Super Smash Brothers Melee was recently part of the mega-popular EVO fighting game event.
Yes, Nintendo Gamecube’s Super Smash Brothers Melee
Let’s keep in mind by the way. It is 2015, and Melee is still a major player in the professional gaming community. That game is over a decade old and has just as many fans and has just as deep a community as your modern Street Fighters and your modern Mortal Kombats. What was originally brushed off as a fun yet hypersensitive brawler has blossomed into one of the most cherished games in the history of all gaming. Melee (a sixth generation game) hanging out with the eighth generation games is the equivalent of a team of 40-year-olds outplaying 20-somethings in basketball. The sheer longevity of Melee in the social gaming circles is beyond impressive.
And Nintendo needs to continue capitalizing on this, especially when the machine it originally came out on is becoming obsolete and slightly harder to come by. We need to preserve this game and transform it into a high-definition and online-friendly component. Whether it be through the WiiU or the NX, or whatever system Nintendo decides to throw for the ninth generation, we need the House of Mario to take a page from 90s Capcom and create a Turbo Edition, or an Alpha Edition to their gem. And this wouldn’t be some cheap way to make extra cash, it’s a way to expand the options of a rapidly growing community of Melee enthusiasts.
In my vision, Super Smash Brothers Melee Tournament Edition would take every single spec of gameplay from the 2001 masterpiece (yes, everything, including the physics and the advanced techniques and individual stats of each fighter) and give it a polish. Remember the re-release of Street Fighter II for the XBox Arcade? That’s exactly what they should be looking for. Do not try to fix perfection (new characters wouldn’t hurt, but at the same time wouldn’t be necessary), just try to give it a facelift. In this day and age, Melee is just an HD facelift away from standing even closer to the modern fighters.
We can even take it a step further and make some arcade machines out of Smash Brothers Melee to give that 90s king of the mountain feel that we used to experience when heading to the arcades to take on the local legend in whatever big game was out at the time. We don’t need the Melee machines everywhere, just in your gaming hotspots like Las Vegas, Orlando, New York City, etc. I can see Nintendo nabbing even more cash by going retro and simultaneously re-introduce Melee into the gaming stratosphere. Honestly though, wouldn’t any university be bursting with excitement upon seeing a Super Smash Brothers Melee arcade machine in their campus?
Throwing Melee into the online gaming world would make it easier for bragging rights, tournaments popping up left and right, qualifying matches that can be held around the world, and much more. Imagine a ranking system that can be viewed at any time in a Smash Brothers Melee Tournament website. Imagine racking up points and rising up your position as you take to the online world and take on fighters from around the world in between major gaming tournaments and conventions. Technically you can pull this off with the other Smash Brothers that have released after Melee, but for some odd reason no matter how many characters and changes you throw at the franchise we just keep coming back to Melee and reminisce its glory.
And on the off chance that you might argue that re-releasing Melee might take away from the sales of the mainstream-friendlier current editions, look at the sales of the Mario games on the Wii:
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Super Mario Galaxy/Super Mario Galaxy 2 (More hardcore titles): 18.71 million
New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Family-friendly): 28.05 million
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Both hardcore and casual can definitely exist hand in hand, because everyone wins---those seeking fun have their game, and those seeking to enter a cutthroat world of fighting that we could never have imagined back in 2001 get theirs too. Honestly this would strengthen Nintendo’s relationship with the hardcore crowd and also give gamers of today to experience the sheer mayhem we experienced when we first started playing and loving Melee.
Personally, I believe catering to the still-rampant audience of Melee fanboys would be great for Nintendo, great for the fans, and great for potential new fans. Giving an HD remake to the masses as well as crafting a deep, engaging, and committed online functionality would send Smash Brothers Melee to new gaming heights, and would potentially allow it to progress even more in the professional gaming community. Look at all the revenue League of Legends draws in, as some of their tournaments draws prizes of over 2 million dollars. Dota 2 has tournaments that shell out 10 million in prizes. Games that can develop enough money to warrant such prizes has to be rolling in eternal cash. Not saying Melee can match the PC competitive gaming universe, but can still make a big name for itself with the increased exposure and increased accessibility.
You couldn’t find me a fighting game fan or a Nintendo fan that finds a Melee: Tournament Edition to be a bad idea. It is a gold mine of an opportunity, where the rewards will justify the spending no matter which way you spin it. Make this happen Nintendo, and I will be among the first in line at the door waiting to purchase my copy. Just don’t expect me to fight with the big boys. But don’t worry, there will be plenty of people guaranteed to want to be the King of Smash. And you’ll make millions along the way.
