A Tribute to Melee? FAKE NEWS Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Event Online Tourney!

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - Also, Super Smash Bros. Melee is a lot different than I remember.

Over the weekend, Masahiro Sakurai decided to hold a special event tournament for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate called...“A Tribute to Melee”. You can read up on the details and see the event-specific artwork here. (If you've ever seen Super Smash Bros. Melee's character selection screen, you'll appreciate it.) It's described as...

“This tourney is just for fighters and stages that appeared in Super Smash Bros. Melee! Even the items that appear come from Melee!” 

It's a four-for-all time match. Clearly, this is a tribute to casual Super Smash Bros. Melee, though of an idealised kind that plays time matches instead of stock matches. So, why does the article title mention FAKE NEWS? Well, three reasons...

1. The fighters are only those that debuted in Super Smash Bros. Melee, not appeared
2. The stages are only those that debuted in Super Smash Bros. Melee, not appeared
3. Not all items in Super Smash Bros. Melee appear, and there's a particularly special item that wasn't in Super Smash Bros. Melee that does appear...

...That special item? The Smash Ball. But that's not all: The Final Smash Meter is also on. Guess what was never in Super Smash Bros. Melee? Final Smashes!

Giga Bowser going to bust Nut?
(He's also pretending to be Kraid in Brinstar Depths.)

Giga Bowser was invented as a boss character in Super Smash Bros. Melee. The next game, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, introduced Final Smashes, featuring Bowser's Final Smash as a temporary playable transformation into Giga Bowser, with similar properties to the Giga Bowser boss fight in Super Smash Bros. Melee. This continued into Super Smash Bros. For Wii U, and even though regular Lord Bowser had a big moveset change in that game thanks to Wii Fit Trainer, Giga Bowser still matched his Super Smash Bros. Melee ways. That cemented Giga Bowser as a Super Smash Bros. Melee reference.

However, Bowser's Final Smash was changed in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate from the “Giga Bowser” transformation to “Giga Bowser Punch”, which according to Masahiro Sakurai, is a reference to Yoshi's Island. You no longer truly control Giga Bowser... just a big reticle as he's in the background. It's no longer a Super Smash Bros. Melee reference. Giga Bowser never does anything of this sort in Super Smash Bros. Melee.

And, of course, Bowser is only one of fourteen playable characters from this tournament. You likely won't see the Giga Bowser Punch (unless you happen to main Bowser, like I do), but you'll see plenty of other Final Smashes, and they'll dominate the gameplay experience, rather than it being a “tribute to Melee.”

If the item is ON, it was in the Event Online Tourney.

There are items that debut in Super Smash Bros. Melee that are in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate that were not included in the tournament, mainly the Screw Attack. (The Party Ball is lumped in with Container and can't be selected individually in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.) Not to mention the many items and stages that didn't get into Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, like the fan, the Red Shell, the Cloaking Device, the Flipper; Poké Floats, Icicle Mountain, Mute City, and more.

I actually went back and played Super Smash Bros. Melee, as you can see from the above screenshot. Bowser is completely unusable and feels awful to play. His arms are weirdly stubby and the sound effects involved with his attacks are totally underwhelming. Literally all he can do is Whirling Fortress.

Super Smash Bros. Melee has such a lack of quality of life and smoothness that it's hard to believe that it's actually a sequel. It feels like a first attempt. Other things weird about Super Smash Bros. Melee and are awesome about Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is that Melee demands L-Cancelling after every aerial attack you do, which is an unnecessary and annoying input. The fact you can't turn tap-jump off makes up-tilts much harder to do than they should be. Not being able to do any attack out of a dash like in Ultimate is also pretty awful, which is why Melee players just go wavedash everywhere.

I guess my love for Super Smash Bros. Melee really is just nostalgia-loaded! At least it's fun as a spectator eSport.

Bowser would never win anything if it was an actual tribute to Super Smash Bros. Melee.

Ludwig has claimed in the past that he would not write about the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate event online tourneys, but he has since done so less than a month ago! Every article about these has the same theme, that being of a complaint. And no, that's not the theme of the entire KoopaTV! Read other articles for evidence. And for a good time. This is KoopaTV's 1800th published article.


Ludwig writes another event online tourney complaint article, now in February, about the 1990s.
There is a tribute to Super Smash Bros. 4 event tourney, but Ludwig doesn't even bother revisiting Super Smash Bros. For Wii U for it.