The only reason you should pass up on Super Smash Bros. Melee is because you don't have a Gamecube.
(-) some of the past stages from Smash Bros. 64 could have been better; too many clone characters; some characters slightly unbalance the roster
If you are looking to buy a Nintendo Gamecube, then this is without a doubt the game to start out with. Since the purple box was introduced back in 2001, I've seen friends play the game and I felt really envious. I wanted my own Gamecube so I could play the game. I went as far as going to school back then when I was only 12, given an assignment by the teachers what you would want to get for Christmas, and the limit was pretty strict to enough money for a pair of shoes or something. I wrote "a Gamecube and Super Smash Bros. Melee". The teacher looked at me like I was crazy, saying that would cost too much. But the point is, never before have I rushed to get a system over a particular game. And even know the successor, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, came out for the Wii in 2008 and it has improved immensely, I just didn't feel the same desire to get that as I did with Melee.
Most of us know by now that Super Smash Bros. is a beat em' up and knock them off the screen game. And the core gameplay hasn't changed much this time around. You do damage to your foe through attacks and items, and as they gain more damage, you hit them and knock them off the screen. Simple as that. But one difference that Nintendo made this time around was adding an extra move to the control set. B is your basic attack, down-B is another attack, up-B is a recovery move to get back to the stage, and now over-B is an additional move. So Pikachu can head-butt, Link can fire crossbows, and Mario can use his cape. And you still have all the melee and smash attacks with your A-button. However, instead of just tilting and doing a punch to use a smash attack, you tap and hold the A-button to charge the attack's power, and release it on an opponent. I found this idea more initiative and it also allowed for more devastating attacks.
Anyway, the game has a massive roster of over twenty different characters to choose from. You have everyone you saw on the Nintendo 64, Mario, Link, Donkey Kong, Pikachu, all them. And you have new characters, some of which are along the same franchises you started out with, like Bowser, Zelda, Mewtwo, Falco, and Ganondorph. You also have brand new appearances, like the Ice Climbers, Roy and Marth, and perhaps one of my favorites the 2D super retro Mr. Game & Watch! It's most definitely true that you have a wider variety of characters to choose from, some gimmicks do exist in the character selection. For example, some characters fight nearly the same way. Fox and Falco having similarities is understandable, but Ganondorph and Captain Falcon come from very different backgrounds and yet they have nearly the same set of moves. What also sucks is there are many direct clones of characters in the roster, which fight with very little difference than the original versions of themselves. Take Mario and Dr. Mario for example, they fight and handle the same way except for a single move and different appearance. I was also questioning why Young Link needed to be included, because he's simply a faster and less strong version of Link. And worst of all, is Pichu! Did Nintendo purposely put a crummy character in order to tilt the balance of the character selection? I don't know, but he has the same move set as Pikachu, except his attacks do 1 damage to himself? And there are really no other notable positive differences he has against Pikachu! Who in the right mind would play as Pichu?
You'll have much more game time before your heart is contend with the game's larger selection of levels. You have often two levels from each big franchise, one from others, and some levels from Smash 64, which all this adds up to more than twenty different stages! You'll have a great time fighting in the large Hyrule Temple, Corneria, Pokemon Stadium, and Final Destination to name a few. Though there are more levels to choose from, I'm not too impressed by the levels they remastered from the last game. You have Yoshi Land and Kongo Jungle, which were okay choices, but I can't figure out why they included that Kibry level which is very similar to Melee's Green Greens without all those bomb boxes. They should have done a voting poll over the Internet and identified the most popular levels, like Hyrule Temple and Sector Z would have been great with Kongo Jungle.
There are a ton of gameplay modes to keep the matches going steadily and fun for everyone. You still have your basic timed and endurance team and free-for-all matches, but there are so much more game-modes now. For example, the special-melee allows you to have a battle and tweak with the settings to your liking, like make everyone big, make everyone metal, make everyone fast, and so many other ways. You also have a good length adventure mode, where you fight through side-scrolling platform stages like Mushroom Kingdom and Hyrule temple and fight basic battles as you advance. This was also extended upon in Super Smash Bros. Brawl in the Subspace Emissary. You also have All-Star mode where you fight the entire character roster with a single life and limited recovery items, and the ability to do a turn taking tournament for up to 64 players.
The game's production values are a ringing bell for the advances of the Nintendo Gamecube over the 64-bit predecessor (yeah, I just learned recently that the Nintendo 64 was called that because it had a 64-bit processor for its graphics, I know that brings nothing to the review but I needed to share that). The characters are detailed like never before, with shadings and colors to build them up in a lively way. Even better is the pacing of the action itself. Everything happens at a quick-paced, chaotic nature which makes the combat look invigorating and exciting. Knocking Jigglypuff in the air is very satisfying when she comets up with the impact of Link's sword, and the game also runs at 60 frames per second so there is no slowdown. Fire and explosions are probably the most impressive eye-candy that Melee has to offer, because they pop out in such a realistic way. The game also boasts nice musical numbers, which spew all across video game history with the stages that represent the many worlds that Nintendo has created.
Super Smash Bros. Melee was, and still is, one of the best games ever released on a Nintendo platform, or perhaps any platform. A large variety of characters to choose from and stages to play around with, terrificly improved graphics, a ton of gameplay modes and other little added twists do much to add to a very simple and enjoyable fighting game. A slightly unbalanced roster and a lack of good past stages aren't enough to hold Melee back from being a great achievement. The only reason you should pass up on Super Smash Bros. Melee is because you don't have a Gamecube. This is because this game offers loads of heated multiplayer action, as well as more for the single player, and more than enough fan service to please and it all goes toward one of the very best multiplayer experiences out there. Melee even introduced ideas I wish would have returned in Brawl, like Mewtwo as a playable character as well as the high-speed effect. But still after all these years Melee has held its own well and still remains fun every now and then no matter how much you may have played Super Smash Bros. Brawl.