={{ratings|esrb=T|usk=6|acb=g8+|grac=All|dejus=14|elspa=11+|pegi=3<!-- The Player's Choice edition was rated by PEGI. -->}}
|platforms=[[Nintendo GameCube]]
|media={{media|gcn=1}}
|input={{input|gcn=1}}
}}
'''''[[smashwiki:Super Smash Bros. Melee|Super Smash Bros. Melee]]''''' is a [[Genre#Fighting|fighting]] game for the [[Nintendo GameCube]]. This is the second installment in the [[Super Smash Bros. (series)|''Super Smash Bros.'' series]] and is the sequel to ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]'' for the [[Nintendo 64]]. Various characters from [[Nintendo]]'s popular franchises battle on different stages, also taken from the Nintendo franchises. Many major characters of the [[Super Mario (franchise)|''Super Mario'' franchise]] make an appearance. The game's major focus is the multiplayer mode, while still offering a number of single-player modes.
==Gameplay==
In ''Super Smash Bros. Melee'', up to four characters fight on a side-view stage with invisible boundaries on each side. When a player hits these boundaries, the player is knocked out. Unlike other fighting games, the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series thus does not rely on hit points for each character which have to be brought down to zero, but on damage percentage. Whenever a player is hit, they get a certain amount of percent damage. The maximum damage that can be dealt to a player is 999%. The higher the damage percentage is, the easier it is for the player to be knocked out.
===General actions===
[[File:Mrgamewatchmovea.png|left|thumb|The basic A attack. Here, [[Mr. Game & Watch]] attacks [[Ness]] with his A attack.]]
Players move around on the stages using the GameCube Controller's {{button|gcn|Stick}}, and can jump by pulling {{button|gcn|Stick}} up, or pressing the {{button|gcn|X}} or {{button|gcn|Y}} button. It is possible to jump again in the air a single time. Some characters also have the ability to multi-jump in the air. By moving the {{button|gcn|Stick}} down, the player can crouch or move a layer down on the stage.

A basic attack is performed with the {{button|gcn|A}} button. When moving the {{button|gcn|Stick}} into a direction, the player can attack upwards and downwards, or to either side. These attacks are usually weak and do not do very much damage. When the {{button|gcn|A}} button is pressed repeatedly, the character performs a standard combo, a fast sequence of weak attacks. When the {{button|gcn|Stick}} is titled fast and the {{button|gcn|A}} button is pressed in time, the player can perform a smash attack. These are very powerful, chargeable attacks, which cause a lot of damage. Each character's moves for the side, up, and down smash attacks are different.

===Character special moves===
[[File:SuperJumpPunch.jpg|thumb|Mario using his [[Super Jump Punch]] special move.]]
Each character has their own set of special moves, which are performed with the {{button|gcn|B}} button. When moving the {{button|gcn|Stick}} in a certain direction, or not moving it at all, a different special move is performed. The special moves are influenced by the character's individual personality, and have various effects, from doing more damage than with a normal attack, attacking from a distance, or repelling projectiles. Most characters' {{button|gcn|Stick}} up + {{button|gcn|B}} moves involve jumping, which makes it possible to perform a third jump in the air to prevent the character from falling down. The sideways special move was a new addition to the series.

===Item use===
[[File:Falcon parasol.jpg|thumb|left|Captain Falcon using a [[Parasol]].]]
Items appear on the stage at random and can be used by the players. Items have various effects, and some trigger by themselves. They can grant the character special abilities for a short time, like becoming invisible, contain a number of items themselves, explode when touched, or can be used as a weapon. When players are standing next to an item, they can use the {{button|gcn|A}} button to pick the item up. Some items have effects that are activated when the item is picked up or touched, such as reducing the character's damage percentage, or turning characters into a giant version of themselves. Other items can be used as weapons. A held weapon can be used with the {{button|gcn|A}} button. With the {{button|gcn|Z}} button, or {{button|gcn|L}} and {{button|gcn|R}} in combination with {{button|gcn|A}}, the weapon can be thrown away. This thrown item can also hurt other characters when it hits them.

===Shielding===
[[File:Kirby shield.jpg|thumb|[[Kirby]] using his shield.]]
When pressing the {{button|gcn|L}} or {{button|gcn|R}} triggers, or the {{button|gcn|Z}} button, the character's [[smashwiki:shield|shield]] is activated. The shield changes color depending on the player number (red for P1, blue for P2, yellow for P3, green for P4, and gray for a CPU). Shields can be used to prevent any kind of attack from a character or an item, only grabbing cannot be prevented. If used at the right time, and for only a split second, the shield can be used as a reflector for items thrown and most projectile attacks. More powerful ones such as Samus' fully charged charge shot, however, will merely be absorbed by the shield. The shield has the form of a bubble (except for Yoshi, where it is a [[Yoshi Egg]]). The shield's power decreases every time it is used, and when the shield breaks, the character will be unable to move for a certain period of time. The longer the player waits before using the shield, the stronger it becomes, similar to Bowser's Fire Breath. Also, the harder the player presses on the {{button|gcn|L}} or {{button|gcn|R}} triggers, or {{button|gcn|Z}} button depends on how thick the shield is, a thicker shield will erode slower from damage, but faster from time, while a thinner shield will erode more from damage but significantly less from time duration, adding to shielding strategy. Light characters may even be knocked out by the shield break.

===Grabbing and throwing===
Players are able to grab other characters and hold them. This allows the player to hit the character while they are not able to protect themselves or fight back. The player can also throw the character in any direction, or smash them to the ground. A thrown character can hit other characters and damage them this way, too. When not holding items and standing next to a character, the player can press {{button|gcn|Z}}, or {{button|gcn|L}} and {{button|gcn|R}} in combination with {{button|gcn|A}}, to grab the character. The player can now attack the grabbed character by using the {{button|gcn|Z}} or {{button|gcn|A}} buttons, and can also throw the other character in a direction by tilting the {{button|gcn|Stick}}.

Unlike in ''Super Smash Bros.'', however, players can break free from grabs. The less damage the grabbed player has, the easier it is to break free from a foe's grab. However, if the player takes a lot of damage, it becomes nearly impossible to break free from a foe's grab.

===Other actions===
In single-player mode, the player can use the {{button|gcn|C}} to zoom the camera in or out. In VS mode, the player can move the {{button|gcn|C}} in any direction, allowing them to perform uncharged smash attacks easily. By pressing Up on the {{button|gcn|Pad}}, the player can use the [[Taunt]].

Certain characters even have attacks called [[smashwiki:meteor smash|meteor smash]]es. These attacks can send opponents falling downwards, but they are not impossible to recover from. Some meteor smashes are very weak, while others pack a strong punch.

==Fighting modes==
{{multiple image
|align=right
|direction=vertical
|image1=Multiplayermelee.jpg
|width1=200
|caption1=A basic VS battle.
|image2=Coinsmash.jpg
|width2=200
|footer=The Coin Battle mode.
}}
There are four standard fighting modes in ''Super Smash Bros. Melee''. These can be freely chosen in VS mode. The regular matches in Single-Player mode only feature Stock matches, but different rules appear in the Event Matches. In all modes, it is possible that there is a tie between two or more players. When this happens, there will be a [[Sudden Death]]. It is a quick battle, where each of the players who are tied will fight. They each start with 300% damage, and the last player standing wins. The winner of Sudden Death wins the entire battle.
===Time===
Players gain points by knocking out other players, and lose points by getting knocked out. When the [[Time Limit|time limit]] has run out, the player with the most points wins. It can be set by the player whether self-destructs cause players to lose 0, 1, or 2 points. A special function that displays the player's points during battle can also be unlocked. This mode is used by default in the VS. Mode, though it is rarely used in the Single-Player events.

===Stock===
Players have a set number of lives. They lose lives when they are knocked out. The last player standing wins. Optionally, a time limit can be specified. When the time has run out, the player with the most lives wins. This mode is featured throughout the Classic and All-Star Mode, and there is always a set time limit in these modes.

===Coin===
Players have to collect [[Smash Coin]]s. Coins appear by hitting an opponent. When a player gets knocked out, they will lose half of his coins. When the time limit has run out, the player with the most coins wins. This fighting mode is rarely used in the Event Matches of the single-player mode, but is also available in VS matches.

===Bonus===
Players get points for their fighting style. There are 249 different kinds of bonus points. Bonus points can be simplified for knock outs, for jumping a lot, for looking in the same direction all the time, for getting a rare [[bulbapedia:Pokémon (species)|Pokémon]] out of a Poké Ball, etc.  When the time limit has run out, the player with the most points wins. Most bonuses also have humorous names.

For a list of bonuses, see [[smashwiki:List of bonuses#Super Smash Bros. Melee|here]].

==Playable characters==
{{multiple image
|align=right
|direction=horizontal
|image1=CharacterSelect-SSBMelee.png
|width1=200
|caption1=The complete character select screen roster in Multiplayer mode.
|image2=SSBM.jpg
|width2=200
|caption2=Group art of the full cast, excluding Sheik.
}}
''Super Smash Bros. Melee'' contains a total of 25 playable characters (26 including [[Zelda]]'s alter ego, [[Sheik]]); the twelve original characters return for this game, while thirteen more have been added. Fourteen characters (fifteen including [[Zelda]]'s alter ego, [[Sheik]]) are available by default, while eleven more can be unlocked. [[Ganondorf]] and [[Roy (Fire Emblem)|Roy]] make their overall playable debuts. Roy additionally appears for the first time in a game, with this also being the first time any representation of his series is seen in the non-Japanese world. Seven of the fighters originate from the [[Super Mario (franchise)|''Super Mario'' franchise]], being [[Mario]], [[Luigi]], [[Princess Peach|Peach]], [[Bowser]], [[Dr. Mario]], [[Yoshi]], and [[Donkey Kong]].

Characters in ''italics'' are newcomers.
===Default characters===
{|class="wikitable"width=100%
!rowspan=2 width=12%|Character
!rowspan=2 width=12%|Series
!rowspan=2 width=50%|Description
!colspan=4 width=25%|Special moves
|-
!Standard
!Forward
!Up
!Down
|-
|[[File:Ssbmmario.jpg|75px]]<br>[[Mario]]
|''[[Super Mario (series)|Super Mario]]''
|Mario is a balanced character with a variety of moves. He attacks quickly, but jumps low and has average recovery. His backwards throw can throw almost farther than any other character's throws. His Cape helps deflect oncoming attacks and shoots whatever is being shot at him back to his opponent. 
|[[Fireball]]
|[[Cape]]
|[[Super Jump Punch]]
|[[Mario Tornado]]
|-
|[[File:Ssbmbowser.jpg|75px]]<br>''[[Bowser]]''
|''Super Mario'' 
|Bowser is the heaviest and one of the slowest characters, but has powerful attacks and is hard to hit off of the stage at low damage percentages. He can use his weight to crush the characters he grabs. He is one of the first villains to be playable in the series. His Fire Breath move burns his enemies down. 
|[[Fire Breath]]
|[[Koopa Klaw]]
|[[Whirling Fortress]]
|[[Bowser Bomb (move)|Bowser Bomb]]
|-
|[[File:Ssbmpeach.jpg|75px]]<br>''[[Princess Peach|Peach]]''
|''Super Mario''
|Princess Peach has a special ability to float above the ground for a short amount of time. In her forward smash, she swings a golf club, a tennis racket, or a frying pan. When using her recovery, she can slowly float in the direction she chooses, proving to be a very useful horizontal recovery. Toad can be used as a Counter.
|[[Toad (move)|Toad]]
|[[Peach Bomber]]
|[[Peach Parasol (move)|Peach Parasol]]
|[[Vegetable (move)|Vegetable]]
|-
|[[File:Ssbmyoshi.jpg|75px]]<br>[[Yoshi]]
|''Yoshi''
|Yoshi is an unusually heavy fighter with average speed, though he is rather weak, unlike other heavyweights. Unlike other fighters, Yoshi's shield is not an energy bubble, but a green-spotted Yoshi Egg. He lacks a third jump, but can jump extremely high. He can swallow enemies and turn them into eggs with his Egg Lay move. Unusually, Yoshi cannot jump out of shield, making him the only fighter with this odd trait.
|[[Egg Lay]]
|[[Egg Roll (move)|Egg Roll]]
|[[Egg Throw]]
|[[Yoshi Bomb]]
|-
|[[File:Ssbmdonkeykong.jpg|75px]]<br>[[Donkey Kong]]
|''Donkey Kong''
|Donkey Kong is a strong and heavy character, but is surprisingly agile. When he grabs enemies, he can carry them for a short distance before throwing them. His Headbutt can bury opponents for a certain amount of time (depending on their damage percentage).
|[[Giant Punch]]
|[[Headbutt]]
|[[Spinning Kong]]
|[[Hand Slap]]
|-
|[[File:Captain Falcon Melee art.jpg|75px]]<br>[[List of fighters debuting in Super Smash Bros.#Captain Falcon|Captain Falcon]]
|''F-Zero''
|Captain Falcon is the fastest-running character in the game. His attacks are quick, but some are still very strong, particularly his forward aerial knee attack and up-smash. His Falcon Punch is notable for its sheer power. Similar to Fox, he is unique in a way that he is both fast and strong.
|[[smashwiki:Falcon Punch|Falcon Punch]]
|[[smashwiki:Raptor Boost|Raptor Boost]]
|[[smashwiki:Falcon Dive|Falcon Dive]]
|[[smashwiki:Falcon Kick|Falcon Kick]]
|-
|[[File:MeleeFox.jpg|75px]]<br>[[Fox]]
|''Star Fox''
|Fox is a fast character with surprising strength. He falls very fast, and his Blaster has the unique ability to do damage to enemies without stopping them. Due to his mix of both high strength and high speed, Fox is widely considered to be one of the best characters in terms of offense.
|[[smashwiki:Blaster (Fox)|Blaster]]
|[[smashwiki:Fox Illusion|Fox Illusion]]
|[[smashwiki:Fire Fox|Fire Fox]]
|[[smashwiki:Reflector (Fox)|Reflector]]
|-
|[[File:Ssbmiceclimbers.jpg|75px]]<br>''[[List of fighters debuting in Super Smash Bros. Melee#Ice Climbers|Ice Climbers]]''
|''Ice Climber''
|The Ice Climbers fight as a pair. The player only controls one Ice Climber, and a CPU plays the partner, who generally follows the player's moves. The Ice Climbers have a low reach, but they also have some high power attacks and dangerous grabs. By changing colors, the player can choose between controlling Popo or Nana.
|[[smashwiki:Ice Shot|Ice Shot]]
|[[smashwiki:Squall Hammer|Squall Hammer]]
|[[smashwiki:Belay|Belay]]
|[[smashwiki:Blizzard|Blizzard]]
|-
|[[File:Ssbmness.jpg|75px]]<br>[[List of fighters debuting in Super Smash Bros.#Ness|Ness]]
|''EarthBound''
|Ness is a slow character who relies on his PSI attacks. He can attack with a baseball bat and a yo-yo as his smash attacks. To recover with his PK Thunder, Ness must direct the ball of lightning and hit himself to catapult himself towards the stage. He also uses his PSI Magnet to recover damage with certain enemy projectiles.
|[[smashwiki:PK Flash|PK Flash]]
|[[smashwiki:PK Fire|PK Fire]]
|[[smashwiki:PK Thunder|PK Thunder]]
|[[smashwiki:PSI Magnet|PSI Magnet]]
|-
|[[File:Ssbmkirby.jpg|75px]]<br>[[Kirby]]
|''Kirby''
|Kirby is a light and fairly slow character with weak attacks. He can jump five times in mid-air. His Swallow attack allows him to copy other characters' {{button|gcn|B}} abilities. He has the ability to become a Stone and come crashing down on his enemies.
|[[smashwiki:Inhale|Swallow]]
|[[smashwiki:Hammer (move)|Hammer]]
|[[smashwiki:Final Cutter|Final Cutter]]
|[[smashwiki:Stone|Stone]]
|-
|[[File:MeleeSamus.jpg|75px]]<br>[[List of fighters debuting in Super Smash Bros.#Samus|Samus]]
|''Metroid''
|Samus is a heavy character with powerful attacks. Her Grappling Beam, while slow, allows her to grab characters from farther away. She can charge up a shot which increases in power the longer it's charging.
|[[smashwiki:Charge Shot|Charge Shot]]
|[[smashwiki:Missile|Missile]]
|[[smashwiki:Screw Attack|Screw Attack]]
|[[smashwiki:Bomb (Samus)|Bomb]]
|-
|[[File:Zeldaart.jpg|75px]]<br>''[[List of fighters debuting in Super Smash Bros. Melee#Zelda|Zelda]]''
|''The Legend of Zelda''
|Zelda is a slow-moving character. Her attacks can be quite powerful, but her strongest attacks do not hit the enemy easily. She has the ability to transform herself into Sheik, giving her a wide range of different special moves.
|[[smashwiki:Nayru's Love|Nayru's Love]]
|[[smashwiki:Din's Fire|Din's Fire]]
|[[smashwiki:Farore's Wind|Farore's Wind]]
|[[smashwiki:Transform|Transform]]
|-
|[[File:MeleeShiek.jpg|75px]]<br>''[[List of fighters debuting in Super Smash Bros. Melee#Sheik|Sheik]]''
|''The Legend of Zelda''
|Sheik is Zelda's alter-ego. Compared to Zelda, Sheik moves faster, attacks rapidly and combos well. However, unlike Zelda, Sheik does not have a lot of powerful moves. Zelda can transform into Sheik at any point during the match and vice versa, though the player can be Sheik at the start of the battle by holding down {{button|gcn|A}} on the controller.
|[[smashwiki:Needle Storm|Needle Storm]]
|[[smashwiki:Chain|Chain]]
|[[smashwiki:Vanish|Vanish]]
|[[smashwiki:Transform|Transform]]
|-
|[[File:MeleeLink.jpg|75px]]<br>[[Link]]
|''The Legend of Zelda''
|Link is a character of high weight and medium strength. However, he is rather slow. He uses his sword to attack. He also shoots a bow and has a boomerang.
|[[smashwiki:Hero's Bow|Bow]]
|[[smashwiki:Boomerang|Boomerang]]
|[[smashwiki:Spin Attack|Spin Attack]]
|[[smashwiki:Bomb (Link)|Bomb]]
|-
|[[File:MeleePikachu.jpg|75px]]<br>[[List of fighters debuting in Super Smash Bros.#Pikachu|Pikachu]]
|''Pokémon''
|Pikachu is fast and light. It uses its electric attacks to damage other enemies. Pikachu's recovery is unique in a way that it can be used twice, provided that the second recovery is in a different direction.
|[[smashwiki:Thunder Jolt|Thunder Jolt]]
|[[smashwiki:Skull Bash|Skull Bash]]
|[[smashwiki:Quick Attack|Quick Attack]]
|[[smashwiki:Thunder (Pokémon)|Thunder]]
|}

===Unlockable characters===
{|class="wikitable"width=100%
|-
!rowspan=2 width=12%|Character
!rowspan=2 width=12%|Series
!rowspan=2 width=39%|Description
!rowspan=2 width=20%|How to unlock
!colspan=4 width=25%|Special moves
|-
!Standard
!Forward
!Up
!Down
|-
|[[File:MeleeJigglypuff.jpg|75px]]<br>[[List of fighters debuting in Super Smash Bros.#Jigglypuff|Jigglypuff]]
|''Pokémon''
|Jigglypuff is light, but has a few powerful attacks. It can jump five times in mid-air and has the best aerial speed in the game. Its Rest attack has a very low reach, but is extremely powerful and can KO at low percentages. Although Jigglypuff is light, it has the slowest overall ground speed in the game.
|
*Clear Classic or Adventure mode with any character
*Play 50 Melee matches
|[[smashwiki:Rollout|Rollout]]
|[[smashwiki:Pound|Pound]]
|[[smashwiki:Sing|Sing]]
|[[smashwiki:Rest|Rest]]
|-
|[[File:MeleeDr.Mario.jpg|75px]]<br>''[[Dr. Mario]]''
|''Super Mario''
|Dr. Mario is very similar to Mario, though his attacks have different effects (usually electric instead of fire), but act the same way as Mario's. Most of his attacks are stronger than Mario's, though he moves slower.
|
*Clear Classic or Adventure mode with Mario without continuing
*Play 100 Melee matches
|[[Capsule|Megavitamin]]s
|[[Super Sheet]]
|[[Super Jump Punch]]
|[[Dr. Tornado]]
|-
|[[File:Pichuart.jpg|75px]]<br>''[[List of fighters debuting in Super Smash Bros. Melee#Pichu|Pichu]]''
|''Pokémon''
|Pichu's moves are similar to Pikachu's. It is the lightest character in the game. Like Pikachu, it moves and attacks quickly. Like said in the National Pokedex, whenever it uses an electric attack, Pichu will inflict damage to itself. The creator of the game has stated multiple times that Pichu is a "joke character".
|
*Complete Event #37--Legendary Pokémon
*Play 200 Melee matches
|[[smashwiki:Thunder Jolt|Thunder Jolt]]
|[[smashwiki:Skull Bash|Skull Bash]]
|[[smashwiki:Agility|Agility]]
|[[smashwiki:Thunder (Pokémon)|Thunder]]
|-
|[[File:Falco Melee art.jpg|75px]]<br>''[[List of fighters debuting in Super Smash Bros. Melee#Falco|Falco]]''
|''Star Fox''
|Falco's moves are similar to those of Fox's. He is not as fast as Fox, but he jumps higher and has a longer reach. His Blaster also functions differently; it fires more slowly, but it can stun enemies.
|
*Clear 100-Man Melee
*Play 300 Melee matches
|[[smashwiki:Blaster (Falco)|Blaster]]
|[[smashwiki:Falco Phantasm|Falco Phantasm]]
|[[smashwiki:Fire Bird|Fire Bird]]
|[[smashwiki:Reflector (Falco)|Reflector]]
|-
|[[File:MeleeMarth.jpg|75px]]<br>''[[List of fighters debuting in Super Smash Bros. Melee#Marth|Marth]]''
|''Fire Emblem''
|Marth is a fast character with average strength and weight. He uses a sword to attack, granting him one of the longest reaches in the game. He is known for his very good air attacks that can easily string together. Marth's attacks are strongest at the tip of the sword.
|
*Use the fourteen default characters in either Classic or Adventure modes, or Vs. Melee matches.
*Play 400 Melee matches
|[[smashwiki:Shield Breaker|Shield Breaker]]
|[[smashwiki:Dancing Blade|Dancing Blade]]
|[[smashwiki:Dolphin Slash|Dolphin Slash]]
|[[smashwiki:Counter|Counter]]
|-
|[[File:Young Link.jpg|75px]]<br>''[[List of fighters debuting in Super Smash Bros. Melee#Young Link|Young Link]]''
|''The Legend of Zelda''
|Young Link's moves are similar to Link's. However, he is weaker, lighter, faster, and can [[Wall Jump]].
|
*Clear Classic or Adventure mode with ten characters, including Link and Zelda/Sheik
*Play 500 Melee matches
|[[smashwiki:Fire Bow|Fire Bow]]
|[[smashwiki:Boomerang|Boomerang]]
|[[smashwiki:Spin Attack|Spin Attack]]
|[[smashwiki:Bomb (Link)|Bomb]]
|-
|[[File:GanondorfMelee.jpg|75px]]<br>''[[List of fighters debuting in Super Smash Bros. Melee#Ganondorf|Ganondorf]]''
|''The Legend of Zelda''
|Ganondorf's attacks are similar to Captain Falcon's. However, he is very slow, quite heavy, and possesses the strongest attacks in terms of knockback. He also has a unique special attack when pressing {{button|gcn|A}} and moving {{button|gcn|Stick}} upwards; different from a smash attack.
|
*Complete Event #29--Triforce Gathering
*Play 600 Melee matches
|[[smashwiki:Warlock Punch|Warlock Punch]]
|[[smashwiki:Gerudo Dragon|Gerudo Dragon]]
|[[smashwiki:Dark Dive|Dark Dive]]
|[[smashwiki:Wizard's Foot|Wizard's Foot]]
|-
|[[File:Mewtwo.jpg|75px]]<br>''[[List of fighters debuting in Super Smash Bros. Melee#Mewtwo|Mewtwo]]''
|''Pokémon''
|Mewtwo is a slow, floaty character, who features a strong grab and some powerful throws. The game attributes its low weight to the fact that it hovers above ground.
|
*Play a combined total of 20 hours of Melee matches
*Play 700 Melee matches
|[[smashwiki:Shadow Ball|Shadow Ball]]
|[[smashwiki:Confusion|Confusion]]
|[[smashwiki:Teleport|Teleport]]
|[[smashwiki:Disable|Disable]]
|-
|[[File:Ssbmluigi.jpg|75px]]<br>[[Luigi]]
|''Super Mario''
|Luigi is a character with average weight and speed, but with above average strength. He has many similarities to Mario in his move set. He jumps high, but has slow aerial speed and low traction.
|
*Finish the first stage of Adventure mode with ##:#2:## on the timer
*Play 800 Melee matches
|[[Green Fireball|Fireball]]
|[[Green Missile]]
|[[Super Jump Punch]]
|[[Luigi Cyclone]]
|-
|[[File:Roy1.jpg|75px]]<br>''[[List of fighters debuting in Super Smash Bros. Melee#Roy|Roy]]''
|''Fire Emblem''
|Roy is similar to Marth, though unlike Marth, his attacks are strongest at the base of his sword, and his aerial attacks are very bad. His fully charged Flare Blade is the game's strongest non-reflected attack, but it backfires when charged maximally, doing 10% damage to Roy himself.
|
*Complete Classic or Adventure mode with Marth without continuing
*Play 900 Melee matches
|[[smashwiki:Flare Blade|Flare Blade]]
|[[smashwiki:Double-Edge Dance|Double-Edge Dance]]
|[[smashwiki:Blazer|Blazer]]
|[[smashwiki:Counter|Counter]]
|-
|[[File:Mr.GameandWatchart.jpg|75px]]<br>''[[Mr. Game & Watch]]''
|Game & Watch
|Mr. Game & Watch has average speed and strength, but his weight is low due to his 2D appearance. His Judgment attack chooses a number from 1-9 at random, getting stronger each number. 9 can cause a 1-hit-KO, while 1 does minimal knockback and damage and even damages Mr. Game & Watch himself.
|
*Clear Classic, Adventure or Target Smash with every other character
*Play 1,000 Melee matches
|[[smashwiki:Chef|Chef]]
|[[smashwiki:Judge|Judge]]
|[[smashwiki:Fire|Fire]]
|[[smashwiki:Oil Panic|Oil Panic]]
|}

==Stages==
There are 29 selectable stages in total, eighteen of which are available by default, while the other eleven are unlockable. Three of these stages return from ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]''
===Default stages===
{|class="wikitable sortable"style="text-align:center"
|-
!width=17%|Stage
!width=83%|Description
|-
|[[File:Ssbm-nd-iceclimbersstage.jpg|100px]]<br>[[smashwiki:Icicle Mountain| Infinite Glacier:<br>Icicle Mountain]]
|align=left|Icicle Mountain is a stage that scrolls up and down at different speeds. It has many different small platforms to jump on, similarly as in ''[[nwiki:Ice Climber|Ice Climber]]''.
|-
|[[File:Princess Peach's Castle Melee.png|100px]]<br>[[Princess Peach's Castle (Super Smash Bros. Melee)|Mushroom Kingdom:<br>Princess Peach's Castle]]
|align=left|In this stage, the battle takes place on the roof of Princess Peach's Castle from ''[[Super Mario 64]]''. There are some hovering platforms at either side of the small tower. Switches can be activated, making [[? Block]]s appear. From time to time, a [[Banzai Bill]] is shot into the castle, causing an explosion.
|-
|[[File:Kongo Jungle Melee.png|100px]]<br>[[Kongo Falls|DK Island:<br>Kongo Jungle]]
|align=left|The Kongo Jungle stage is set on logs over a waterfall. A small platform also appears to the right, and sometimes logs are falling down the waterfall, creating temporary platforms. Below the stage is a [[Barrel Cannon]] which shoots out characters in a random direction when they fall into it.
|-
|[[File:Great Bay Melee.png|100px]]<br>[[smashwiki:Great Bay| Termina:<br>Great Bay]]
|align=left|The Great Bay stage, based on ''[[zeldawiki:The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask|The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask]]'', has two platforms which stand fixed in the water, and a swimming stone. Sometimes, a turtle rises from the water, creating additional platforms. [[Tingle]] is also seen on the stage with a giant balloon, and is forming another platform.
|-
|[[File:Yoshi's Story Melee.png|100px]]<br>[[Yoshi's Story (stage)|Yoshi's Island:<br>Yoshi's Story]]
|align=left|Yoshi's Story features elements of the game ''[[Yoshi's Story]]''. In the center is [[Yoshi's Island (location)|Yoshi's Island]], and three smaller platforms are hovering above it. It also has a cloud moving below it to catch falling characters. [[Fly Guy]]s fly by occasionally, carrying Food.
|-
|[[File:Fountain of Dreams Melee.png|100px]]<br>[[smashwiki:Fountain of Dreams|Dream Land:<br>Fountain of Dreams]]
|align=left|On the Fountain of Dreams stage from the [[:Category:Kirby series|''Kirby'' series]], the fountain itself forms a big platform in the middle with three smaller hovering platforms above it, whose height varies.
|-
|[[File:Zelda'sCorneria.png|100px]]<br>[[smashwiki:Corneria| Lylat System:<br>Corneria]]
|align=left|In the Corneria stage from the [[:Category:Star Fox series|''Star Fox'' series]], the battle is held on the Great Fox, a spaceship. From time to time, Arwings fly by and shoot at the combatants.
|-
|[[File:Melee Rainbow Cruise.jpg|100px]]<br>[[Rainbow Cruise|Mushroom Kingdom:<br>Rainbow Cruise]]
|align=left|Rainbow Cruise(NTSC)/Rainbow Ride (PAL) is a moving stage with different environments based on [[Rainbow Ride]] from ''[[Super Mario 64]]''. It starts on a floating ship, which falls down after a certain time, and players have to move on over the various platforms.
|-
|[[File:Jungle Japes Melee.png|100px]]<br>[[Jungle Japes (stage)|DK Island:<br>Jungle Japes]]
|align=left|The Jungle Japes stage from the [[Donkey Kong (series)|''Donkey Kong'' series]] is set on a river, with three ledges made of wood with a house and a toilet house found on them. The players fight on these platforms. Occasionally, [[Klaptrap]]s jump out of the water, trying to drag characters downwards into the water.
|-
|[[File:Hyruletemple.jpg|100px]]<br>[[smashwiki:Temple|Hyrule:<br>Temple]]
|align=left|The Temple is the biggest stage of the game, designed after several games from the [[:Category:The Legend of Zelda series|''Legend of Zelda'' series]]. It features many different platforms and a tunnel system. Despite its size, it does not have any side effects.
|-
|[[File:Melee Yoshi's Island.jpg|100px]]<br>[[Yoshi's Island (Super Smash Bros. Melee)|Yoshi's Island:<br>Yoshi's Island]]
|align=left|The Yoshi's Island stage is set in a scene from ''[[Super Mario World]]''. The area is enclosed by a slope on the one side and a [[Warp Pipe]] on the other. In the middle, there is a hole with [[Rotating Block]]s above it. There are also two groups of Rotating Blocks floating on the stage serving as additional platforms.
|-
|[[File:Greengreens.jpg|100px]]<br>[[smashwiki:Green Greens|Dream Land:<br>Green Greens]]
|align=left|Green Greens from the ''Kirby'' series is consisting of three separated grass platforms. The huge tree, [[Whispy Woods]], blows the characters away. Sometimes, [[apple]]s fall from him. Also, blocks and bomb blocks fall from the sky in between the platforms.
|-
|[[File:Venom.jpg|100px]]<br>[[smashwiki:Venom|Lylat System:<br>Venom]]
|align=left|Much like Corneria, Venom is featuring the Great Fox flying over the surface. But unlike Corneria, the battle is fought on the Great Fox's four wings, and the ship is seen from the front. [[Arwing]]s also appear and shoot at the players.
|-
|[[File:SSBB Brinstar Stage.png|100px]]<br>[[smashwiki:Brinstar|Planet Zebes:<br>Brinstar]]
|align=left|Brinstar from ''[[:Category:Metroid series|Metroid]]'' is consisting of several platforms which are held together by organic material or other objects. These connections can be destroyed, causing some of the platforms to hover in the air. Sometimes, acid rises from below burning the characters, but also restoring broken connections.
|-
|[[File:Melee Onett.jpg|100px]]<br>[[Onett|Eagleland:<br>Onett]]
|align=left|In Onett from ''[[wikibound:EarthBound|EarthBound]]'', the battle takes place on a few houses in the village and a nearby tree. Cars drive by and hit characters when they do not avoid them. There are warning signs announcing the cars. The platforms of the drug store in the middle can collapse, but restore themselves after a certain time.
|-
|[[File:Mute City.jpg|100px]]<br>[[smashwiki:Mute City|F-Zero Grand Prix:<br>Mute City]]
|align=left|Mute City takes place on a large F-Zero race track with a small platform hovering in the middle of it. Occasionally, this platform will go down, exposing the road. F-Zero gliders will sometimes race into the players, but can also be destroyed.
|-
|[[File:Melee Pokemon Stadium.jpg|100px]]<br>[[smashwiki:Pokémon Stadium|Kanto:<br>Pokémon Stadium]]
|align=left|The Pokémon Stadium looks like a simple stage with two floating platforms, but every once in a while the stage will change into one of four different terrains: Water, Fire, Rock, and Grass, which all have different featured obstacles.
|-
|[[File:SSBM Mushroom Kingdom.png|100px]]<br>[[Mushroom Kingdom (Super Smash Bros. Melee)|Mushroom<br>Kingdom]]
|align=left|The Mushroom Kingdom stage features many objects from classical ''Super Mario Bros.'' games, such as [[Brick Block]]s and [[? Block]]s, which contain items, as well as falling platforms above two gaps.
|}

===Unlockable stages===
{|class="wikitable sortable"style="text-align:center"
!width=15%|Image
!width=17%|Stage
!width=18%|How to unlock
!width=50%|Description
|-
|[[File:FlatZone-Melee.png|100px]]
|[[smashwiki:Flat Zone|Superflat World:<br>Flat Zone]]
|Clear Classic, Adventure, or All-Star with Mr. Game & Watch.
|align=left|The Flat Zone modeled after a [[Game & Watch]] system. From time to time, wrenches, buckets, and other tools fall from the top. Oil can also be spilled over the ground, making it hard for the players to move. Some platforms vanish and appear at different places.
|-
|[[File:Brinstar Depths Melee.png|100px]]
|[[smashwiki:Brinstar Depths|Planet Zebes:<br>Brinstar Depths]]
|Play 50 Melee matches
|align=left|Unlike Brinstar, this ''Metroid'' stage features a large round rock platform found inside a spherical cage covered in embedded spikes. There are few floating rocks, which players can jump onto at any time. From time to time, Kraid slashes the large platform which causes it to rotate in any direction, exposing a different side of it.
|-
|[[File:Ssbmstagesfourside.jpg|100px]]
|[[smashwiki:Fourside|Eagleland:<br>Fourside]]
|Play 100 Melee matches
|align=left|This ''EarthBound'' stage is set high on the skyscrapers of Fourside. Players have to be careful not to fall into the gaps between the buildings. It has a giant [[UFO]] that occasionally shows up on the screen and can be used as a platform.
|-
|[[File:Ssbmstagesbigblue.jpg|100px]]
|[[smashwiki:Big Blue|F-Zero Grand Prix:<br>Big Blue]]
|Play 150 Melee matches
|align=left|Big Blue is side-scrolling, and the fight takes place on top of the F-Zero gliders. Players have to be cautious not to hit the track, as they would stay behind and, because of the high speed of the gliders, would hit the barrier at the left end of the stage, knocking them out.
|-
|[[File:Melee Poke Floats.jpg|100px]]
|[[smashwiki:Poké Floats|Kanto Skies:<br>Poké Floats]]
|Play 200 Melee matches
|align=left|Poké Floats takes place in the skies of Kanto, where giant floating Pokémon balloons are found. Throughout this stage, the player must jump onto one balloon by the time the others vanish.
|-
|[[File:SSBM-Mario2.jpg|100px]]
|[[Mushroom Kingdom II|Mushroom<br>Kingdom II]]
|Obtain the Birdo Trophy
|align=left|Mushroom Kingdom II, actually featuring ''[[Super Mario Bros. 2]]'', has a generic scene from the game with several platforms and a waterfall that forms gorges between them. Occasionally, logs will fall down the waterfall, creating temporary platforms. A [[Pidgit]] will also occasionally fly in, creating another platform, and a [[Birdo]] appears from time to time, spitting Birdo Eggs at the characters. Birdo can be KOed in a series of weak attacks or one strong attack.
|-
|[[File:Battlefield-Melee.png|100px]]
|[[smashwiki:Battlefield (SSBM)|Special Stages:<br>Battlefield]]
|Clear All-Star for the first time
|align=left|Battlefield is a floating stage in space consisting of a big platform in the middle and three smaller platforms hovering above it. The stage does not have any side effects, which allows players to solely concentrate on the fight.
|-
|[[File:Final Destination Melee.png|100px]]
|[[smashwiki:Final Destination (SSBM)|Special Stages:<br>Final Destination]]
|Clear Event 51: The Showdown
|align=left|Final Destination has absolutely no features, so the combatants are not bothered by the stage in any way.
|-
|[[File:SSB Dream Land.png|100px]]
|[[smashwiki:Dream Land|Past Stages:<br>Dream Land]]
|Clear Target Test with every character
|align=left|The Dream Land is a stage returning from ''Super Smash Bros.'' The only feature is [[Whispy Woods]] who occasionally blows a harsh wind in a random direction.
|-
|[[File:SSBM Yoshi's Island N64.png|100px]]
|[[Super Happy Tree (stage)|Past Stages:<br>Yoshi's Island]]
|Hit Sandbag at least 1,325 feet (400 meters) in Home-Run Contest
|align=left|Yoshi's Island is a stage returning from ''Super Smash Bros.'' It is consisting of a big platform with the [[Super Happy Tree]] in the background, three other smaller floating platforms above, and three clouds at the edges of the stage, which vanish when a character stands on them too long.
|-
|[[File:N64 Kongo Jungle Melee.png|100px]]
|[[Kongo Jungle (Super Smash Bros.)|Past Stages:<br>Kongo Jungle]]
|Clear 15-Minute Melee
|align=left|The Kongo Jungle is a stage returning from ''Super Smash Bros.'' The stage is made out of a large wooden platform with several smaller, sometimes floating ones around it. There is also a [[Barrel Cannon]] underneath the arena.
|}

==Items==
{|class="wikitable sortable"width=100%
!width=12%|Image
!width=12%|Name
!width=12%|Series
!width=64%|Description
|-
|[[File:Trophy116.png|75px]]
|[[Barrel]]
|''Super Smash Bros.''
|The Barrel contains a single random item, which can be released by smashing the barrel or throwing it against a wall. When thrown to the ground, it will roll onward and hit players.
|-
|[[File:Trophy113.png|75px]]
|[[Barrel Cannon]]
|''Donkey Kong''
|The Barrel Cannon is used to trap a character inside. Then the barrel rotates, and depending when the trapped character presses a button, they will be fired out in a certain angle. However, the Barrel Cannon vanishes quite quickly after appearing on the stage.
|-
|[[File:Trophy94.png|75px]]
|[[smashwiki:Beam Sword|Beam Sword]]
|''Super Smash Bros.''
|The Beam Sword can be used to hit other characters. It is powerful, but the hits are rather slow.
|-
|[[File:Trophy103.png|75px]]
|[[Bob-omb]]
|''Super Mario''
|The Bob-omb can be thrown at another character to cause an explosion. If left on the ground for a few seconds, it starts walking around. It then explodes after a certain amount of time or if it walks into a character.
|-
|[[File:Trophy111.png|75px]]
|[[Bunny Hood]]
|''The Legend of Zelda''
|The character wearing the Bunny Hood is faster and can jump higher.
|-
|[[File:Trophy117.png|75px]]
|[[smashwiki:Capsule|Capsule]]
|''Super Smash Bros.''
|The Capsule contains a single random item that is small. It can be easily thrown and sometimes explodes when hitting the wall or a character.
|-
|[[File:Trophy112.png|75px]]
|[[smashwiki:Cloaking Device|Cloaking Device]]
|''Perfect Dark''
|The Cloaking Device makes the player invisible. The player still takes damage regardless of being invisible and harder to hit, but their damage percentage will not increase while invisible.
|-
|[[File:Trophy115.png|75px]]
|[[smashwiki:Crate|Crate]]
|''Super Smash Bros.''
|The Crate contains three different random items. Sometimes, it explodes when hit.
|-
|[[File:Trophy118.png|75px]]
|[[smashwiki:Egg|Egg]]
|''Super Smash Bros.''
|The Egg contains a single item and is very similar to the Capsule. Whether it is a weapon or Food depends on the current stage. It can also explode.
|-
|[[File:Trophy96.png|75px]]
|[[smashwiki:Fan|Fan]]
|''Super Smash Bros.''
|The Fan is used to smack other characters. It is difficult to escape the Fan's fast hits, though they do not do much damage per hit.
|-
|[[File:Trophy100.png|75px]]
|[[smashwiki:Flipper|Flipper]]
|''Balloon Fight''
|When thrown, the Flipper stops hovering in the air, creating an obstacle for players. It can also repel projectiles.
|-
|[[File:Trophy91.png|75px]]
|[[Fire Flower]]
|''Super Mario''
|The Fire Flower is used to shoot fire at other characters. It is not, like in the ''Super Mario'' franchise, similar to the Fireball attack, but to Bowser's Fire Breath.
|-
|[[File:Trophy85.png|75px]]
|[[Food]]
|''Super Smash Bros.''
|The player's damage meter is reduced by a small amount. The actual amount varies from food to food.
|-
|[[File:Trophy101.png|75px]]
|[[Freezie]]
|''Super Mario''
|The Freezie glides along the stage and can fall off edges. It can be destroyed before it has been picked up. It can be used to freeze other players in an ice block when throwing it at them. Using fiery attacks will make them normal again.
|-
|[[File:Trophy98.png|75px]]
|[[Green Shell]]
|''Super Mario''
|The Green Shell can be thrown, and then slides along the ground, being able to hit multiple characters.
|-
|[[File:Trophy97.png|75px]]
|[[Hammer]]
|''Donkey Kong''
|A massive hammer from ''[[Donkey Kong (game)|Donkey Kong]]''. If picked up, it can do great damage, the hammer of the top of the head will stay on all the time from now on.
|-
|[[File:Trophy87.png|75px]]
|[[smashwiki:Heart Container|Heart Container]]
|''The Legend of Zelda''
|The Heart Container reduces the player's damage meter by 100%.
|-
|[[File:Trophy95.png|75px]]
|[[smashwiki:Home-Run Bat|Home-Run Bat]]
|''Super Smash Bros.''
|When a smash attack is performed with a Home-Run Bat, the hit character is knocked out instantly. It is also featured in the [[Home-Run Contest]].
|-
|[[File:Trophy92.png|75px]]
|[[smashwiki:Lip's Stick|Lip's Stick]]
|''Panel de Pon''
|The character hit by Lip's Stick gets a flower on their head, which is doing continuous little damage. The more often a character is hit, the bigger the flower grows, and the more damage it will do.
|-
|[[File:Trophy86.png|75px]]
|[[smashwiki:Maxim Tomato|Maxim Tomato]]
|''Kirby''
|The player's damage meter is reduced by 50% when picked up.
|-
|[[File:Trophy110.png|75px]]
|[[smashwiki:Metal Box|Metal Box]]
|''Super Mario''
|Hitting the Metal Box makes the player metal. They weigh a lot and cannot be thrown off the stage easily; but if they are thrown off, they cannot jump easily and it is harder to survive for them.
|-
|[[File:SSBM Motionsensorbomb.png|75px]]
|[[smashwiki:Motion-Sensor Bomb|Motion-Sensor Bomb]]
|''GoldenEye 007'' / ''Perfect Dark''
|When placed on the ground, the ceiling, or the side of a ledge, the Motion-Sensor Bomb stays on the ground and explodes when someone touches it.
|-
|[[File:Trophy102.png|75px]]
|[[smashwiki:Mr. Saturn|Mr. Saturn]]
|''EarthBound''
|They are used to throw it at other characters. When they are caught by the player again, they do not vanish, and can hit the other character many times.
|-
|[[File:Trophy108.png|75px]]
|[[smashwiki:Parasol|Parasol]]
|''Kirby''
|The Parasol can be used to hit other characters. When falling, the character holding the parasol glides down slowly.
|-
|[[File:Trophy114.png|75px]]
|[[smashwiki:Party Ball|Party Ball]]
|''Super Smash Bros.''
|When the Party Ball opens, items appear at random. There is a high chance that the items will be Food or Bob-ombs.
|-
|[[File:Trophy106.png|75px]]
|[[Poison Mushroom]]
|''Super Mario''
|The opposite of Super Mushrooms. The player shrinks, gets easier to K.O., and is weaker; but they also become more flexible and has more evasion.
|-
|[[File:Trophy120.png|75px]]
|[[smashwiki:Poké Ball|Poké Ball]]
|''Pokémon''
|When the Poké Ball is opened, a [[bulbapedia:Pokémon (species)|Pokémon]] appears. The effect of the Pokémon varies, but they mostly involve attacking the players' enemies without hurting their owner. However, some Pokémon hurt all players within their range.
|-
|[[File:Trophy89.png|75px]]
|[[smashwiki:Ray Gun|Ray Gun]]
|''Super Smash Bros.''
|The Ray Gun can shoot out laser beams. It has 14 beams before it runs out.
|-
|[[File:Trophy99.png|75px]]
|[[Red Shell]]
|''Super Mario''
|The Red Shell is much like the Green Shell, but does less damage, homes in on characters, and cannot fall off the stage.
|-
|[[File:Trophy109.png|75px]]
|[[smashwiki:Screw Attack|Screw Attack]]
|''Metroid''
|As long as a character is holding the Screw Attack in their hand, their jump is in the form of Samus's [[Screw Attack (move)|Screw Attack move]]. When another character is hit by it, they also do that jump and take damage.
|-
|[[File:Trophy107.png|75px]]
|[[Super Star|Starman]]
|''Super Mario''
|The Starman makes players invincible for a moment. They do not take damage from their enemies and cannot be hit or grabbed, but they can still fall off the stage and get knocked out this way.
|-
|[[File:Trophy93.png|75px]]
|[[smashwiki:Star Rod|Star Rod]]
|''Kirby''
|When the Star Rod is used, stars come flying out of it, hitting other characters. The Star Rod has limited use and when all stars have run out, the Star Rod cannot shoot stars anymore.
|-
|[[File:Trophy105.png|75px]]
|[[Super Mushroom]]
|''Super Mario''
|It makes the player larger, and thus become stronger, harder to K.O., but easier to hit (due to the size) and less flexible.
|-
|[[File:Trophy90.png|75px]]
|[[smashwiki:Super Scope|Super Scope]]
|[[Super Nintendo Entertainment System|SNES]] peripheral
|The Super Scope shoots out many small energy balls, or, when charged up, up to three big energy balls. When it runs out of ammo, no more energy balls can fly out of it.
|-
|[[File:Trophy88.png|75px]]
|[[smashwiki:Warp Star|Warp Star]]
|''Kirby''
|The character who picks the Warp Star up flies up into the air, and then crashes right back down, causing an explosion that damages other players. By tilting the {{button|gcn|Stick}} while in the air, the player can take influence on the landing point.
|}

==Single-player mode==
===Classic===
[[File:ClassicIntro-SSBMelee.png|thumb|[[Mario]] faces [[Kirby]] in stage 1.]]
Classic is based on the 1P Game from the game's predecessor, ''Super Smash Bros.'' Unlike the previous game, the opponents and the stage are chosen at random, but there remains a set pattern for the battles. For setup, the player has to choose the difficulty (Very Easy, Easy, Normal, Hard, or Very Hard) and the number of lives (1 - 5) they will have for the whole mode.

All battles are in stock mode, with the opponents having one life, and a five-minute time limit (if in a rare case that if time runs out in a battle, the player will lose one life and will have to play that stage again from the beginning). The arena is one of the opponent's home arenas. There are also three bonus stages. When failing in one of them, the players do not lose a life for their upcoming battles.

When the players run out of stock lives during the mode's progress, they can use a continue to gain all lives again, but they lose points for that, and at any setting except for Very Easy, they will have to pay coins for the Continue. Those coins are won in any regular battle by performing smash attacks, or in the Bonus Stages of the Classic Mode. They can also be used to pay for the Continue in the Adventure and All-Star mode and in the Trophy Lottery mode.
{{br}}
{|class=wikitable width=100%
!colspan=2|Classic Mode
|-
!width=15%|Stage 1
|The player fights a single opponent.
|-
!Stage 2 
|A team of the player and an ally fight against a team of two opponents.
|-
!Bonus Stage 1: [[Break the Targets!]]
|The player has to hit all the [[target]]s within a time limit of 2 minutes. Each character has their own arena for the target test.
|-
!Stage 4
|Same as Stage 1.
|-
!Stage 5
|A team of the player and two allies fight a single opponent. However, the opponent appears in their giant form, as if they collected a Super Mushroom.
|-
!Bonus Stage 2: [[Snag the Trophies!]]
|The player has to collect three Trophies falling from above. To do this, players must hit them so that they fall into their collection spot. If the player catches the three trophies, at the finish of Classic Mode they will receive the bonus Collector. 
|-
!Stage 7
|The player fights a single opponent. When the player plays on the Hard setting or above, the opponent's CPU will be changed. The opponent will always escape to the borders of the stage after hitting the player.
|-
!Stage 8
|The player has to fight 10 opponents, all being the same character. Fighting only 3 at a time, when one gets knocked out, another takes their place.
|-
!Bonus Stage 3: [[Race to the Finish!]]
|The player runs along a tunnel with many doors. They can take any available door to complete the level, but the farther the door the player takes from the beginning, the more [[coin]]s they earn. The time the player has for this varies from character to character, but it is usually around 45 seconds; for some examples, Captain Falcon only has 39 seconds, while Ganondorf has 54 seconds.
|-
!Stage 10
|The player has to fight one opponent, like in Stages 1 and 4, but the opponent is metal, as if they grabbed a Metal Box. The battle is held on the Battlefield stage.
|-
!Stage 11
|The player has to fight [[Master Hand]] on the Final Destination stage. Unlike the player, the Master Hand has hit points instead of percentage of damage. The number of hit points varies between the difficulty settings, anywhere from 150 to 360. Additionally, when the player is fighting on the normal or a higher difficulty setting and has finished the other stages of the Classic Mode without using any Continues, [[Crazy Hand]] will appear when Master Hand's HP hits its half. Then the player has to fight both hands at the same time. Crazy Hand starts with the same number of HP as Master Hand did.
|}
The players' scores are saved after every stage. They get awarded points for the time remaining when a battle ends, as well as for the damage they dealt. They also get Bonus Points, just as in the Bonus mode. In the Bonus Stages, the players get points for how many targets they hit, or how far they made it in Race to the Finish!. Special Bonus points are awarded in the end for hitting all targets in the Break the Targets! stage, collecting all trophies in the Collect the Trophies! stage, beating Crazy Hand, beating the mode on the Very Hard setting, or beating the mode without losing a life. The scores are saved separately for each character, and there is also a total score for all characters combined.

===Adventure===
[[File:AdventureIntro-SSBMelee.png|thumb|The Mushroom Kingdom stage intro]]
Adventure is a mode taking place in most of the worlds of the franchises and series represented in ''Super Smash Bros. Melee''. It features some side-scrolling stages only available in Adventure. Like Classic mode, the player chooses the difficulty for their fighter (very easy - easy - normal - hard - very hard) and the number of lives (ranging from 1 - 5) they will have for the whole mode.

When the player runs out of stock lives during the mode's progress, they can use a continue to gain all lives again at the cost of some coins, but a penalty is received (it is Continuation, which subtracts 20,000 from the player's current score). Coins are won in any regular battle by performing smash attacks, or in the Bonus Stages of the Classic Mode. They can also be used to pay for the Continue in the Classic and All-Star mode and in the Trophy Lottery mode.

The first two stages pertain to ''[[Super Mario (franchise)|Super Mario]]'' and its constituent series, and [[Bowser#Size|Giant Bowser]] is featured as the final boss. In harder difficulty settings, Giant Bowser is fought first, followed by [[Giga Bowser]], an alternate form exclusive to the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series.
{{br}}
{|class=wikitable
!colspan=2|Adventure Mode
|-
!colspan=2|Stage 1: [[Mushroom Kingdom]]
|-
!width=30%|Part 1
|This side-scrolling level is completely influenced by the overworld levels in ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]'' It features classical Mario enemies, namely [[Goomba]]s, [[Koopa Troopa]]s, and [[Koopa Paratroopa]]s, as well as [[Warp Pipe]]s and [[Brick Block]]s. [[Toad (species)|Toads]] and golf courses are seen in the background. Near the end of the stage, players have to battle 10 Yoshis, three at a time.
|-
!Part 2
|When players have completed the side-scrolling stage, they get to Princess Peach's Castle. There, they have to fight Mario and Peach, who are in a team. If players have completed the first part of the Mushroom Kingdom stage with a 2 in the seconds place (XX:X2:XX) on their time counter, Luigi will kick Mario off the castle before the battle begins. Then, players have to fight Luigi and Peach instead. When players complete the rest of the Adventure mode, they can unlock Luigi in the end.
|-
!colspan=2|Stage 2: [[Kongo Falls|Kongo Jungle]]
|-
!Part 1
|In the first part of the DK stage, players have to fight two mini-versions of Donkey Kong at the same time. The battle is in the Kongo Jungle stage. 
|-
!Part 2
|After defeating the mini DKs, players will fight [[Giant Donkey Kong|Giant DK]] in the Jungle Japes stage.
|-
!colspan=2|Stage 3: [[smashwiki:Underground Maze|Underground Maze]]
|-
!Part 1
|This side-scrolling level takes place in the Underground Maze. Players have to fight [[smashwiki:ReDead|ReDeads]], [[smashwiki:Like Like|Like Likes]], and [[smashwiki:Octorok|Octoroks]], which are from the ''Legend of Zelda'' series. There are six special places in the dungeon. One is containing the finish, the Triforce. In the other five places with the Master Sword in the room, Link will appear and battle players. He has a different color each time. A reward is received if players manage to defeat all five Links (which is Link Master, which gives 30,000 points).
|-
!Part 2
|When players have completed the Dungeon, they will be at Hyrule Temple, where Princess Zelda is fought.
|- 
!colspan=2|Stage 4: [[smashwiki:Brinstar|Brinstar]]
|-
!Part 1
|In the first part of the stage, players have to fight Samus in Brinstar. When Samus is defeated, a self-destruction mechanism is activated.
|-
!Part 2
|Players then get to a small vertically-scrolling level, where they have to jump to the top platform to evacuate the exploding planet. When they fail to do it in time, one life is lost, but gets to continue on.
|-
!colspan=2|Stage 5: [[smashwiki:Green Greens|Green Greens]]
|-
!Part 1
|Players have to fight a single Kirby in the Green Greens stage.
|-
!Part 2
|When Kirby is defeated, a team of 18 Kirbys, all having copied abilities from other characters, will fight. Players have to fight the 18 Kirbys, with three of them appearing at a time.
|-
!Part 3
|If players have defeated the Kirby team within 30 seconds, Giant Kirby will appear and also fight. Defeating Giant Kirby gives players the bonus Giant Kirby KO, which gives 10,000 points.
|-
!colspan=2|Stage 6: [[smashwiki:Corneria|Corneria]]
|-
!Part 1
|Players have to fight Fox on the Corneria stage. In this battle, no Arwings can be seen, and Fox just avoids the player and attacks sometimes.
|-
!Part 2
|After Fox is defeated, there is a small cutscene with Arwings coming and Peppy, Slippy, and Falco will announce they will help Fox. Players will then fight Fox, but this time, Arwings will appear very often and shoot mostly at them.

If Falco is unlocked, he may occasionally replace Fox for this match. Players will know this if Fox appears in the cutscene instead of Falco. 

Fox or Falco appears with a red palette swap, but if the player uses the red palette swap of either Fox or Falco, the CPU uses the regular palette costume of the characters and vice versa.
|-
!colspan=2|Stage 7: [[smashwiki:Pokémon Stadium|Pokémon Stadium]]
|-
|colspan=2|Players have to fight a team of 12 Pokémon at the Pokémon Stadium. The team mainly consists of Pikachus. When they are unlocked, Jigglypuffs and Pichus may also be seen. Additionally, the only item in this battle is the Poké Ball.
|-
!colspan=2|Stage 8: [[smashwiki:F-Zero Grand Prix|F-Zero Grand Prix]]
|-
!Part 1
|The stage begins with yet another special side-scrolling level. It is a part of the track of a GP race. Players have to complete it by foot. Occasionally, F-Zero machines will pass them. Players have to avoid the racers on one of the platforms hovering above the track or an area where the racers are flying over them.
|-
!Part 2
|After completing the race, players have to fight Captain Falcon at Mute City.
|-
!colspan=2|Stage 9: [[smashwiki:Onett|Onett]]
|-
|colspan=2 style|Players have to fight three Nesses at the Onett stage. The only item found here is Mr. Saturn, making this stage an easy way to get the many Mr. Saturn-related bonuses (such as Saturn Ringer).
|-
!colspan=2|Stage 10: [[smashwiki:Icicle Mountain|Icicle Mountain]]
|-
|colspan=2 style|Icicle Mountain is a scrolling stage, similar to the regular version. In the beginning, players have to reach a certain height of the level. On the way are a lot of [[Topi]]s, [[Polar Bear]]s, and Freezies. If almost a minute on the timer has expired, two pairs of Ice Climbers will appear, while the enemies and any possible trophies will disappear.
|-
!colspan=2|Stage 11: [[smashwiki:Battlefield (SSBM)|Battlefield]]
|-
!Part 1
|Players have to fight 20 [[smashwiki:Fighting Wire Frames|Fighting Wire Frames]], five at a time. The gravity is very weak during this match.
|-
!Part 2
|When players have defeated the Wire Frames, they get to fight [[Metal Mario]]. If Luigi is unlocked, they have to fight [[Metal Mario#Super Smash Bros. Melee|Metal Luigi]] at the same time as well. Defeating the Metal Bros. will award players with 8,000 points.
|-
!colspan=2|Stage 12: [[smashwiki:Final Destination (SSBM)|Final Destination]]
|-
!Part 1
|Players have to fight [[Bowser#Size|Giant Bowser]] on the Final Destination stage.  On the Very Easy and Easy skill levels, by default, Giant Bowser will be green (or red if the player is already playing as Green Bowser). However, if the difficulty is set to Normal or higher, Giant Bowser, by default, will use his black palette swap instead (back to green if the player is Black Bowser).
|-
!Part 2
|If players play on a difficulty setting of Normal or higher, while completing the past stages of the Adventure mode in less than 18 minutes without using a continue and defeating Bowser in less than one minute, they will have to fight [[Giga Bowser]] as well. Unlike with Crazy Hand, players can use a continue against Giga Bowser and still be able to fight him again. Players earn 100000 points for KOing Giga Bowser, and receive the Giga Bowser trophy as well.
|}
Players' scores are saved after every stage. They get awarded points for the time remaining when a battle ends, as well as for the damage they have dealt. Bonus Points can also be received, just as in the Bonus mode. Special Bonus points are awarded for collecting a trophy that randomly appears on a stage, defeating Luigi, all five Links, Giant Kirby, the Metal Bros., or Giga Bowser, beating the mode on Very Hard, beating the mode without losing a life, etc. The scores are saved separately for each character. There is also a total score for all characters combined. Also, the hardest difficulty the character has played is viewed on the character select screen, represented by the color of the smash logo next to the point count.
====Unique non-''Super Mario'' stages====
=====Underground Maze=====
[[File:Underground_Maze.png|thumb|Sheik exploring the Underground Maze]]
The '''Underground Maze''' is the third level of Adventure mode in ''Super Smash Bros. Melee''. It is based on ''The Legend of Zelda'' series. The goal of this level is to find the Triforce, hidden in one of five Battlefield-like areas in the maze. The artifact's location is randomly selected each time Adventure mode is played. The level also features [[zeldawiki:ReDead|ReDeads]], [[zeldawiki:Octorok|Octoroks]], and [[zeldawiki:Like Like|Like Likes]] as enemies. If the player comes across a battle area without the Triforce, they will have to fight Link and KO him to proceed. 

Once the Underground Maze is completed, the player is sent to the [[smashwiki:Temple|Temple]] to battle Princess Zelda.
======Names in other languages======
{{foreign names
|Jap=迷宮
|JapR=Meikyū
|JapM=Labyrinth
}}

=====F-Zero Grand Prix=====
[[File:SSBM F-Zero Grand Prix.png|thumb|The level F-Zero Grand Prix in ''Super Smash Bros. Melee'']]
The '''F-Zero Grand Prix''' is the eighth stage of Adventure mode in ''Super Smash Bros. Melee''.

After defeating the challengers of [[smashwiki:Pokémon Stadium|Pokémon Stadium]], the player will find themselves stampeding across this race track in the Grand Prix, taking place on an F-Zero Grand Prix race. Being a race track, [[F-Zero machine]]s will occasionally zoom through this course, potentially doing severe damage. If the player is lucky, they will find one of several floating platforms that they can leap to for safety.

Somewhere towards the end of the course, the player will use platforms to jump across a large gap in the race track. Since F-Zero machines only hover about a foot over the ground, the hovercars will fly right above the player, rather than under them. After finishing the "race", the player will fight Сaptain Falcon in [[Mute City (Super Smash Bros. Melee)|Mute City]].
======Events======
*No 33: Lethal Marathon

======Names in other languages======
{{foreign names
|Jap=F-ZERO グランプリ
|JapR=F-ZERO Guran Puri
|JapM=F-Zero Grand Prix
}}

===All-Star===
[[File:AllStarRest-SSBMelee.png|thumb|The rest area]]
All-Star can be unlocked by unlocking all secret characters. Unlike other modes, players only have one life for the whole mode, and their percentage of damage is ''not'' set back after a battle. However, players can use up to three Heart Containers to restore their health. For setup, they choose the difficulty setting (very easy - easy - normal - hard - very hard).  Unlike the other game modes, this one does not have a time limit.

In the All-Star mode, players have to fight all 25 characters of the game. All battles are in the stock system, with each combatant having one life. When players get defeated in a battle, they can use a continue to continue playing, but they lose half of their points for that, and will have to pay coins. Those coins are won in any regular battle by performing smash attacks, or in the Bonus Stages of the Classic Mode. They can also be used to pay for the Continue in the Classic and Adventure mode and in the Trophy Lottery mode.

In the first four rounds, the players will fight a single opponent in their home stage. In rounds five to eight, the players have to fight two opponents at a time, and in rounds nine to twelve, three opponents. In the 13th round, the players have to fight 25 Mr. Game & Watches in the Flat Zone, five at a time. After each battle, the players return to a stage in-between, with their remaining Heart Containers, showing which characters they have already beaten, and which ones they will fight in the next battle. Occasionally, a trophy can be collected here.

The players' scores are saved after every stage. They get awarded points for the damage they dealt. Players also gets Bonus Points, just as in the Bonus mode. Special Bonus points are awarded for not taking any of the Heart Containers, beating the mode on the Very Hard setting, or beating the mode without losing a life. The scores are saved separately for each character, and there is also a total score for all characters combined.

The stage that is used is depended on what character plays as player 2. The stages go as follows:
{|class=wikitable width=35%
|-
!width=15%|P2 Character!!width=20%|Stage
|-
|Mario||Rainbow Cruise
|-
|Donkey Kong||Kongo Jungle
|-
|Link||Great Bay
|-
|Samus||Brinstar
|-
|Yoshi||Yoshi's Story
|-
|Kirby||Green Greens
|-
|Fox McCloud||Corneria
|-
|Pikachu||Pokémon Stadium
|-
|Ness||Onett
|-
|Captain Falcon||Mute City
|-
|Bowser||Yoshi's Island
|-
|Princess Peach||Princess Peach's Castle
|-
|Ice Climbers||Icicle Mountain
|-
|Zelda||Temple
|-
|Luigi||Mushroom Kingdom
|-
|Jigglypuff||Poké Floats
|-
|Mewtwo||Battlefield
|-
|Marth||Fountain of Dreams
|-
|Mr. Game & Watch||Flat Zone
|-
|Dr. Mario||Mushroom Kingdom 2
|-
|Ganondorf||Brinstar Depths
|-
|Falco||Venom
|-
|Young Link||Jungle Japes
|-
|Pichu||Fourside
|-
|Roy||Final Destination
|}

===Event Match===
{{redirect|Girl Power|the [[Play Nintendo]] gallery also called "Girl power"|[[Nintendo Female Characters List]]}}
Event Matches are specially designed missions. They have a certain goal to be achieved. All the player can choose is his character, though even that is pre-defined sometimes. Event matches can break the rules of a normal battle in ''Super Smash Bros. Melee''. None of the event matches have any recovery items. The following table provides a rules summary of each of the 51 event matches.
{|class=wikitable style="text-align:center;width:100%"
!colspan=5|Event matches
|-
!width=2%|#
!width=20%|Name
!width=15%|Character
!width=16%|Stage
!width=47%|Description
|-
|1||'''Trouble King'''||Mario||Battlefield||The player has to fight Bowser in a simple stock match, each starting with two lives. Bowser's handicap is set to a weak level, making it easy for the player to KO him quickly.
|-
|2||'''Lord of the Jungle'''||Giant DK||Kongo Jungle||The player has to fight a Tiny DK in a stock match of two lives each. Despite the size disadvantage, Tiny DK cannot be KO'd very quickly.
|-
|3||'''Bomb-fest'''||Selectable||Princess Peach's Castle||The player has to fight Link and Samus in a stock match of one life each. Link and Samus only use their bomb attacks. The only items appearing are Bob-ombs, Motion Sensor Bombs, and Poké Balls containing Electrodes.<br>Upon winning the event match, the player obtains a trophy of the Motion Sensor Bomb.
|-
|4||'''Dino-wrangling'''||Selectable||Yoshi's Story||The player has to fight Super Giant Yoshi in a stock match; the player starts with three lives and the Giant Yoshi starts with a single one. Despite the size advantage, Yoshi's attacks do not easily KO the player.
|-
|5||'''Spare Change'''||Ness||Onett||The player has to obtain 200 smash coins while fighting Captain Falcon. Captain Falcon's coins do not matter, but the player fails if they are KO'd.
|-
|6||'''Kirbys on Parade'''||Selectable||Fountain of Dreams||The player has to fight 3 tiny Kirbys, each having two lives. One Kirby attacks, while the others only run away.
|- 
|7||'''Pokémon Battle'''||Selectable||Pokémon Stadium||The player has to fight Pikachu in a stock battle with each having two lives. However, regular attacks do not damage the opponent. The only way of doing so is using Poké Balls, the only items appearing in this Event Match.
|-
|8||'''Hot Date on Brinstar'''||Selectable||Brinstar||The player has to fight Samus in a stock match with each having two lives. The player's character enters battle with 102% of damage, while Samus enters it with 130%.
|-
|9||'''Hide 'n' Sheik'''||Selectable||Great Bay||The player has to fight two Zeldas, each having a single life. However, if Zelda is in her Zelda form, she will respawn when KO'd. The player has to KO her in her Sheik form in order to defeat her.
|-
|10||'''All-Star Match 1'''||Selectable||Yoshi's Island, Jungle Japes, Yoshi's Story, Peach's Castle, Rainbow Cruise || The player, starting with two lives, has to fight Mario, DK, Yoshi, Peach, and Bowser in a row, battling each in a different stage.
|-
|11||'''King of the Mountain'''||Selectable||Icicle Mountain||The player has to fight two pairs of Ice Climbers. All that the player has to do is survive the battle for one minute.
|-
|12||'''Seconds, Anyone?'''||Selectable||Mute City||The player has to KO Captain Falcon in the short time limit of seven seconds. Both he and the player start with 100% damage.
|-
|13||'''Yoshi's Egg'''||Yoshi||Rainbow Cruise||The player has to protect the [[Yoshi Egg]], a special item that can take damage, from the opponent's Pikachu, Fox, and DK for a time of 55 seconds.
|-
|14||'''Trophy Tussle 1'''||Selectable||[[Goomba|Goomba Trophy]]||The player has to fight in a 3-minute match against three randomly chosen opponents, with each combatant having two lives. Upon winning the event match, the player obtains the Goomba trophy.
|-
|15||'''Girl Power'''||Selectable||Fountain of Dreams||The player has to fight Peach, Zelda, and Samus, who are all bigger than the player's own character, with each having two lives.
|-
|16||'''Kirby's Air-raid'''||Kirby||Corneria||The player has to KO 10 Kirbys in 38 seconds. The only way to damage them is using the Warp Stars appearing from time to time.
|-
|17||'''Bounty Hunters'''||Samus||Jungle Japes||The player has to KO Bowser before Captain Falcon does the same. However, it is impossible for the player to damage Captain Falcon. If Bowser SDs himself, the player will also fail this Event Match.  If Captain Falcon SDs himself, it will not affect the Event Match in any way.
|-
|18||'''Link's Adventure'''||Link||Temple||The player has to fight [[Dark Link]] in a stock match with each having two lives.
|-
|19||'''Peach's Peril'''||Mario||Final Destination||The player has to protect Peach from Bowser for one minute. When Bowser is defeated, he will respawn instantly.  Peach is handicapped so that it's harder for Bowser to KO her.  However, the player's handicap is unaffected.
|-
|20||'''All-Star Match 2'''||Selectable||Brinstar, Great Bay, Temple, Mute City, Corneria||The player, starting with two lives, has to fight Samus, Link, Zelda, Captain Falcon, and Fox in a row, battling each in a different stage.
|-
|21||'''Ice Breaker'''||Selectable||Princess Peach's Castle||The player has to fight two pairs of Ice Climbers. The goal is to defeat both Nanas. If a Popo is defeated, the Event Match is failed.
|-
|22||'''Super Mario 128'''||Selectable||Mushroom Kingdom II||The player has to fight 128 tiny Marios. Five appear on the stage at a time.
|-
|23||'''Slippy's Invention'''||Selectable||Venom||The player has to fight Fox and Falco, each having two lives, while they are invisible.
|-
|24||'''The Yoshi Herd'''||Selectable||Yoshi's Island||The player has to defeat 30 Yoshis in 2 minutes. The last Yoshi is a Giant Yoshi.
|-
|25||'''Gargantuans'''||Giant Bowser||Fourside||The player has to fight Giant DK, however, the player has one life, while DK has two. Additionally, a tiny Mario and tiny Peach will appear on the stage (both having only 1 life). However, they are usually defeated by Giant DK seconds after the Event Match begins. KOing tiny Mario and tiny Peach is optional.
|-
|26||'''Trophy Tussle 2'''||Selectable||[[bulbapedia:Entei (Pokémon)|Entei Trophy]]||The player has to fight in a 3-minute match against three randomly chosen opponents, each combatant having two lives. One of the CPU opponents tends to stay on the left side of the battlefield. Upon winning the event match, the player obtains the Entei trophy.
|-
|27||'''Cold Armor'''||Samus||Brinstar Depths||The player has to fight three Metal Samuses, with the player only having one life, while the opponents have two lives.
|-
|28||'''Puffballs Unite!'''||Selectable||Green Greens||The player has to defeat 14 Kirbys, each having a different copied character ability. There is a time limit of two minutes.
|-
|29||'''Triforce Gathering'''||Link||Temple||The player has to fight Ganondorf, and is helped by Zelda. The player and Zelda have one life, Ganondorf has two. If Zelda is defeated, the Event Match is failed. After winning the event match, the player can unlock Ganondorf as a playable character upon beating him in a one-on-one match.
|-
|30||'''All-Star Match 3'''||Selectable||Fountain of Dreams, Pokémon Stadium, Onett, Icicle Mountain||The player, starting with two lives, has to fight Kirby, Pikachu, Ness, and the Ice Climbers in a row, battling each in a different stage.
|-
|31||'''Mario Bros. Madness'''||Selectable||Mushroom Kingdom||The player has to fight Mario and Luigi in a regular time match. They must earn more points than the other two in a time of two minutes.
|-
|32||'''Target Acquired'''||Falco||Corneria||The player has one minute to KO Jigglypuff as often as possible. The player has to defeat it more often than the Arwings. Jigglypuff starts and reappears each time with 70% damage.
|-
|33||'''Lethal Marathon'''||Captain Falcon||F-Zero Grand Prix (from Adventure mode)||The player has to reach the finish of the stage in a time of 45 seconds. However, the speed of the game is 2x faster than normal, making it difficult to control, and the player is usually KO'd instantly when touching the F-Zero machines.
|-
|34||'''Seven Years'''||Young Link||Great Bay||The player has to fight Link in a stock match with each having three lives.
|-
|35||'''Time for a Checkup'''||Luigi||Yoshi's Story||The player has to defeat Dr. Mario and Peach, who are in a team, with each having a single life. There is a 2 minute time limit.
|-
|36||'''Space Travelers'''||Ness||Fourside, Battlefield||The player, starting with a single life, has to defeat Samus, Kirby, Fox, Captain Falcon, and Falco in a row. The first three are fought on Fourside, the other two on the Battlefield stage. Each character gets progressively harder, in terms of the CPU level.
|-
|37||'''Legendary Pokémon'''||Selectable||Battlefield||The player, with one life, has to defeat four giant [[Fighting Wire Frames]], as well as Jigglypuff, who all have two lives. The only item that appears is the Pok&#233; Ball, which will either contain a Legendary Pokémon or a Wobbuffet. Only Jigglypuff will go after the Poké Balls, while the Fighting Wire Frames will always chase after the player. Upon winning the event match, the player gets the opportunity to unlock Pichu as a playable character by taking Pichu on in a one-on-one stock match.
|-
|38||'''[[Super Mario Bros. 2]]'''||Selectable||Mushroom Kingdom II||The player has to fight Mario, Luigi, and Peach in a stock battle, with each having two lives.
|-
|39||'''Jigglypuff Live!'''||Jigglypuff||Pokémon Stadium||The player has to fight three Jigglypuffs, with each combatant having three lives.
|-
|40||'''All-Star Match 4'''||Selectable||Temple, Mushroom Kingdom II, Poké Floats, Final Destination, Flat Zone||The player, starting with two lives, has to fight Marth, Luigi, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, and Mr. Game & Watch in a row, battling each in a different stage.
|-
|41||'''En Garde!'''||Marth||Temple||The player has to fight Link in a stock match with each having two lives.
|-
|42||'''Trouble King 2'''||Luigi||Poké Floats||The player has to fight a mega-sized Bowser in a stock match, with each having two lives. Bowser is given a huge handicap, which allows him to KO the player very easily.
|-
|43||'''Birds of Prey'''||Fox||Big Blue||The player has to fight Captain Falcon and Falco, who are in a team, in a stock match, with each combatant having two lives.
|-
|44||'''Mewtwo Strikes!'''||Selectable||Battlefield||The player has to fight Zelda in a stock battle. After a time of 15 seconds, Mewtwo appears and fights on Zelda's side. The player's goal is to KO Mewtwo. KOing Zelda will lead to a failure.
|-
|45||'''Game & Watch Forever!'''||Mr. Game & Watch||Flat Zone||The player, starting with three lives, has to fight 25 Mr. Game & Watches. Three of them are on the stage at a time.  Upon winning the event match, the player obtains the Game & Watch trophy.
|-
|46||'''Fire Emblem Pride'''||Selectable||Temple||The player has to fight Marth and Roy, who are in a team, in a stock match, with each combatant having three lives.
|-
|47||'''Trophy Tussle 3'''||Selectable||Majora's Mask Trophy||The player has to fight in a 3-minute match against three randomly chosen opponents, each combatant having two lives. Unlockable characters will occasionally pop up. Upon winning the event match, the player obtains the Majora's Mask trophy.
|-
|48||'''Pikachu and Pichu'''||Selectable||Dream Land (Past Stage)||The player, starting with two lives, has to defeat the two Pichus. They are defended by a Pikachu which respawns when defeated. The Pichus are handicapped so that they are difficult to KO.
|-
|49||'''All-Star Match Deluxe'''||Selectable||Mushroom Kingdom, Venom, Pokémon Stadium, Great Bay, Temple, Final Destination||The player, starting with two lives, has to fight Dr. Mario, Falco, Pichu, Young Link, Roy, and Ganondorf in a row, battling each in a different stage.
|-
|50||'''Final Destination Match'''||Selectable||Final Destination||The player, having a single life, has to battle Master Hand and Crazy Hand at the same time, each having 300 HP. No items will appear.
|-
|51||'''The Showdown'''||Selectable||Final Destination||The player has to fight [[Giga Bowser]], [[Ganondorf]], and [[Mewtwo]] in a stock match, with each combatant having three lives. Giga Bowser is easier to KO in this match, compared to in Adventure mode. Upon winning the event match, the player unlocks Final Destination as a selectable stage for the VS mode, as well as the Final Destination trophy. A message is also awarded if the player clears this Event Match without losing any lives.
|}
To unlock more event matches, the player has to win a certain number of the previous ones, and unlock additional characters.
{|class="wikitable"style="width:100%"
|-
!Events #
!Unlocked by
|-
|11 - 15||Winning at least 6 of the event matches #1 - 10
|-
|16 - 20||Winning at least 10 of the event matches #1 - 15
|-
|21 - 25||Winning at least 16 of the event matches #1 - 20
|-
|26 - 29||Winning at least 22 of the event matches #1 - 25
|-
|30||Winning at least 27 of the event matches #1 - 29
|-
|31 - 39||Complete 27 out of the 30 events and unlock [[smashwiki:Jigglypuff (SSBM)|Jigglypuff]], [[Luigi]], [[Dr. Mario]], [[smashwiki:Young Link (SSBM)|Young Link]], and [[smashwiki:Falco (SSBM)|Falco]].
|-
|40 - 50||Complete 27 of the first 39 events and unlock all the rest of unlockable characters (including: [[smashwiki:Marth (SSBM)|Marth]], [[smashwiki:Roy (SSBM)|Roy]], [[smashwiki:Ganondorf (SSBM)|Ganondorf]], [[smashwiki:Pichu (SSBM)|Pichu]], [[smashwiki:Mewtwo (SSBM)|Mewtwo]], and [[smashwiki:Mr. Game & Watch (SSBM)|Mr. Game & Watch]]).
|-
|51||Winning all event matches #1 - 50
|}
By playing in event matches, the player's record for each event is saved. Most events are stock matches, and in those the time the player needs to clear the event is saved as a record. For the few events in the Time setting, e. g. Event #31: Mario Bros. Madness and #32: Target Acquired, the number of KOs the player achieves is stored instead.

===Stadium===
In the Stadium, special minigames are available. Each minigame opens the way to unlock one of the Past Stages from the original ''Super Smash Bros.''

*'''[[smashwiki:Target Smash!|Target Test]]''': Here the player can play the [[Break the Targets!]] test, as it appears in Classic mode, separately. There is no time limit in this mode, unlike in Classic mode.
*'''[[smashwiki:Home-Run Contest|Home-Run Contest]]''': The goal of the Home-Run Contest is to throw the [[Sandbag]] as far as possible. The player gets a [[Home-Run Bat]] to do this. The player has ten seconds to damage the Sandbag before hitting it, so that it will fly farther away.
*'''[[smashwiki:Multi-Man Smash|Multi-Man Melee]]''': In this special mode the goal is to fight [[Fighting Wire Frames]].
*'''[[smashwiki:10-Man Smash|10-Man Melee]]''': The player has to KO 10 Wire Frames in the fastest time possible.
*'''[[smashwiki:100-Man Smash|100-Man Melee]]''': The player has to KO 100 Wire Frames in the fastest time possible. When winning, the player can unlock [[Falco Lombardi]].
*'''[[smashwiki:3-Minute Smash|3-Minute Melee]]''': The player has 3 minutes to KO as many Wire Frames as possible.
*'''[[smashwiki:15-Minute Smash|15-Minute Melee]]''': The player has 15 minutes to KO as many Wire Frames as possible. When winning, the player can unlock the Past [[Kongo Jungle (Super Smash Bros.)|Kongo Jungle]] stage.
*'''[[smashwiki:Endless Smash|Endless Melee]]''': The player has an unlimited amount of time to KO as many Wire Frames as possible.
*'''[[smashwiki:Cruel mode|Cruel Melee]]''': As in ''Endless Melee'', there is an unlimited amount of time. However, there are no items, the Wire Frames are harder to KO, and the player can get KO'd easily at low damage percentages.

===Training===
{{main-wiki|SmashWiki|Training Mode}}
The player can practice here. There are no rules such as Stock or Time, and the opponent can be controlled either by the Training menu, and set to actions such as walking and standing, or by a human player. Items can be created to practice with them specially. When the player performs standard combos here, the maximum number of combos is saved for each playable character, and the player can unlock several Trophies when getting a high number of them.

==VS. Mode==
{{main-wiki|SmashWiki|Versus Mode}}
===Melee===
[[File:MarioJump-SSBMelee.png|thumb|[[Mario]] in midjump]]
Melee mode allows players to set up the battles entirely for themselves. They can freely choose their characters, the stage, and have a variety of modes to play in. When using names, records are saved for the Melee mode which can be viewed in the Data menu. Up to four players can join the fight, either human or CPU-controlled players. It is possible to only let CPU players fight against each other.

Players choose their characters from the selection screen, and human players can set names for their characters to be displayed above the characters' heads during battle, and also recognizing the battle for their individual Melee Records rating. Multiple players can choose the same character to play as, and the characters then come in alternate outfits for each player. Each character has at least three alternate outfits for the team color red, blue, and green, but there can be up to six different costumes. Some costumes feature gimmicks; for example, one of Peach's costumes looks like [[Princess Daisy|Daisy]], and Mario has an outfit in [[Wario]]'s colors. When the same characters are on a team, they appear in different shadings.

The CPU levels range from 1 to 9, with 9 being the most advanced AI. An optional handicap mode also ranges from 1 to 9. The handicap determines how fast a character is knocked out by other fighters, items, and the stage environment. When characters have a high handicap, they are more resistant to stage hazards, and can easily KO opponents with lower handicaps. Whereas, for the low handicapped characters, they can be sent flying (even get KO'd) pretty easily by stage hazards, and will have a very hard time KOing higher handicapped players. If the handicap is set to "Auto", all players will start with a handicap of 5. With the "Auto" handicap setting, the winner of the next match will get their handicap lowered, while the loser will get their handicap heightened. On a side note, unlike in ''Super Smash Bros.'', CPU players can have their handicaps adjusted in this game.

[[File:SSBM Camera Mode.png|thumb|left|The character selection screen in the camera mode (see [[#Special Melee|Special Melee]]).]]
In the optional team battle mode, players can set up to three teams. The characters in the team work together and win or lose the match together. In Coin, Bonus, and Time mode, the points of each team are added and compared. In Stock mode, after a player of the team has been defeated, they can press {{button|gcn|Start}} to rejoin the battle, but takes away a life from one of their teammates. Optionally, the Friendly Fire option can be set, which makes it possible for teammates to (accidentally) hurt each other with their attacks.

The battle mode can be set to Time, Stock, Coin, and Bonus. For Time, Coin, and Bonus, the time limit can be set, and is 2 minutes by default. It can range from 1 minute to 99 minutes, or no time limit at all. The default Stock level is 3, the maximum number of lives is 99. Optionally, a time limit can be set for the Stock mode too. After it has run out, the player with the most lives remaining wins. For the Time mode, it can be determined how many points a player loses when doing a self-destruct. It can either be 1 (default), 2, or 0 points.

A special score display can be unlocked by reaching a total of 5000 KOs in VS mode. It displays the players' current score in Time Mode during the battle, which they would only know after the battle's end otherwise. Another optional setting is the Damage ratio, ranging from 0.5 to 2, default being 1. The higher it is, the faster do all players fly from the screen when hit by stage hazards or other fighters. Lastly, it can be decided whether players are allowed to pause the battle by hitting Start. Turning this off also prevents players from resetting the battle while it is paused by pressing {{button|gcn|L}}+{{button|gcn|R}}+{{button|gcn|A}}+{{button|gcn|Start}}.

On the Item Switch, the player can turn off specific items, change the chance of items appearing, or turn off items entirely. It can also be set which player is to select a stage for the next battle. By default, everyone can move the cursor and select a stage. It is also possible to allow only the loser of the last match to select, or to let the players select stages in turns, or to make the stage selected by the computer, either in a set order, or completely at random. When players have unlocked all the stages, except for the Past Stages, they can alter the random stage selection to exclude certain stages from the random routine.

After all preferences have been set, the players get onto the stage selection screen, which once again allows players to choose a random stage to play on. When all competing human players hold {{button|gcn|L}}+{{button|gcn|R}} when a stage is selected, the stage's alternate music track will play during battle, if it is available. When players are playing as Zelda and hold {{button|gcn|A}} after a stage has been selected, they will start the battle as Sheik.

The pre-match countdown from 3 by the announcer, cheering for characters by the crowd, and unique on-screen appearances for each playable fighter are absent. Instead, the announcer says, "Ready... Go!" at the start of a match, and when the match ends in a tie, the announcer says, "Sudden Death... Go!" at the start of a sudden death match, and all fighters share the same animation of a trophy coming to life. In Time matches, the announcer counts down from 5 during the last five seconds before shouting, "Time!"

As the battle ends, the players get to the battle results screen, where they can view their KO scores, a list of their bonus points, and special statistics about their movements. These lists are available in all the VS Game Modes, except for Camera Mode and Stamina Mode.

===Tournament Melee===
{{main-wiki|SmashWiki|Tournament Mode (SSBM)}}
'''Tournament''': In this mode, played as a single-elimination tournament, the winner of a battle passes on to the next round CPU-only matches can be skipped. The number of combatants per battle ranges from 2 to 4. The number of entrants is selected and can be up to 64. It is selected how many humans are among the competing players. The stage selection mode is selected; "Single Random" chooses a stage at random on that every match of the tournament is played, "Always Different" chooses a new random stage for each battle, "Choose First" lets the player select the stage for the tournament in the beginning and "Choose All" lets the player choose a new stage for each match of the tournament. The level of additional computer opponents can be set from 1 to 9, applied to all, or to a random value applied to each CPU player. The rules settings for the battles have the same choices as the VS mode. Each player chooses their character and the tournament begins.

'''Winner out/Loser out''': This mode is for human players only. A number of players fight against each other. The winner or the loser of the match, depending on the setting, gives his controller to the next player waiting for his turn to come. This continues endlessly, until the mode is canceled. Players are free to change their characters while the tournament is ongoing. When they hold down {{button|gcn|L}} and {{button|gcn|R}}, their character image changes to a [[bulbapedia:Ditto (Pokémon)|Ditto]], the placeholder for a random character. Here, too, the number of combatants per battle ranges from 2 to 4, and the number of entrants can be up to 64. The stage selection mode has the same options as in the regular tournament.

===Special Melee===
{{main-wiki|SmashWiki|Special Smash}}
This mode offers a couple of different rules settings for the Melee mode. Any records (such as amount of KOs) are not counted.
{|class="wikitable"style="text-align:center"
!colspan=2 style="font-size:120%" align=center|Special Melee modes
|-
!width=20%|Name
!width=80%|Description
|-
|Camera Mode||In this mode, the players can take screenshots. These screenshots are saved on the memory card. The number of blocks a screenshot takes is defined by how many objects are visible on it.
|-
|Stamina Mode||As it is seen at the Master Hand in Classic mode, players have 150 HP instead of percentage of damage. The player gets KO'd if their HP hits 0. The amount of HP the players start with, however, cannot be changed.
|-
|Super Sudden Death||All players start with 300% damage. This will cause them to be knocked out almost instantly when hit by a strong attack.
|-
|Giant Melee||All players are giant, as if they had taken Super Mushrooms. Handicaps do not work properly for this game mode.
|-
|Tiny Melee||All players are tiny, as if they had taken Poison Mushrooms. Handicaps do not work properly for this game mode.
|-
|Invisible Melee||All players are invisible, as if they had Cloaking Devices.
|-
|Fixed Camera Mode||The camera is zoomed out as far as possible, showing the whole stage, and does not move during the battle.
|-
|Single-Button Mode||Only the {{button|gcn|Stick}} and the {{button|gcn|A}} button work in this mode, allowing only basic attacks. This mode is designed for beginners, but it renders the {{button|gcn|Y}} and {{button|gcn|X}} buttons useless. The {{button|gcn|C}} can still be used.
|-
|Lightning Melee||In this mode, the game plays a lot faster, making it hard for players to execute and react on attacks.
|-
|Slo-Mo Melee||The opposite of Lightning Melee. The game is a lot slower, making it easier to execute and react on attacks.
|}

==Trophies==
{{Main|List of trophies in Super Smash Bros. Melee}}
[[File:TrophyGallery.png|thumb|upright=1.1|Viewing a trophy.]]
[[Trophy (Super Smash Bros. series)|Trophies]] can be collected in single-player mode, won in the special lottery mode, or acquired on special events, such as playing a certain number of matches in VS mode. There are 290 trophies in the game (293 in the Japanese version, 292 in the PAL version), with a large percentage being ''Super Mario'' franchise characters, items, and locations. Each of the playable characters have three trophies. One explains the character's backstory in the game they originated from, and is collected by completing Classic mode. The other two explain their ''Super Smash Bros. Melee'' background. They can be collected by completing the Adventure and All-Star mode with them, or by completing a sufficient amount of VS mode matches with the respective character. 
{{br}}

==Unlockable features==
When unlocking any of the secret characters, the player first has to beat them in a stock battle with one life each. When the player loses, several characters will appear again after the player has played the next VS match. Other characters require the player to achieve the task again. In addition to their special method of unlocking, all characters can alternately be unlocked by playing a certain number of matches in the VS mode.
{|class="wikitable sortable"style="text-align:center"
!Character
!First unlock method
!Number of VS matches
|-
|Jigglypuff
|Completing Classic or Adventure with any character.
|50
|-
|Dr. Mario
|Completing Classic or Adventure with Mario without using a continue.
|100
|-
|Pichu
|Beating Event Match #37 
|200
|-
|Falco
|Completing the 100-Man Melee
|300
|-
|Marth
|Completing or failing Classic or Adventure mode with all default characters or playing as every default character in VS. Mode.
|400
|-
|Young Link
|Completing Classic or Adventure with ten different characters.
|500
|-
|Ganondorf
|Completing Event Match #29
|600
|-
|Mewtwo
|Playing in VS. Mode for 20 hours with one controller, ten hours with two controllers, six hours with three controllers or four hours with four controllers.
|700
|-
|Luigi
|Finishing the first stage of Adventure with a XX:X2:XX on the countdown timer, then defeating Luigi in the battle on Princess Peach's Castle, and then fighting him again after completing Adventure.
|800
|-
|Roy
|Completing Classic or Adventure with Marth without using a continue.
|900
|-
|Mr. Game & Watch
|Completing Classic, Adventure, or Break the Targets with all other 24 characters.
|1000
|}
There is only one method to unlock the stages, and the player does not have to unlock them by an additional battle like the characters.
{|class="wikitable sortable"style="text-align:center"
!Stage
!How to unlock
|-
|Battlefield 
|Beating the All-Star mode
|-
|Brinstar Depths
|Playing 50 VS matches
|-
|Fourside
|Playing 100 VS matches
|-
|Big Blue
|Playing 150 VS matches
|-
|Poké Floats
|Playing 200 VS matches
|-
|Dream Land
|Beating the Target Test with all 25 characters
|-
|Final Destination
|Beating Event Match #51
|-
|Flat Zone
|Beating the Classic Mode with Mr. Game & Watch
|-
|Kongo Jungle
|Beating the 15-Minute Melee
|-
|Mushroom Kingdom II
|Getting the Birdo or Pidgit Trophies.
|-
|Yoshi's Island
|Getting the Sandbag over the 400 meter/1,325 feet mark at the Home-Run Contest.
|}

==Soundtrack==
Each stage has a track from the game it is from, and some stages also have alternate music tracks which are not necessarily from the game the stage is from. The alternate music is heard more rarely than the regular one. However, the player can force the game to play a stage's alternate music by holding {{button|gcn|L}} or {{button|gcn|R}} when selecting a stage on the stage selection screen.  If more than one player is playing, however, every player has to do this action to get the alternate music.

When all stages are unlocked, the player gains access to the Sound Test, where the player can play all music tracks and voices from the game, and might occasionally hear an alternate music track in the menu. Also, if the player uses sound test and then opens the trophy gallery, whichever song was played last in sound test is played in the trophy gallery. However, the music has to loop, or else it will not be played in the trophy gallery.

An orchestrated version of the game's soundtrack was released as a special CD known as [[Super Smash Bros. Melee: Smashing...Live!]].

==Critical reception==
Like its predecessor, ''Super Smash Bros. Melee'' received very positive reviews from most critics. The game came in sixth for two [http://www.gamefaqs.com/ GameFAQs] events: the Best...Game...Ever contest and as a poll for the 100 best games ever. [[Nintendo Power]] named ''Super Smash Bros. Melee'' the 16th best game ever to appear on a Nintendo console, and "Game of the Year" in 2001. [http://www.ign.com IGN] gave ''Super Smash Bros. Melee'' a rating of 9.6 out of 10, and ranked it as the 3rd best Nintendo GameCube game, out of all GameCube games released to date. Electronic Gaming Monthly gave the game a 9.5 out of 10, and it was ranked 92nd on the Electronic Gaming Monthly's "Top 200 Games of Their Time" list. In fact, it was ranked as the 3rd best Video Game of all time during the 2001 Penny Arcade Award Ceremony.

It was praised for its increased number of modes and characters, as well as improved graphics. The inclusion of the Adventure mode and Event Match was highly complimented. Overall, the game's critical reception was very positive, and the game still continues to be a gamer favorite, being frequently played at tournaments alongside more traditional fighting games such as ''[[:Category:Street Fighter series|Street Fighter]]''.
{|class="wikitable reviews"
!colspan="4"style="font-size:120%;text-align:center;background-color:silver;"|Reviews
|-style="background-color:#E6E6E6"
|Release
|Reviewer, Publication
|Score
|Comment 
|-
|[[Nintendo GameCube]]
|Tom "Mugwum" Bramwell,<br>[https://web.archive.org/web/20020604032523/https://www.eurogamer.net/content/r_ssbm_gc Eurogamer]
|10/10
|''Overall it's an exotic cocktail of entertainment for Nintendo fans, who will slurp up every last drop, and if you want to talk about longevity, I've had this game on import for about six months and I still haven't finished it. People talk about killer apps and games that sell systems, and if you can put aside any preconceptions of this as a kiddie title or a game for beat 'em up virgins only, then you will have one of the finest videogames ever to issue forth from the caring hands of a developer. One to be remembered, and definitely one to own.''
|-
|Nintendo GameCube
|Bryn "hardcore_pawn" Williams,<br>[https://web.archive.org/web/20020209221933/http://www.gamespy.com/reviews/december01/ssbmgc/ Gamespy]
|9/10
|''here is no doubt that Super Smash Bros. Melee is one the top games on the GameCube and will be a huge hit this Christmas. But does it really do that much more than the original [[Nintendo 64|N64]] [[Super Smash Bros.|title]]? In terms of design, control and gameplay, it doesn't. Instead, Super Smash Bros. Melee adds, adds and adds some more fun to the already superb original game. The extra attention to detail, characters, sights and sounds are a Nintendo enthusiasts' wet dream. Be assured that all those people you call friends that stare at the TV screen in total disbelief and utter confusion at the carnage they are witnessing will soon be sniffing around that spare joypad, wondering how they can get in on the action. HAL and Nintendo have done a stellar job at bringing a massive amount of in-depth fun to the GameCube. This is one game you won't put down until every technique, option and secret has been revealed.''
|-
|Nintendo GameCube
|Miguel Lopez,<br>[https://web.archive.org/web/20011217165244/https://www.gamespot.com/gamespot/stories/reviews/0,10867,2829090,00.html/ GameSpot]
|8.9/10
|''Super Smash Bros. Melee has clearly been designed to appeal, foremost, to Nintendo's die-hard fans. Those who are familiar with the company's long and illustrious history will no doubt enjoy the game much more than the casual passerby. Judged on its own merits, though, Nintendo's spastic tribute to itself stands quite strong as one of the most engaging multiplayer games available for any console platform. Nintendo's last console was especially strong in the multiplayer department, and, if games like Melee are any indication, the GameCube seems like it will be too. Super Smash Bros. Melee is simply a huge game that, while best enjoyed in the company of others, will also keep the lone, die-hard fan busy for a good, long while.''
|-
!colspan="4"style="font-size:120%;text-align:center;background-color:silver;"|Aggregators
|-style="background-color:#E6E6E6"
|colspan=2|Compiler
|colspan=2|{{nowrap|Platform / Score}}
|-
|colspan=2|Metacritic
|colspan=2 style="background-color:LimeGreen"|[https://www.metacritic.com/game/gamecube/super-smash-bros-melee 92]
|-
|colspan=2|GameRankings
|colspan=2|[https://www.gamerankings.com/gamecube/516492-super-smash-bros-melee/index.html 90.52%]
|}
===Sales===
''Super Smash Bros. Melee'' is the best-selling game for the [[Nintendo GameCube]], selling about 7.09 million copies worldwide, as of December 31, 2009.

==Media==
{{main|List of Super Smash Bros. Melee media}}
{{media table
|file1=SSBM Menu.oga
|title1=Menu theme
|description1=Theme that plays in the menu of the game.
|length1=0:30
|file2=SSBM Princess Peach's Castle.oga
|title2=Princess Peach's Castle
|length2=0:30
|file3=SSBM Rainbow Cruise.oga
|title3=Rainbow Cruise
|length3=0:30
}}

==Staff==
{{main|List of Super Smash Bros. Melee staff}}
===Voice actors===
{|class="wikitable sortable"style="text-align:center"
!Characters
!Voice actor
|-
|Mario, Luigi, Dr. Mario
|[[Charles Martinet]]
|-
|Princess Peach
|[[Jen Taylor]]
|-
|Link
|{{wp|Nobuyuki Hiyama}}
|-
|Kirby, Ness
|{{wp|Makiko Ohmoto}}
|-
|Yoshi
|[[Kazumi Totaka]]
|-
|Fox McCloud
|{{wp|Shinobu Satouchi}}
|-
|Fox McCloud (cutscene)
|{{wp|Steve Malpass}}
|-
|Pikachu
|{{wp|Ikue Ōtani|Ikue Ohtani}}
|-
|Captain Falcon
|{{wp|Ryo Horikawa}}
|-
|Jigglypuff (English)
|{{wp|Rachael Lillis}}
|-
|Jigglypuff (Japanese)
|{{wp|Mika Kanai}}
|-
|Jigglypuff (French)
|Guylaine Gibert
|-
|Jigglypuff (German)
|Mara Winzer
|-
|Ganondorf
|[[Takashi Nagasako]]
|-
|Popo, Nana
|{{wp|Sanae Kobayashi}}
|-
|Zelda, Sheik
|{{wp|Jun Mizusawa}}
|-
|Young Link
|{{wp|Fujiko Takimoto}}
|-
|Falco Lombardi
|{{wp|Hisao Egawa}}
|-
|Falco Lombardi (cutscene)
|{{wp|Ben Cullum}}
|-
|Pichu
|{{wp|Satomi Koorogi}}
|-
|Mewtwo
|{{wp|Masachika Ichimura}}
|-
|Marth
|{{wp|Hikaru Midorikawa}}
|-
|Roy
|{{wp|Jun Fukuyama}}
|-
|Announcer, Master Hand, Crazy Hand
|Dean Harrington
|}

==Pre-release and unused content==
{{main|List of Super Smash Bros. Melee pre-release and unused content}}
Through the use of an Action Replay, many unused/unfinished stages can be found. The first is a large, gray stage with the background appearing to be some kind of pub. The music is the same as used on [[Fox|Fox McCloud]] and [[Falco Lombardi]]'s stage [[Corneria]]. This is assumed to be a test stage because of its name, which on the debug menu is TEST. There are three other stages, "AKANEIA" (a possible predecessor to [[Castle Siege]] from ''[[Super Smash Bros. Brawl]]'', a home world for ''Fire Emblem''), "10-2", and "Dummy", which all crash the game when loaded. The last stage is named IceTop, which simply loads Icicle Mountain except without music.

Sakurai stated that other characters were considered to be playable, but were not included due to multiple reasons. During development, Sakurai wanted to scrap [[Ness]] and replace him with [[Lucas]], but he chose Ness due to the constant delay and cancellation of Mother 3.<ref>https://www.nintendo.co.jp/n01/n64/software/nus_p_nalj/smash/flash/0717/</ref> Sakurai also stated that Hideo Kojima asked him if [[Snake|Solid Snake]] from Metal Gear could be playable, when Sakurai received the request, Snake could not be included due to development being very far in.<ref>[https://www.engadget.com/2012/03/19/thank-kojimas-son-for-getting-snake-into-smash-bros-brawl/]</ref> Snake and Lucas later became playable in ''Brawl'', but Lucas did not replace Ness. [[Sonic|Sonic The Hedgehog]] was  briefly considered as a playable character, and Sakurai was even close to beginning development on Sonic, but he was later cut due to time constraints.<ref> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jK1Kp679FGc&t=1899s</ref> Sonic joined the roster in ''Brawl''. [[Wario]] was a highly requested character for the roster of ''Melee'', Sakurai expressed that he would add Wario to ''Melee'' if he had time to add just one more character. Sakurai also explained that he did not include Wario as a playable character because he felt that the game would have too many ''Mario'' characters, and he did not want to overrepresent the series. He also stated that he could have used development time allocated to implementing other characters like [[Mewtwo]], [[Marth]] or [[Roy]] to add Wario instead, but he opted not to.<ref>https://www.nintendo.co.jp/n01/n64/software/nus_p_nalj/smash/flash/syukeiken/return576.html</ref> This means that either Mewtwo or Marth and Roy would have to be removed and replaced by Wario, but Sakurai did not want to do it. Wario was later playable in ''Brawl''.

==Glitches==
{{main|List of Super Smash Bros. Melee glitches}}
===Ice Climbers freeze===
To perform this glitch, the player should select the [[List of fighters debuting in Super Smash Bros. Melee#Ice Climbers|Ice Climbers]], and while wall walking up to the opponent, have the partner grab the opponent. Right as the opponent is grabbed, the main Ice Climber needs to perform Side+B, resulting in the opponent being frozen in place. They can be unfrozen by using a Screw Attack. This does not seem to cause any damage to the disc.

===Infinite Super Scope glitch===
There is an in-game glitch to get an infinite [[Super Scope]] that will never run out of bullets. It is obtained by shooting fifteen small shots then two charged shots and during charging of the third shot the player must get hit, that will result in an infinite Super Scope. If the player throws the scope, it will disappear.

==References to other games==
*''[[Donkey Kong (game)|Donkey Kong]]'' - [[Donkey Kong]]'s red costume is a reference to his original sprite from this game. The [[Hammer]] returns as an item in this game. [[Mario]]'s blue costume resembles his original sprite from this game.
*''[[Mario Bros. (game)|Mario Bros.]]'' - Mario's blue-hatted costume resembles his artwork and arcade sprites from this game. A [[Freezie]] appears in this game as an item and a collectible trophy. Mario's green costume resembles [[Luigi]]'s artwork from this game.
*''[[Wrecking Crew]]'' - Mario's white and black costume is based on [[Foreman Spike]]'s outfit. [[Eggplant Man]] appears as a trophy. Luigi's red and pink costume is based off his colors in this game.
*''[[Super Mario Bros.]]'' - The stage [[Mushroom Kingdom (Super Smash Bros. Melee)|Mushroom Kingdom]] is based on levels from ''Super Mario Bros.'' Many enemies appear in ''Super Smash Bros. Melee''{{'}}s Mushroom Kingdom in Adventure mode, as well as trophies. One of Luigi's alternate colorations is based off of his colors in this game, including having yellow skin. One of [[Princess Peach|Peach]]'s alternate colorations is based off of her colors in this game. One of [[Bowser]]'s alternate colorations is based off his appearance from the international cover of this game.
*''[[Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels]]'' - The [[Poison Mushroom]] makes its first ''Smash Bros.'' appearance as an item in this game.
*''[[Super Mario Bros. 2]]'' - The stage [[Mushroom Kingdom II]] is based on [[Subcon]], the setting of ''Super Mario Bros. 2''. [[Birdo]] and [[Pidgit]] appear as stage elements, as well as trophies. Peach's down special move, [[Vegetable (move)|Vegetable]], originated from this game, as well as her ability to float.
*''[[Super Mario Land]]'' - Peach's yellow costume is based off of [[Princess Daisy]]. Princess Daisy also appears as a trophy.
*''[[Super Mario Bros. 3]]'' - The alternate music for [[Yoshi's Island (Super Smash Bros. Melee)|Yoshi's Island]] is an arrangement of the overworld theme and the theme for [[Grass Land]]. [[Raccoon Mario]] appears in the form of a collectible trophy. Bowser's down special move, [[Bowser Bomb (move)|Bowser Bomb]], is based on the ground pound-type move he uses in this game.
*''[[Dr. Mario (game)|Dr. Mario]]'' - [[Dr. Mario]] appears in this game as a playable character. His standard special move, [[Capsule|Megavitamin]], originated from this game. [[Virus]]es appear as a collectible trophy.
*''[[Super Mario World]]'' - The stage Yoshi's Island is based on the [[Yoshi's Island (location)#Super Mario World|Yoshi's Island]] levels from this game. [[Banzai Bill]] and [[Fishin' Lakitu]] appear as background elements. The Banzai Bill appears as a trophy. Mario's side special move is the [[Cape]], which he could use to reflect projectiles. His and Luigi's down special move, [[Mario Tornado]] and [[Luigi Cyclone]], are reminiscent of the [[Spin Jump]] from this game. The [[Koopa Clown Car]] appears as a trophy. Also, a trophy of Mario riding [[Yoshi]] is collectible in the Japanese version of the game.
*''[[Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins]]'' - Mario's yellow and purple costume is based off of [[Wario]]. Wario also appears as a trophy.
*''[[Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island]]'' - Many of Yoshi's moves come from this game. His second jump is the [[Flutter Jump]], a technique that originated in this game. [[Baby Mario]] and [[Baby Bowser]] appear as trophies.
*[[Mario Kart (series)|''Mario Kart'' series]] - A [[kart|racing kart]] appears in the form of a trophy.
*''[[Donkey Kong Country]]'' - Donkey Kong's down special move, [[Hand Slap]], originated from this game. Some of Donkey Kong's animations are references to animations he performs in ''Donkey Kong Country''. Also, Donkey Kong's victory theme is an orchestration of the tune that plays when he wins in a [[Bonus Area]] or defeats a boss. [[Kongo Falls|Kongo Jungle]], a stage based on the first area of ''Donkey Kong Country'', appears. [[Klaptrap]]s appear on the Kongo Jungle and [[Jungle Japes (stage)|Jungle Japes]] stages, and as a trophy. A [[Barrel Cannon]] is used as an item in this game, as well as a stage element on the Kongo Jungle stage and a trophy. [[King K. Rool]] appears in the form of a trophy.
*''[[Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars]]'' - Peach cycles through a [[Frying Pan|frying pan]] in her forward smash, a weapon she first uses in this game. Her neutral attack is based on her [[Super Slap]] move in this game. Bowser's side tilt is reminiscent of the second hit of his [[Drill Claw]] move, and his side special, [[Koopa Klaw]], is reminiscent of the first hit of his Drill Claw move.
*''[[Super Mario 64]]'' - Many of Mario's moves, animations, and voice clips are recycled in ''Super Smash Bros. Melee''. Luigi has the same moves and voice clips as Mario in ''Super Mario 64'', but his voice clips are higher-pitched versions of Mario's from ''Super Mario 64''. [[Metal Mario]] returns as an opponent in Adventure mode. Metal Mario also appears as a trophy. The [[Cap Block|Metal Box]] returns in this game as an item and in the form of a collectible trophy, and [[Peach's Castle]] appears as a [[Princess Peach's Castle (Super Smash Bros. Melee)|stage]]. Princess Peach's Castle also appears as a trophy. [[Rainbow Cruise]] appears as a stage, which is based on the [[Rainbow Ride]] course from this game. One of [[Kirby]]'s [[wikirby:Stone|Stone]] forms is based on the Thwomp design first used in this game. One of Princess Peach's [[smashwiki:File:Peach-Victory2-SSBM.gif|victory poses]] has her ending in a pose similar to how she appears on her castle's [[Media:Peach's Castle 64.png| stained glass portrait]] in this game.
*''[[Yoshi's Story]]'' - The stage [[Super Happy Tree (stage)|Yoshi's Island]] returns from the original ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]'', which is based on ''Yoshi's Story'' that features the [[Super Happy Tree]] and other characters in the background. There is another stage based on ''Yoshi's Story'', which is [[Yoshi's Story (stage)|also named after it]]. [[Fly Guy|Flying Shy Guy]], [[Pak E. Derm]], and [[Raphael the Raven]] appear as trophies. Yoshi's voice clips are derived from this game. Also, Yoshi's victory theme is an arrangement of the main theme of ''Yoshi's Story''. The various colors of Yoshi, including respective shoe colors, originate from this game.
*[[Mario Golf (series)|''Mario Golf'' series]] - Peach cycles through a golf club in her forward smash. [[Plum]], a character who appeared in the first ''[[Mario Golf (Nintendo 64)|Mario Golf]]'' game, appears as a trophy.
*''[[Donkey Kong 64]]'' - The music for Kongo Jungle is an arrangement of the [[DK Rap]]. [[Jungle Japes (stage)|Jungle Japes]], a stage based on [[Jungle Japes|the area of the same name]], is playable in ''Super Smash Bros. Melee''.
*[[Mario Tennis (series)|''Mario Tennis'' series]] - Peach cycles through a tennis racket in her forward smash. [[Waluigi]], who debuted in the first ''[[Mario Tennis (N64)|Mario Tennis]]'' game, appears as a trophy.
*''[[Luigi's Mansion]]'' - A trophy of Luigi holding the [[Poltergust 3000]] is collectible.

==References in later media==
*''[[Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door]]'' - In the Spanish version of the original game, [[Rawk Hawk]] in his debut when taunting his opponents upon losing specifically references ''Melee'' when telling them they are better off playing that for "fighting" (in every other version, he simply says they are better off playing video games without specifying any specific games).
*''[[Donkey Konga]]'': The opening theme from ''Super Smash Bros. Melee'' reappears as a track in the PAL version of this game.
*''[[Super Smash Bros. Brawl]]'' - One of the names that appears when the player presses the "Random Name" button when naming their custom stage is "Melee". ''Super Smash Bros. Melee''{{'}}s opening theme and menu theme have been arranged for this game. The original menu theme also directly reappears in this game, along with the [[Final Destination]], [[Battlefield]], [[Giga Bowser]], and [[Fighting Wire Frames|Multi-Man Melee]] 1 themes.
*''[[Super Mario 3D World]]'' - There is a [[Mystery House]] known as [[Mystery House Melee]], where the objective is to fight several enemies in a row.
*''[[Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS]]'' / ''[[Super Smash Bros. for Wii U|Wii U]]'': An arrangement of ''Super Smash Bros. Melee''{{'}}s Battlefield theme appears in both games on the Final Destination stage. The Multi-Man Melee 2, [[Metal Mario]]/Luigi battle, and [[Trophy (Super Smash Bros. series)|trophy]] menu themes also appear in the latter game alongside previous arrangements from ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl''.
*''[[Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]]'' - Luigi is seen doing the Green Missile in this game's {{media link|Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - panoramic.png|panorama group artwork}}, which is also what he did in {{media link|SSBM.jpg|''Melee''{{'}}s group artwork}}. [[Yoshi]]'s new [[Final Smash]] is a reference to his appearance in ''Super Smash Bros. Melee''{{'}}s opening. [[Giga Bowser]] returns as a boss in Classic Mode and Adventure Mode: World of Light.
*''[[The Super Mario Bros. Movie]]'' - Bowser's back-up plan upon Peach rejecting him is to launch an explosive [[Banzai Bill|Bomber Bill]] onto the roof of her castle, like the [[Princess Peach's Castle (Super Smash Bros. Melee)|stage]] from this game.

==Gallery==
{{main-gallery}}
<gallery>
Mario SSBM art.png|[[Mario]]
Donkey Kong Artwork - Super Smash Bros. Melee.jpg|[[Donkey Kong]]
Link SSBM art.png|[[Link]]
Ice climbers.jpg|[[Ice Climbers]]
Princess Peach's Castle Melee.png|[[Princess Peach's Castle (Super Smash Bros. Melee)|Princess Peach's Castle]]
SSBM.png|The game's logo.
SSBM Logo J.png|The Japanese game's logo.
</gallery>

==Names in other languages==
{{foreign names
|Jap={{ruby|大|だい}}{{ruby|乱|らん}}{{ruby|闘|とう}}スマッシュブラザーズ{{ruby|ＤＸ|デラックス}}
|JapR=Dairantō Sumasshu Burazāzu Derakkusu
|JapM=Great Fray Smash Bros. Deluxe
|Kor=대난투 스매시브라더스 DX
|KorR=Daenantu Seumaesi Beuradeoseu DX
|KorM=Great Fray Smash Bros. Deluxe
}}

==Trivia==
{{NIWA|Bulbapedia=1|FZeroWiki=1|FireEmblem=1|LylatWiki=1|MetroidWiki=Metroid in Super Smash Bros. Melee|NWiki=1|Nookipedia=1|Pikipedia=1|SmashWiki=1|StrategyWiki=1|WiKirby=1|WikiBound=1|ZeldaWiki=1}}
*In Classic Mode, for some unknown reason, the player never fights against [[Ganondorf]] or [[Roy (Fire Emblem)|Roy]]. Ganondorf appears only as a teammate in Classic Mode, while Roy never appears at all as a CPU player. In addition, Zelda is never a teammate for the player in that game mode. Also, the player only fights [[Mr. Game & Watch]] in the multi-man battle.
*''Super Smash Bros. Melee'' is not only the first in its franchise to be Teen-rated, but it's also the first time that any of those Nintendo characters that appear in-game, with the exception of ''[[:Category:Fire Emblem series|Fire Emblem]]'' characters, appeared in a game rated Teen or a foreign equivalent.
*There were three versions of this game released in the NTSC format. The first version was 1.0 NTSC DOL-GALE 0-00, which was the original version with the words "Nintendo's best in 4-player action" labeled on the front. The second version was 1.1 NTSC DOL-GALE 0-01, which was the [[Player's Choice]] version. The last version was 1.2 NTSC DOL-GALE 0-02, which had the words "Best Seller" labeled on the front. While the first two had the original "Official Nintendo Seal of Quality" labeled on the boxes and the discs, the last version had Nintendo's revised "[[Official Nintendo Seal]]" on the box due to the patch being released after December of 2003. Despite this, the seal on the updated disc still says "Official Nintendo Seal of Quality". The instruction booklet was additionally not revised for the last version, retaining the original seal on the copyright page. Each newer version had different patches and gameplay improvements.
*This is the first GameCube game appearance for all of the playable characters excluding Mario, Luigi, and Bowser, whose first appearance in a GameCube game was ''[[Luigi's Mansion]]''.
**However, Mario and Bowser were not playable on the GameCube until this game, making Luigi the only playable character in ''Super Smash Bros. Melee'' to be playable in a previous GameCube game, as ''Luigi's Mansion'' was released before ''Melee''.

==References==
<references/>

{{SSBM}}
{{Super Mario games}}
{{GCN}}
[[Category:Super Smash Bros. Melee|*]]
[[Category:Games]]
[[Category:Nintendo GameCube games]]
[[Category:2001 games]]
[[Category:2002 games]]
[[Category:Player's Choice]]
[[Category:Crossover games]]
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