Analyzing the Eeriness of Super Smash Bros. Melee

[@magtea3836]

I love how smash bros is always something you discover at your cousins house

[@smooky8348]

I had Brawl, but I experienced Melee at a cousin's house. We had an exchange I can't forget. Me: "You're totally beating the crap outta that weird cat alien!" (Mewtwo) Cousin: "That's me." Me: "Oh."

[@WatchVidsMakeLists]

Omg your pfp is cute! Who's the artist?

[@MERCHIODOS]

Me (to my cousin while playing the original Super Smash Bros): OMG, Super Smash Bros has a sequel called Melee, but sadly its on the Gamecube *Goes back to my cousin house the following month and they have a Gamecube and Melee*

[@snaifhassnan6348]

102%

[@MILDMONSTER1234]

Same

[@paulinetrivago.7540]

Honestly, Melee has a sense of finality because it's the end of Classic Nintendo. After Melee, all of Nintendo changed. The Mario series received a dramatic redesign. Zelda went toon with even more dramatic stories, Metroid bloomed, Fire Emblem became a thing in the west. Melee feels like the end of 80s & 90s Nintendo.

[@Abner-gu3ve]

Melee’s overrated asf. Brawl is better especially with the hard gritty designs

[@mariodelgadogt]

@@Abner-gu3ve Brawl will never be superior to Melee in gameplay, the brawl feels slow, prepared for boring casual gameplays of 8 years old who cannot really compete. And I like Brawl a lot its superior in textures, size, yes, but never in gameplay, make you think of how much they screwed that aspect that they tried to make ALL the smash games after brawl more competitive, like Melee. That speaks volumes.

[@paulinetrivago.7540]

@@Abner-gu3ve I mean, I like Brawl a lot it's arguably my most nostalgic smash, but that literally has nothing to do with my comment on my love for Melee. Melee was an end of an era, Brawl was a relatively creative step in the "modernisation" of Nintendo

[@yoeshii]

@@Abner-gu3veproject plus :)

[@huashohan7197]

​@mariodelgadogt if you're not all that into competitive smash, then melee is kinda eh. Brawl is better for casual play, which is actually most people who play smash.

[@thesupernintendokid4012]

One interesting thing to note about the Fighting Wire Frames is that it's implicated that Master Hand did not create them, but rather some mysterious character or entity that we never see or hear about again, creating false characters, not unlike Tabuu or Galeem/Darkhon. "Who built the Fighting Wire Frames and to what purpose remains a mystery. They're a simple collection of wires which house a sparse framework of bones and organs that lends them a rather disturbing appearance." - Male Wire Frame trophy description. This description is present in both English and Japanese versions. There's a possibility that there's a greater evil at play in Melee that never really gets expanded upon.

[@kylespevak6781]

Crazy Hand

[@thesupernintendokid4012]

An Interesting theory but unlikely imo. Crazy hand is never said to be able to create things like Master Hand, only destroy. I think that would undermine the hands' duality and contrast so I don't buy it.

[@rainstarsworld9429]

Tabuu could be involved with their origin, but they’re certainly in Hand’s custody now. (Reminds me of the Subspace enemies in Smash Run) Perhaps Subspace Emissary wasn’t his first rodeo trying to take over the World of Trophies? He’s likely stuck in Subspace to begin with cuz Hand whooped his ass before

[@extremmefan7305]

Given their technological nature, I like to think that was Brawl's Ancients making them with their tech, before they subsequently disappeared prior to Brawl's own events. They, along with their computers then producing the Alloys in Brawl, were most likely attempting to mimic the clone-making abilities of the supernatural forces that are Tabuu, Galeem, and Dharkon.

[@chrisiscool6969]

11:26 most accurate description I’ve heard about melee’s art style. It’s like seeing those late 90’s/2000’s silicon graphic renders you’d see on posters and magazines come to life. That’s what made me really appreciate melee as a kid

[@frozen_applejuice]

I love the way that CONEY described it in one of his videos where it doesn't feel like you're playing as Fox or Ness, but like fox.exe and ness.exe being loaded into a stage for battle, as the characters spawn in with a loading animation that all characters use instead of unique intros, which they never do in any other Smash game.

[@arvicishechema]

Wtf that is trippyyyyyyyyy

[@mlalbaitero]

In smash four 3ds theres no unique intros either I think

[@frozen_applejuice]

@mlalbaitero they use the same unique intros that wii u uses

[@MetalFreezer3000]

The Announcer VA said that the echo is meant to sound like an Circus Announcer or something along those lines

[@runningoncylinders3829]

My impression was that of a wrestling announcer. Similar vibe.

[@Dairunt1]

@@MetalFreezer3000 That's amazing. It does sound digital.

[@EingefrorenesEisen]

I always thought underground sports announcer or an AI voice coming through abandoned/ancient-yet-still-functioning amazing technology.

[@icenovice]

@Dairunt1 the

[@Treppy_Gecky]

OKAY FINALLY SOMEONE ELSE WHO NOTICED. This is why I love Melee so much though. No other Smash game feels as "off" and Y2K as it does.

[@dyrr836]

If you'd like to check out more games with a strong y2k aesthetic just browse the Dreamcast library because there's tons of them, especially stuff developed in house by Sega themselves or by Capcom. Those two companies knew how to play to that visual's strengths.

[@mrm64]

Exactly!!!

[@sabhjitsandhu5670]

That would work as a fantastic premise for a adventure mode

[@EingefrorenesEisen]

Years ago, I made a series of SmashBoards forum posts discussing it! I was going to make a game, but unfortunately it's just fallen far down my priority list. I'd love to make it one day, though, or at least art-direct it. It's something I spent a lot of time on understanding fundamentally and wanting to expand on and see more of. A couple of things I learned that weren't mentioned in the video: 1. The art direction for Melee, Brawl, and Kirby Air Ride (a game aesthetically between Melee and Brawl I'd say) was headed by Sakurai's wife, Michiko Sakurai. I wrote a probably poorly-translated letter to HAL Laboratories years ago asking if there were any way to get her consultation for a list of inspirations. Unfortunately, it seems she was not in a position to take such requests and/or HAL was not able. 2. One of the visual themes not mentioned here is what I'd call "Elegance". There's also mystery, mysticism, beauty, serenity, isolation. Whether it's just visually with levels like Fountain of Dreams, or musically with orchestral flutes, trumpets, and pianos, there's a sort of grand, "serious" undertone to everything. There's some silliness like Kirby and Ness' taunts, but the presentation lends itself to, as mentioned, "tech demo" vibes. And what's the best way to do that? Elegance. Power, yet restraint. Beauty, yet functionality. 3. A big factor is actually a simple thing to do with the lighting, though I don't know the exact details of how it works: the shadows are almost always black. In real life and in most art, "bounce light" is a phenomenon where surrounding light/color will still cast onto the shadow of an object. There's also atmospheric color, etc. It's complicated, however, and so games in the 90s-mid 2000s had this "eerie" or "spacey" feel to them because that's how things would look in more remote parts of space. 4. The isolation plays a big role into it imo. Everything from the sound design like the hit/high damage sound, to the well-crafted-but-still-calculated remixes, to the announcer and character voices echoing lend itself to this idea. Synths are limited and not very playful. The orchestral instruments used are usually just the ones considered "acceptable" by those who were traditional, successful, well-regarded composers who wanted to elevate video games in the zeitgeist as something serious, whereas prior technological limitations relegated video games to being seen as fun, childish, not high-class. Also, most backgrounds of stages are usually empty in Melee. 5. The technological stages play a big part in it, but it's not just ANY tech. It's a very, very advanced tech. Pristine. Made with care. Powerful, but also beautiful. Intricate, detailed, but not absurdly so. Made almost... with foresight. Like they were arenas crafted by entities who knew what they'd be used for. And you don't. You can't understand them. Not as much as they did, at least. It invokes a certain vibe, especially when it comes to space objects, because even with our modern technology, that shit is hard to do. I could write more, but I didn't want to go on too long! Somebody let me know if they want to pay somebody to advise them on/help them with making a game like this! I have no programming prowess, but I can help!

[@michaelbuckley4617]

This game feels timeless to me. The exact opposite of "off".

[@andyblargextra]

I honestly ADORE the Melee background aesthetic. Battlefield/FD, Target stage, and even Race to the Finish have some of the coolest Y2K looks I've ever seen in gaming (glad you pointed these out btw). These awesome looks are one of the biggest reasons I LOVE the GameCube Era of Nintendo.

[@benamisai-kham5892]

I've always loved the target stage background cause it reminds me of the FBI VHS warning you'd see in the beginning of each tape 😂 or the "COMING SOON TO VHS" screen with boxes sliding into place

[@Sauceyjames]

The metal Bros was so legit though. I love how they just shut down like missiles, and they just get up ready for the next task. Like they totally have zero empathy for themselves, the player, and probably like it’s whole existence.

[@SmashBrosOdyssey64]

I always called Melee "the season finale of Nintendo." It felt like a culmination of the N64 era, with everything on the line for middle school-aged me. It really inspired me as the fanfic writer I am today, and how I think about games.

[@LostSoulSilver]

God, that's such a genius way to put it. Season finale

[@camberry4432]

Devils Never Cry

[@yoursnatchedweave641]

can you write a fanfic about me and my wife? i got da $$$

[@mac081793]

It felt and was so new at the time. This and Metroid Prime was crazy alien to my younger self at the time. 3D gaming was still in its infancy and the graphical leaps we were seeing at the time were insane. Definitley a sense of magic we don't have today and haven't had in a long time

[@joeykeilholz925]

Indeed, this is built into the way Mr. Sakurai looked at the game. Smash 64 is kids toys being played with as shown in the intro. Melee is about more realism and mayhem. More dramatic. Crazy hand is there. Intense but serious.

[@AH-uz3fx]

I love hearing off moments when kids saw something adults made as entertainment without intending to make it an unsettling thing but they can't help but get creeped out by thinking about it too hard and taking it more seriously or not being as accustomed to the world as adults are. And this has a good mix of that and adjacent interesting concepts with the deep dives into the settings

[@sebbef]

Growing up in a home with no mature games Melee left such a huge mark of eeriness in my personality today. Almost could believe that you’d grown up with Resident Evil after all.

[@justyumi4410]

the Gamecube in general had a vibe no other console could replicate. it truly felt like years of gaming had all led up to Melee, a celebration of everything Nintendo up to that point. while Brawl was my first Smash game and will always hold a special place in my heart, much of its content owes a debt of gratitude to Melee.

[@williamalbatross4677]

i mean how exactly would you understand the feel of melee when it was new if you only experienced it after brawl..?

[@justsayin._.]

Original Xbox n PS2 had the same charm. 6th gen consoles were something else

[@lasercraft32]

As someone who grew up with Brawl and never played Melee, its so surreal seeing and hearing about all the little things people never seem to talk about. The discussion is always about the competitive scene, so the Classic Mode levels and cutscenes, and the side minigames like Break the Target and Race to the Finish, rarely ever get mentioned. Its like a peek into an alternate dimension.

[@extremmefan7305]

Seconded, although I did play Melee right after Brawl myself. Interestingly I think this offers an insight on Brawl's aesthetic choices as well, as it feels intentionally designed to no longer feel as stiff and eerie as Melee and instead making the Smash universe look like it became its own world. I technically grew up on both at the same time, but Melee's Y2K aesthetic is going to stay unique in the Smash series for a long time imo. Both games almost feel like a pair, or a story told in two highly contrasting parts, while later games have felt more... samey and empty, imo. '^^

[@ZynSamSho6432]

To me I love the Erie feel of 64 all the way to Brawl there was a serial and oddity to them. Like the stage 1-1 and 1-2 in Brawl and it's weird desolate waste land style that newer stages in Smash 4 and Ultimate just don't attempt to capture at all which at least for me is a bit sad but it what's makes 64 through Brawl absolutely memorable.

[@Hanbunbun]

This video is so validating to my younger self, who simultaneously loved and feared this game with no explanation as to why. The continue and game over screens made me run upstairs and hide for a few minutes just to make sure it was over, but I always looked forward to playing the game, despite my fears of it

[@Thewritingelf]

Okay ! Because I had a love/hate relationship with this game growing up that I still have playing this game as an adult. I was re-playing this game very recently and still had that feeling.

[@marksmithwas12]

Another thing that adds to the vibe of the game is the trophy section. It doesn't feel like a lot of these trophies were made for Melee, they feel like actual Nintendo vault assets that were just incorporated for the sake of padding the game with extra content, and as a result they have this weird, otherworldly vibe not seen since

[@mauroperez2848]

I always felt that Melee's asthetic was different compared to titles before and after it. I'm glad someone took the time to dissect and analyse it.

[@coreyander286]

A lot of it is reused in _Kirby Air Ride._ _Air Ride_ seems more like a _Melee_ game than a _Kirby_ game, to a great extent.

[@paperwatt]

Melee is like one big creepypasta. For those that didn't have Internet (and even if you did you'd have unreliable information), all of these unlocks and strange changes would feel like you were going nuts. "And this one time out of nowhere, Luigi killed Mario!" "Then Bowser came back onto the stage and turned into a monster! Did I mention the SECOND Master Hand??" Even the seemingly random nature of character unlocks would feel bizarre. (I can only attest to the characters, I was never good enough as a kid for the wacky stuff)

[@bluecheese7447]

You think it can’t get any more bizarre, then you play Brawl

[@micahrobbins8353]

I've always called it "gamecube era crust"

[@raemdespairbringer]

The finest crust

[@micahrobbins8353]

@@raemdespairbringer 🥂

[@lpfan4491]

Chicken and fishcrust tends to be the most flavorful part of the meal, so it seems like a good comparison.

[@Youcantrespond]

​@lpfan4491 ur eating garbage and this comparison is awful.

[@ViroVeteruscy]

Mewtwo is based on his Gameboy sprite, thus the larger head.

[@elkarlo1593]

The heavy reliance on N64 designs also adds a unique off-brand feeling to the game, I used to describe it feeling as if it were one of those bootleg Mexican toys that I find so often in markets before I knew they were based on N64 promotional renders, or even before I knew the N64 existed

[@poweroffriendship2.0]

Don't let the _Super Smash Bros. Melee_ renders distract you from the fact that Princess Daisy had a hidden third eye at the back of her head as one of the trophies.

[@General_Cap]

That's what happens when you overlap a polygon texture improperly over a UV map.

[@TheLyingFigure]

Dont let the 3rd eye distract you from the fact they also modeled her panties

[@kaih6560]

@@General_Capno it is all planned she is relaten to Tien.

[@OccuredJakub12]

A really small detail with all the arcade mode cutscenes: nowadays it is customary to fade to black or white, or end on a cool final shot when ending a cutscene for a smoother transition. Melee's arcade mode cutscenes often feel like they just freeze. It looks borderline like the computer is frozen or glitched out, before you are then suddenly tossed into the gameplay. I think it adds to the eerieness.

[@regulagianci2231]

they do freeze because it's loading in the map during those few seconds before gameplay

[@graysonsolis]

I think the easiest explanation for the art style was simply the time crunch that plagued melee's development. Lines, untextured boxes, the "light up circuit board" effect, simplistic, almost sinusoidal movement patterns for much of the objects, were most likely the simplest and quickest to do, and this dictated melees artstyle early on. I doubt much of it was what the devs really wanted to make melee look like, but I think they simply had no other choice. I'd go as far as to say that many of the patterns, textures, blocks, etc were modified versions of assets that likely existed in the GameCube's dev kit / prepackaged assets for testing purposes, given how untextured, simple, and placeholder many of the graphics in melee look. I think the devs did the best they could with what they had, and it truly gives melee a unique style imo

[@AnELK.]

When I was younger I used to be deathly afraid of glitching games and stuff like that. No-clipping into the dark void in a source game for the first time comes to mind. What always got me the most was wireframes cause they always freaked me out for the very reason you said in this video and I never even realised it. It's honestly ironic looking back cause now I really enjoy working with and making 3D models which requires paying attention to the wireframes and topology massively. Suppose it's an instance where fear can turn to admiration! Awesome video by the way, really well made :D

[@9000Dogs]

Reminds me of when I saw Debug footage of Melee, seeing that the space behind the camera in a stage was usually a black void, was really creepy to me. That, and seeing weird things that weren't supposed to be possible, like playing as Master Hand, and how prone to crashing the game was in Debug. It was like accessing something not meant to be handled by a normal kid (which it wasn't).

[@RjAzraeL]

Quite interesting, this whole video was the same thing that was floating around in my head for a long time when I was a child. That feeling of being in an empty virtual space that tried to make you feel good but the more you investigate you find somewhat uncomfortable details. Definitely this video is cinema!

[@thesuntitan]

Melee’s art direction really makes it trascend its technical flaws. I think it’s why the game still looks so charming.

[@Alex-vm6ef]

It's really the game design that made the technical flaws turn out to be positives, the engine the game is built on is just so good

[@mrm64]

Glad that someone finally said this. Melee with its purple, red, and black colors, yellow text...the futuristic edge, the music, I fucking adore it. It's like no other game in the series, not just for its competitive edge. The fighting wire frames, the dark menu, hell, the Menu 2 theme has a blend of glee and dread to it that I can't explain. Target Test, Trophies, it just screams GameCube (which also has a dark purple aesthetic).

[@WhyHandlesIMeanFroggchamp]

Melee feels weird as hell someone gets it This is such an interesting video idea. Examining the _smallest_ details in melee and explaining the vibe they gives off

[@spongeintheshoe]

He should make one about the N64 game.

[@arapaimatt8138]

A couple of days ago I was actually thinking about how much less intimidating Master Hand feels in recent installments. I remember the cutscene with the Melee announcer's cackling and the small whirring of the machinery of Final Destination before the music kicked in. Master Hand also used to look more grotesque and less robotic somehow but I don't know how to describe it. I think it's fair to say I would never have become a Smash fan without Melee's sense of asymmetry and mystery. Unexplained secrets, endless unlockables, weird characters, strange requirements...it feels like a cryptid somehow. I miss it so badly. I love Sakurai and his games, but nothing comes even close to Melee's feel. It becomes so easy nowadays to forget what made me fall in love in the first place: mystery and adventure.

[@Thewritingelf]

OKAY SO I'm not the only one who's like "This game is fucking creepy as hell." The Failure screen is still creepy all these years later.

[@neonkenomi320]

The Y2K Cyberspace-like atmosphere was also present in games such as Marvel vs Capcom 2 (The character selection and training mode leans heavy into that.) and REZ. With Y2K- aesthetic in it's revival phase it'd be intriguing to see the next Smash installment to be call-back to this style, probably leaning more into the simulation theory.

[@georgeliquor1236]

People can debate which Smash Game is the best, but to me aesthetically, Melee has the best style out of any Smash game. It's hopeful Y2K techno feel always stood out compared to the other games, great video.

[@megamillion5852]

Enormous agree. It was sophisticated!

[@novanebula8004]

It's not even close

[@joshshrum2764]

I do love how brawl looks.

[@eGambill]

As a fanfic writer, I had the idea of the Melee cast find themselves stuck inside a video game program with a mysterious virus that will completely wipe their game if they can't find the source of its power.

[@mrm64]

Literally me too to a certain degree, this is so comforting lol

[@pearallax]

that’s so fun. i wish melee had a story mode.

[@kaih6560]

@@pearallaxSounds a Little like brawl.

[@Gamesforus1]

The biggest thing about melee vs all the other games, is that it feels alien rather than fantastical

[@Gamesforus1]

And I like the idea that the reason everything feels "off," is because it's someone else distorted view of what a "Nintendo crossover" would look like. Like you're stuck in a kids fever dream who only sees the face value elements of everything coming together, like a loose idea swimming around the ether

[@ArchivistVile]

2001 Gamefaqs taught me that Samus is Metroid's boyfriend. That is my entire addition to this discussion, please and thank you.

[@AnAverageGoblin]

i've seen fanart that backs that up.

[@Frongo]

my most vivid childhood experience with Melee was the terrifying game over screen

[@zyad48]

Glad to know that Melee's version of Race to the Finish doesn't fascinate just me :) You hit the nail on the head with that particular point, I was excited when you brought it up :D

[@nerdbrain396]

I like the idea of melee being a simulation the characters are trapped in. The art style vibe and voice acting really does tie it all together

[@spongeintheshoe]

What is a video game if not a simulation?

[@Scharfster]

This video literally incapsulates how I felt about melee as a kid. I would always think about these things while playing. and you're definitely onto something with the menus, there was a weird anxiety while playing and going through new menus I hadn't checked out before, not knowing what weird secrets I'd come across. the WARNING screens for characters always make my stomach sink instead of being excited for who it was, because again, you hit the nail on the head, it felt like you did something WRONG and they were there to get YOU, instead of you getting THEM. and I know you don't unlock him, but first coming across Giga Bowser was one of the scariest things ever. The weird backgrounds of the stages, the simulation feeling, it's just so bizarre and no other game has made me feel like I'm playing something I "shouldn't" be playing, like I was playing against a computer AI that created the simulation. This game felt like magic, and I'm so happy I got to experience such a wonderful gem during my childhood.

[@lordtheodore13]

I love it when people analyze games like this. It's like having childlike wonder come back for half an hour

[@SourNack]

So happy someone made a video about Melee's aesthetics! Personally, it's my favorite looking Smash game. Also, on a semi-related note, a possible reason for why the characters give you an "uncanny" feeling could be because they're based off how they looked like during the previous gens. Mario, for example, is based on his N64 artwork because Melee was in development before his modern redesign was finalized. Just another one of Melee's aesthetic quirks that makes it so cool to me!!

[@Kango234]

I don't know if there was some sort of secret story planned, but it is a testament to the UI designer ls for having uch a consistency with the "digital" aspects of the game. I honestly don't think its that crazy to think that near the turn of the new millennium and a post "The Matrix" world where "cyber" was such a buzzword, the devs decided the next step from a kid playing with toys is to have the "toys" he some sort kf digital program. It also kind of represents how kids moved from toys to video games and how Nintendo themselves started creating video games after being a toy company for so long.

[@AnAverageGoblin]

I love the image of a few or even just one person obsessing over a headcanon they made while developing the game and sneaking it into it without getting caught.

[@Metanoia000]

Well done video. This is why I love up-and-coming smaller KZbin channels. So much more effort goes in.

[@blooming1312]

the unfathomable despair of the backyardigans

[@Faniwa828]

The loud happiness of Super Mario 3D World

[@RedSpade37]

Future Video Essay Titles, for $100

[@brandondriver99]

The adjective noun of subject.

[@AnAverageGoblin]

as a kid I got this weird idea from somewhere or something that all these nintendo characters were trapped and fighting to escape, and for some reason Game & Watch made me think he was the most important part of this escape plan. I think what helps the eerie vibe of Melee is that it was briefly the first nintendo game to feature high quality 3D models for a lot of nintendo properties (especially compared to the ones featured in Smash 64) at a time where 3d modeling had to rely on being stylized over looking "good". I know its an iceberg meme but "negative emotional aura" describes the feeling I get from the menus, especially with the default menu music. the tournament mode menu creeped me the hell out as a kid and since we never had more than two controllers and not enough people to have a fun tournament we never played that mode much. the unfamiliarity with it even as an adult compared to the other modes/menus really makes me uncomfortable. I've even had weird reoccurring nightmares featuring Melee's general aesthetics about secret wireframe characters you had to do a trick with difficulty sliders and controller ports to access, but they corrupted the game and changed the UI completely. and to be be brutally honest, I hope no one tries recapturing Melee Vibes because they'll probably ruin the subtle eerie factor by adding to much lore or by being too upfront with "oooh look its unsettling"

[@Kirbunny]

Oh man, I can totally relate to the reoccurring nightmares. I've had quite a few about Spider-Man 2000, which felt similarly uncanny and empty in places. And that's a good point about a modern take on Melee's style potentially investing too much energy into creepy details and lore. The attention that comes from people discussing those details on social media would be too tempting to ignore.

[@Kain128]

It's always interesting to see people describe games like these as being eerie or unsettling. All of these aesthetics you're describing as eerie were very cool to me and my cousins. That being said, I can definitely see where you're coming from, it doesn't just feel like you projecting your own fears onto the game and treating that interpretation as fact. Regardless of the "vibe", it was nice to see someone actually talk about the aesthetics of this game, like you said, I haven't really seen anyone do that before. Good video.

[@mamd-t2p]

I think what you bring up about the announcer is interesting, though when you say he goes ''unchallenged'' it's arguable that the player's confrontation with Master Hand at the end of the Classic mode IS your confrontation with this all-powerful announcer, as he and Master Hand share a voice actor in every Smash game. So it's worth noting that Master Hand's laugh in Melee is distinct from his laugh in all the other Smash games because of just how much more intimidating it feels. In 64, Smash 4 and Ultimate it feels theatrical and almost playful, while in Brawl it feels ethereal and mysterious. But in Melee, there's a genuine feeling of malice and evil behind his laugh that's never quite been replicated since. And side note, why do Master Hand and Crazy Hand have the same defeat scream in Melee but not in any of the other games? They probably just got lazy.

[@blazinbraixen9067]

I had an idea personally of what Melee could be given the next game in the series, Brawl. What if after the events of Smash 64 the heroes beating master hand and righting whatever wrong that connected their universes that some kind of super computer began collecting data on the worlds of Nintendo in some kind of attempt to compile everything into one place. Or rather one thing. What if Tabuu is the culmination of all of Melee's Simulations it's desire to collect and dominate all the worlds manifest into a super weapon. Notice how throughout the entire game he's practically dominating the entire cast until he's struck by one thing he had no way to analyze a character from the whole ass other side of reality. Literally a different console! "There's no information on this Creature! He's not Nintendo!" You could argue this falls apart when it comes to snake but snake is also not a near reality warper like sonic, mario, or kirby. Sonic just so happened to have the complete element of surprise in every way imaginable. Tabuu could never have anticipated anything like it. The simulations never prepared him cause there was never anything even close to sonic in Melee.

[@Kirbunny]

That's a brilliant analysis, I love it! Especially since Tabuu's theme has the same bass line as Multi-Man Melee 1, so he's still very much in the lineage of Melee's Battlefield and the wireframes.

[@PTp1ranha]

To be blunt, I'm not really interested in your fan theory. But I do appreciate someone taking a time to explore Melee's slight eeriness. I've always felt this way about the game, but moreso towards the "end" when you've got more weird characters like Game & Watch or Mewtwo, or weird stages like PokeFloats. Something about the All-Star meadow doesn't sit right with me. I never got people's issue with Mario 64, but I certainly felt it with Melee. The later games were more triumphant, more emblematic, so they don't have this feeling. But Melee's a time capsule, perhaps moreso than the others in the series.

[@Pzafrk]

The things you described made me think back to TheGamingBrit’s video titled “The Atmosphere of Tekken 4” where he also talks about the foreboding undertones that game has as well as the whole “digital apocalypse” vibe many early 2000s games had. I always thought there were certain elements about Melee that felt offputting like the giga bowser cutscene or the challenger approaching screens, so it’s cool to see you address those kinds of things when most people only ever really talk about Melee’s advanced tech or the professional scene. Great video!

[@rainstarsworld9429]

The “escape” line in the JP FD trophy always throws me for a loop cuz it contradicts literally every other game in the series. Even 64 coded the world with a very positive and whimsical tone in the opening. The Brawl dojo states that being in trophy form and unable to enjoy competing with others is akin to death. The only logical explanation that they would ever actively desire going to the alternate world where they’d be stuck in their trophy form is as a mark of personal honor and accomplishment, like “I climbed Mt. Everest” kind of deal

[@TheBreakingBenny]

The Race to the Finish stage is also called "Keep going on!" in Japanese, "Tsukisusume!"

[@Tribow]

This video really reminds me about a lot of the fanfiction that people made for melee. From written stories to machinamas, there was a pretty common theme that these works would have: Smash Melee existed in a simulation. These stories would forego the Smash 64 context and just run with the simulation idea. Obviously Master Hand/Crazy Hand would be the "gods" of the simulated world. Captain Falcon and Zelda were two characters that would commonly depicted to be aware of the simulation to some degree. A weird fanon started to be put together through all of these stories and that fanon would bleed into Brawl's unique aesthetic as well. People may not discuss Melee's aesthetics much, but maybe it's because that discussion was being made within fanfiction.

[@develrandomdankmemes7586]

interesting, do you know why falcon and zelda were the ones depicted like that?

[@Tribow]

@develrandomdankmemes7586 It was because the wireframes have movesets based off of them, so both would end up investigating why this is the case after encountering the wireframes. Zelda was really good for this since she could become Shiek and sneak around to spy on Master Hand/Crazy Hand. Wireframes usually got depicted has unquestioning robot agents for the Hands, so they only interact with the fighters whenever they're going against the will of the Hands. (For example; A tournament was rigged for Falco to win and then Ganon shows up trying to break the narrative and the wireframes try to stop Ganon, but it also interrupts the fight Falco was going to have with Luigi. Somethin like that). With two characters being aware o the simulation, you can imagine where that leads. (There's so many Matrix parallels in these stories).

[@develrandomdankmemes7586]

@@Tribow ohh makes sense. thanks for sharing

[@BDeity]

It seems interesting that Melee seems like a simulation considering the likely theory that the child playing with toys is a metaphor for Sakurai. Whereas the first game was upbeat and colorful showing off its toys-to-life and imagination themes, Melee is a hollow Y2K technological experience. This mimics how Master Hand is a creator who imagines new ways to play, yet Crazy Hand is a destructive and frustrated force that wants to kill said imagination. So it's essentially a metaphor for how Sakurai imagined the novelty and innovation of Smash 64, yet feared the sequelidous that Smash Bros. was about to have, since it was only two years after the first game's release with development crunch. Smash 64 is a fun novel and charming play experience whereas Melee is a drab technological and consumer product.

[@k96man]

The "Challenger approaches" system gives me a vibe of a couple friends hanging out at the local dojo, only for someone to kick the door open in demanding to fight their strongest In reality it's most likely supposed to be aping the similar messages you would see in an arcade cabinet at the end of the day it's still hell of a mood

[@insupportofjunhado]

I didn't find Melee "eerie" at all. I did find it less goofy, more "serious" in it's presentation than the first game or Brawl. But even then, the first game has things like the highly angular polygon team, Brawl has things like Super Mario never smiling! Like Master Hand actually bleeding from Tabuu's attack. I don't find Melee to be especially edgy or bleak in presentation. A little more than the other too, but not significantly more.

[@protonicnova]

22:47 That siren is actually from EarthBound's intro sequence! Coincidentally that's another game that draws attention to its artificiality as a game in a way that not a lot of Nintendo games did in its time to my recollection, though in EarthBound's case more for the sake of parodying its genre than the eerie overtones of Melee. Although, one of Melee's composers was Shogo Sakai, who also composed for EarthBound's sequel Mother 3, and that game makes "this game world exists in a contextless void filled with cutouts" into a deliberate motif and worldbuilding choice… Again, definitely a coincidence, but cool to think about!

[@Kirbunny]

@@protonicnova Fascinating, I had no idea! Thanks for sharing!

[@keneor4468]

An interesting take at the end of the video is how people go about creating a melee inspired game. Take for example Rivals Of Aether, one of the most successful attempt at a platform fighter born out of love for the source material it's heavily influenced by while creating it's own identity on the side. The only things lifted from melee are the mecanics, nothing of what you described made the cut in terms of inspiration. Dan Fornace wanted to recreate that feels like melee to PLAY but not a game that FEELS like melee (this is by no means a hit piece it's just an interesting conclusion I came to). Great video, that took me down memory lane as I'll probably never have the oportunity to have a proper single player experience with melee as I did as a kid. This stuff flies by you until you realise years later that you never payed attention to it.

[@phantasmwolvez4095]

This was a well-done video because I've always wondered why Melee has had this eeriness. Every point and case you mentioned has validity to it, especially the whole simulation theory. Glad you took the time to showcase this to everyone and give us an in-depth explanation of this topic. I believe what made this a cool aesthetic is the fact it makes you want to fight a big threat especially when the Warning Challenger Approaching appears when unlocking new characters or when you get to battle a monstrous version of Bowser at the end of Adventure Mode.

[@quinnporter289]

I cant wait to see this thumbnail posted to instagram with the spongbob kids roller coaster under it

[@MrBrowser1881]

I think in essence, we are talking about eras where machine limitations try to present cinematic effects that they aren't quite capable of, same as like Mario 64, that's why these games feel 'off' because they can't create detailed nuances that match the experience that the developers probably aimed for. But I loved Melee growing up and I used to take so many snapshots from the game and never thought they looked off. Remember that in the old Mario stage, even though the danger signs are off camera, the player has the option to adjust the camera when they pause the game, so they are able to see these things.

[@TheSynthPunk]

Kirbunny: "Remember Galidor?" The rest of the audience: "..." Bionicle enjoyers and constructible action figure appreciators: "HOLY SMOKES ONE OF US!"

[@EingefrorenesEisen]

Wait... Am I missing something? I was a Bionicle enjoyer and I don't remember this lol

[@Kanohoro]

I felt the same way when he referenced Nintendocaprisun

[@coolmanoscar2030]

I’m just glad I’m not the only one who found something slightly creepy with melee

[@ClockworkCrystal]

Great video, I honestly never thought about any of this in terms of Melee, but it gives me a lot of thought just about how this stuff goes into games, I love thinking about stuff like this and this video has helped SO MUCH.

[@TSMSnation]

Mans forgot the announcer is master hand

[@RoninCatholic]

Harsh, angular, uninviting, eerie, cold, soulless, largely utilitarian and intuitive in design. I KNEW there was something I liked about the main menus of Melee compared to the rest of the Smash series! Not fond of the high end competitive scene but this UI is absolutely my jam.

[@EricaSmith-b7z]

Playing this game by yourself on a Sunday night, after all of your friends had to go home is one of the creepiest and saddest moments of childhood 💙

[@coolman5242]

Your video nailed Melee's aesthetic choice. The menu screen being eerie to the point I couldn't stay on the menu screen for too long without the irrational fear something unintended would happen. The weirdly realistic models, like Luigi and Peach always stood out to me the most due to lack of facial expressions and how cynical they are in the game(Luigi stomps on Mario, Peach throwing away Toad in her ending) they just felt like different characters at times.

[@Scharfster]

18:00 fun fact, he's also the guy who says BILL NYE THE SCIENCE GUY

[@grunkleg.2934]

I'm kinda surprised he didn't get much of a mention, but when you compare Mr. Game & Watch in Melee to every other Smash Bros game (esp. 4 and Ult), it's night and day. In the newer games, G&W is a funny little guy, he has the funny beep boop music that plays on his stage and when he wins a match. He'll even transform into other funny little guys for certain attacks In Melee, the dude has a sinister aura surrounding him at all times. Flat Zone's theme and his victory theme are all pretty clearly hostile. When you KO him, he does a bunch of oppressive computer beeps. Him being the final character you unlock also adds to this eerieness. It's like he's some sort of alien invader. He shouldn't have been let in, he shouldn't be allowed, yet here he is. Brawl had the whole deal of G&W being the source of the Shadow Bugs in the SSE, but aside from that he's presented as a more neutral figure, even joining the fight against the big bads after playing with Peach's umbrella

[@TheRedCap30]

Its like he is part of a primordial force given shape and assuming a close approximation of a human form.

[@Venom3254]

I feel almost the same way when I unlocked him in Melee. Aside from not knowing about GnW games since it was from the 80s... GnW felt so weird and out of place. Everyone feels like they are from somewhere at least and then this thing gets unlocked and looks like a beta Mario shadow or something

[@davidvkimball]

I enjoyed this. It's funny how you feel about the art style. I only really feel that way about Yoshi. The sort of uncanny in-between of Mario 64 Yoshi and Mario World Yoshi. Otherwise I find it all very polished and great-looking, even today. It's not too detailed like Brawl, and not too simplistic (think the Classic mode trophies you unlock for each character). It's the perfect medium. And you're totally right, it is a time capsule of a particular point in history that I will cherish for the rest of my life. I also liked how you captured the mysterious part of Melee, which I haven't really seen explored before. I loved your theory-crafting section. Also, yes, I remember Galidor. And I loved it.

[@Mad_Mick]

I think you would appreciate a video called "The Timeless Aesthetics Of Early 2000's Games" here on YT right now. The early 2000's in general shared alot of this vibe.

[@mangaka8202]

I will always love the muted colors of this game. the sky and the menus just feal so different. It's like getting a game that's half premade test assets and half original assets. It's proboly one of the most nostolgic things for me.

[@ThePurpleCheeseMan]

This video is amazing! I've always loved the cyberspace feel of Melee's UI and stages. Before you said it, I was thinking about how it feels like a combat simulation too, like some cold machine is running tests to see which of these heroes/villains is the strongest. Though unintentional, the game's really poor balancing almost makes it feel like the machine knows about the fighters, but couldn't completely capture their likeness - resulting in canonically powerful fighters like Bowser or Kirby not actually being that strong. I did game dev as a hobby when I was a kid, but only made a few prototypes and unfinished games before moving on. If I ever go back to it though, I really do wanna try to make something that captures this feeling!

[@joelnieves66]

I got in a car accident today(no I didn’t call 411). Honestly, this was a good pick me up. Melee always felt like “better 64”. From doll(64) to simulation(melee), brawl always felt like Taboos home in realism, on poor hardware🤷🏽‍♂️✨

[@mina.strawberry]

this video is so freaking good. i have had these thoughts for years and have never been able to put it into words like you have here thank you for all the work you put into this!!

[@Gabri_Lovecraft]

Oh my God, I've never seen that special movie. That would've traumatized me as a kid. Melee has always had this strange, "this is the year 2001" feeling to me and I'm glad someone extrapolated on it. I really enjoyed this video and love all of your insights. I'm really used to videos that just constantly beat around the bush and have the author mumble around the point, but apart from the first 3-ish minutes that probably could've been shortened to a handful of sentences, I really enjoyed how breezy this was. You earned a sub from me.

[@marin9412]

I hope Twitter doesn’t find this video and post the thumbnail with that rollercoaster SpongeBob gif

[@holyhedo]

best comment

[@v-nus7718]

I'm glad someone finally put this feeling to words. For me, the feeling melee gave me was that it took place in a void. With how dark everything is, and how echoey both the sound effects and the music felt. When Brawl finally came out, and the concept of Subspace was broached in that game's "plot", to me it was the game telling me that Melee took place in that subspace dimension. So both these games made child me piece things together in her own way. It was something like. Melee took place in subspace, which is some kind of void existing between each nintendo world. And as for the aesthetic of the series getting more bright and lived in feeling as time goes on, my headcanon was always that Subspace was always sucking in more stuff from every nintendo dimension. Since Smash 64 was also pretty void-y as well, I took it that Smash 4 was so bright and lived in because of all the series history that had been sucked into Subspace. Also yeah, i never liked that whole kid playing with toys plot. Mostly because it flew right in the face of my headcanon and i disliked that lmao.

[@KoalaMarch77]

"...with a heavy hand." *shows Master Hand*. KINO

[@Poyostar]

Y'know, it isn't often that the specific eerie vibes present throughout Melee is touched upon. Glad to have a video covering this aspect of the game at long last!

[@PkKirby]

Oh damn, I'm actually one of the people that wrote one of those forum posts lmao. Specifically I wrote the Reddit post at 37:10 talking about Melee being like a simulation, with paragraphs about Battlefield, Final Destination, and All Star Rest Area respectively. Crazy to see my comment be used for a video like this, but I'm happy to see that it helped you make this video and collect your thoughts better. It was a dope video and encapsulated my feelings perfectly.

[@Kirbunny]

Oh wow, that was you! Your comment was one of the ones that I kept thinking about as I wrote the script. It was really helpful in making me feel less crazy. Do you want me to drop your name into the description? I'd be happy to if so!

[@PkKirby]

@@Kirbunny Sure, I'd appreciate that!

[@Kirbunny]

Done and done!

[@sauzeefy]

I love that, while most people are hit or miss on brawl and 64's aesthetics, there has never been a point in time where melee wasn't universally considered incredibly stylish.

[@ewwitscullen9132]

Oh my goodness, I’m so happy someone made this video! The stages and aesthetics in melee were always so creepy to me, even if it rocks!

[@SolidBren]

Excellent video! I absolutely adore the aesthetic of this game. It is the embodiment of the Y2K sleek sharp spacey metallic aesthetic combined with all the various colorful unique world's of Nintendo characters. Kind of like the background art of some of these Ambient Jungle Drum and Bass/Break Core compilation videos I see floating around KZbin these days, pandering to late '90s early 2000s visual charm. Love the comparisons to the Matrix! This game does feel like it hearkens back to that one commercial for the game where there are these two historical warriors fighting each other in what appears to be some kind of simulation experience of a game. It feels like the game is leaning into the idea of it just being a super high tech experience that makes itself appear to be like a simulation of how each of these characters would go about fighting each other in various locations across video game worlds. Canonical or not, it's like the game is one gigantic conglomeration of Nintendo culture in a Matrix like simulation or bombastic cyber Valhalla-like afterlife to witness an unlimited amount of potential between Nintendo icons. The visuals of the the game are kind of "tryhard" but also comforting. It seemed a little off putting to me, it might have even made me more susceptible to headaches and motion sickness with all of its moving spacey vortex effects. But it still is kind of one of the most appealing looking games to me. The character models only look slightly uncanny to me. The game looks excellent in motion with its great 60 frames per second that was a rarity for its time and is still a standard among most modern video games. The way you described the characters as slightly dollish and like PS1 FMVs, but put into real time gameplay models is pretty good way to describe it. It looked super realistic to me at the time and I still think it looks great to this day. Doesn't bother me one bit. In a way, I kind of prefer it to how Smash 4 and Ultimate just made everybody look more close to exact of their source material. I could gush on about Melee and it's aesthetic, it's sound, its gameplay, it's competitive community, and it's cultural impact forever. I'm subscribing. Cheers! EDIT: Also that park rest area in All-Stars mode with the updated Kirby Super Star Great Cave Offensive rest area music. Chef's kiss. Absolutely peak. Love that, the Trophy room, the menus, the stages, ETC. Such a beautiful game!

[@menthol_pod]

i been waitin for someone to make this video since i was a child

[@MarinaGraziani-w1q]

You put into words SO many things I always felt and could never quite put into words, this was AMAZING Edit: if you want to play something with melee's identity I'd advice Kirby 64: the cristal shards, it's got very melee-esque vibes

[@spongeintheshoe]

Or the original Super Smash Bros.

[@timbomb374]

it's interesting the evolution of the underlying feel of smash games. Smash 1 shows that they are toys being played with. Melee feels like a simulation Brawl kind of feels like a mish mash world, like its stuck together from all these different ideas, and the fact characters turn to trophies is interesting. Ultimate feels like a multiverse that's being stitched together by powerful forces.

[@Crunchurro]

I love the playable FMV comparison. Melee's vibes will always stick with me and this video does a fantastic job at articulating why.

[@dfcb11]

As a kid I used to think smash bros was what happened inside your memory card when you weren't playing. My mario save fighting my pokemon stadium save while my link save chimed in lmao

[@x3zack]

youre going to make me cry. i miss this game so much. every new one does no justice

[@krubbington]

Fantastic video!! I want to add on your point of Melee existing in a unique moment in Nintendo's timeline by bringing up its character designs; it was released AFTER the Nintendo 64 (allowing for characters to be rendered in higher fidelity), but BEFORE games that established the "signature" looks of these characters like Mario Party 4 for Mario's cast, Twilight Princess for Link's proportions/facial structure, and so on. As a result, the artistic direction for Melee's characters feels like what N64 games would've looked like if the system was more powerful. I also love how you delve into great detail on how alien Melee feels. In the "Hints of Oppression" segment, I really like how you infer that Melee itself is hostile toward the player. "A new character or horrifying monster could appear at any moment and players would have no idea why. As far as they're concerned, the situation only ever worsens because Melee disliked something they did and deployed countermeasures in response." That line really resonates me. And then you get into how the whole game feels like a simulation which just... blew my mind. The implication that the characters are being studied, the intro having the "mirage" fade away into the visuals of cold uncaring computer guts, the SUBJECT TABLE text in the Event menu (which, along with many other things in this video, I never even noticed before) is seriously cool and adds to the vaguely sinister aura Melee has. You say you don't know what you're talking about, but this video is so eloquently written and your opinions are so thoroughly explained that you're more or less a proven expert on analyzing game presentation. That, combined with your style of humor and great editing, will surely make this video a classic for years to come.

[@Kirbunny]

That's so kind of you to say! It's reassuring to know that my crazed ramblings weren't entirely crazed after all. Thank you very much!!

[@michaelmorales6825]

I'm glad I'm not the only person who's noticed these aspects of Melee! It's always stood out to me because of the mysteriousness and Y2K-ness to it. Also this video was so well done and the writing was great!

[@breloom820]

This came up on my recommended and I have to say this was a very insightful video. You use descriptive language very well to make your points and each argument flows nicely from one point to the next.

[@bioniclefan10]

I remember Galidor. Specifically the McDonalds Toys based off it that let you mix and match. Another perfectly weird and rare world that I remember only in nostalgia. Bionicle would also first introduce to me in McDonalds Toys, though much more successfully. And I adore Melee's aesthetic as well, very unique. Glad someone else is interested in Melee outside of just pro-fighting, which I don't really care as much about.

[@SunburstSenshi]

One of my few early childhood memories I have is the first time I played Melee, after playing the Adventure mode for the first time, then having a nightmare that night about Redeads… and Mickey Mouse 😂

[@WilfredCthulu]

I'm all for it I've always been enthralled by how weird and unique this game is it's such a grey line between eerie and comfortable, dark and colorful. I always used to play on the Mother stages because of how oddly cold and lonely most of the others felt, yet Melee still feels like a warm hug. I also used to be bothered by the challenger approaching screen and other things and they still have a bit of unsettlingness yet I they're awesome all at the sametime. Love Melee's vibe.

[@glorbinkolguzzler]

Melee unsettled me a lot when i was younger. Im glad someones talking about the more eerie aspects of melee

[@Stratilex]

This is always something that came to mind when I think about Melee but has been hard to actually put to words

[@d-tergent7899]

when talking about the silhouettes in the challenger approaching screen, I'm so sad you didn't bring up Mr. Game and Watch specifically, there was nothing like seeing him on the screen, only to find he looks identical to that silhouette in game.