It’s not often that a game can surprise people almost twenty years after being released, but Super Smash Bros. Melee has continued to offer up a plethora of new secrets, tech, and easter eggs.
Melee’s single-player content may be considered a bit limited by today’s standards, as its development cycle was much shorter than any other game in the series. However, Melee’s 51 unique Event Matches are packed with a ton of love and care, and they have much more to uncover than meets the eye.
10 The Fastest Event Match
Melee is known for being quite the speedy game, but did you know that one of these events can be completed in under half a second? There are a handful of Event Matches that fall just under the second mark, but Event 12, the fittingly named “Seconds, Anyone?” has a world record of 0.4 seconds.
There’s no better event to hold this record, as it was intended to be completed as quickly as possible. It requires that Captain Falcon is KO’d in less than 7 seconds, likely a reference to the swift gameplay of F-Zero, but a perfect wavedash and rest from Jigglypuff blows the timer out of the water.
9 No Healing Allowed
This one is pretty difficult to notice, as a variety of items are hectically hurled at the player left and right during most events, but you’ll never see any type of healing items spawn whatsoever.
This makes certain events much more difficult than they would be otherwise, forcing the player to go on the offensive. There is one exception to this rule, however, as Mr. Game & Watch’s side-special, Judgement, will spawn food upon landing a 7.
8 Mega Dreamland 64
As the only legal stage in Smash 64, one of the few legal stages in Melee, and as a returning stage in Ultimate, Dreamland is one of the most popular stages in Smash history. It’s remained virtually the exact same as it was in Smash 64, except for this instance.
In Event 48, Pikachu and Pichu, the stage is actually twice as big as its normal size. The reason for this is unknown, but it’s likely due to the difficulty of the event, as even with the increased stage size, it’s still one of the more difficult ones.
7 Bombs Away!
Similar to how battles function in Ultimate’s World of Light, Melee attempted to use clever character, item, and stage choices for Event Matches to make them feel like their own separate experience.
This is arguably done best in Event Match 3, Bomb Fest, where the player faces off against Link and Samus while nothing but explosives constantly bombard the field. Not only does the stage itself have an explosive hazard, but Link’s and Samus’ CPUs will exclusively use their down-specials as much as possible to add even more explosives to the fray.
6 Poor Pikachu
The original cast of 12 characters from Super Smash Bros. on the N64 definitely deserves some special treatment for paving the way for the grand franchise that Smash has evolved into, and almost all of them receive it in Melee… except for Pikachu.
Aside from Pikachu, every other original character has their own dedicated Event Match where the player is forced to play as them, but Pikachu has no such event. Not to say that Pikachu doesn’t appear in any of these events, but he never got the chance to have a leading role. Poor guy.
5 You Have To Earn It, Newcomer
Pikachu isn’t alone in being placed on the sidelines, however, as there are nine unused Event Match character tags for a lot of Melee’s newcomers who don’t have their own Event Matches.
These include Pichu, Roy, Peach, Ice Climbers, Dr. Mario, Ganondorf, Mewtwo, Zelda, and Sheik. It’s unknown why Marth, Bowser, Young Link, and Mr. Game & Watch seemed to get their own Events without any trouble, but Game & Watch likely got in by sheer luck concerning his side-special.
4 Super Mario 128
Event 22, Super Mario 128, may seem like nothing but a humorous reference to Super Mario 64, but there’s actually a bit of history behind the name. Before the GameCube’s release, Nintendo showed off a tech demo featuring a ton of Marios in a blank world, used to show the rendering power of the console.
This tech demo went by the name “Super Mario 128,” and caused quite a bit of discussion between fans regarding a possible sequel to Super Mario 64 as a GameCube launch title. In Melee, 128 tiny Marios will fittingly spawn one after the other, only to be launched into infinity with a single hit.
3 Jigglypuff On The Big Screen
Pokémon Stadium is used quite frequently in Event Matches, but during Event 39, Jigglypuff takes control of the stage like no other character can. The stage’s giant screen has the possibility to zoom in on the player and using the up-special, Sing, during this causes something pretty unique to happen.
Sing is considered to be one of the worst moves in the series, but this will put every on-screen opponent to sleep no matter where they may be. Let’s just be glad this isn’t the case during normal matches.
2 Mewtwo Strikes!
Event 44’s title, “Mewtwo Strikes!” is an obvious reference to the first Pokémon movie, Mewtwo Strikes Back. It isn’t just a simple duel against the legendary Pokémon, however, as it makes a clear connection to a certain scene in the movie.
The battle begins with only Zelda being seen, and Mewtwo only appears a short time later. The player is not allowed to KO Zelda, and with her appearance being darker than normal, this is likely a reference to the disguised Nurse Joy that Mewtwo had controlled with its psychic abilities.
1 Battlefield’s Backgrounds
Some may find the flashy, dynamic backgrounds of Battlefield and Final Destination to be jarring and distracting, but they certainly give these stages a ton of memorability. Battlefield actually has two different backgrounds, and one can only be seen during single-player modes.
This includes Event Matches “Space Travelers” and “Mewtwo Strikes!” where the background changes from the more technological-looking tunnel to a swirling, rainbow cloud. Many mods change this to be the default background for Battlefield.
NEXT: 5 Influential Fighting Franchises That Are Still Going Strong (& 5 That Died Out)
