The year is 2007. Everyone plays James Bond, the undisputed best character in the game. His Neutral-B, "gun", is a projectile that comes out on frame 1, and instantly kills whoever it touches. Because of this, the winner of a match depends solely on who clicks the B button fastest after the match starts.
The only other game with as many documentaries that I can think of is Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. I can definitely see the similarities. Nintendo franchises with large, dedicated fanbases. The games provide a different experience than those in the rest of their franchise. Both were very impactful for their respective consoles. Both spawned large communities, such as Competitive Smash for Melee and the vast number of speedrun for BotW.
@@monochromemann8000 well he's one of the better characters in Ultimate, since mechanics like Jumpsquat were made universal, he's been massively buffed in terms of speed since the Melee/Brawl days
@@JulianTorres97 Well I was referring to the Ultimate community, it's so toxic but I don't know if all of the smash games community's are like Ultimate's and are connected. But if you just look into it, you'll find that the Ultimate community had alot of sexual misconduct, everywhere you turn you'll find false leaks and fights about what character will be included next in the fighter pass, unsatisfied people sending death threats to the director of the series and much more.😔
I almost cried. Seeing Melee when it was new, as well as before it was released, fills me with a very personal sense of childlike wonder and awe that I haven't felt in years. I imagine that if I have any regrets in life, it's that I may never do for others what Sakurai and his team did for me in giving this game to the world. Thank you David for capturing all these treasured memories in such an excellent video.
That is so kind of you to say. And I couldn't agree more! "Childlike wonder" is really spot-on. Seeing this game coming out was like watching history unfold.
@BalboaBaggins bro? You alright the other games may be more casual but atleast it doesn't take breaking your fingers to play. (No I'm not talking from personal experience(I play rivals of aether) but my cousin would always whine about his fingers hurting after playing and overall hearing about the problems it brings)
As a fan of competitive melee for the past 7 years, this is a fantastically comprehensive look into the thought process behind the game we know (and are continuing to discover) and love today. Thank you for your time and effort putting this piece together!
This is just too special. I'm so thankful for this marvelous game in my life, there's never been a game that motivated me to improve more, or brought me closer to a community. Everyone share this marvelous video, more people deserve to watch
I really love how not only you mentioned but actually got to show recreations of myths and unreleased-unused content. This is probably the greatest videogame documentary I've ever seen! Amazing work on this, can't imagine the ammount of effort and research this must have took to make, once again, amazing work!
Hey everyone! Thanks for checking out this video. If you like it, please engage with it and help the algorithm lords bless this piece of content. 🙏 My Patreon is here if you'd like to support me: patreon.com/davidvkimball
I think it's great that Sakuri ended up including the personal requests he got from developers wanting their characters in, and actually ended up adding them in Brawl.
This is really fascinating to see how much of a perfectionist Sakurai was and the degree to which his vision for the gameplay and aesthetics was integrated into the game.
Wow, this was outstanding. When the part of the E3 reveal started, I even teared up a bit because of how much this game has played in my life. Thank you David
Sending my energy for the algorithm. While I'm far from a competitive Melee player, it still holds a very special place in my heart for being my first video game. Melee got me into Kirby, which is one of my favorite franchises of all time. It got me into a medium that gave me so many friends I probably wouldn't have met otherwise. Not to mention I was born in July 2001, a few months before Melee's release. It kinda feels like I literally grew up with the game. So seeing this well made, heavily detailed video on how a game this personal for me and many others was made brings me an incredibly warm feeling. Thank you so much for this video.
I'm so glad you enjoyed it. I was born in 1992 so Smash 64 was my childhood, I will never forget looking forward to this game's release, and all of the wonderful series Smash introduced me to.
Just seeing the first introduction to melee and the crowds reaction made me tear up. I didn't grow up with melee or even play it that much in my life, but the intro will always make me very emotional everytime without fail. Thank you for making this documentary
he has the hopes and expectations of all the fans on his shoulders, that's why he'll spare no expenses to make sure he delivers with nothing but the best he and his team can do
It never ceases to amaze me that Melee was developed in a mere 13 months, and uou did a phenomenal job documenting the work of Sakurai and his team at Hal. Well done!
this is just a wonderful documentary to watch in general, man. everything is just so well-documented, well-edited, well-scripted, and well-spoken about this game. it really does give me that glimpse of the past and envision how development of this game and the impact of its existence came through fruition. genuinely wonderful stuff, man!
Thank you very much! That's very kind of you to say. I think part of it was I wanted to bring myself back to that time. So I'm glad I took you with me.
Having a newfound respect for sakurai. Even thou people may be mad for the direction he took the series moving forward. His work ethic and his passion resulted in a timeless masterpiece of gaming. That will forever be played and enjoyed.
That E3 reveal will probably always bring a bit of a tear to my eye. Great video! And, btw, really killer audio mixing. Seriously excellent work here. A wonderful homage through and through
A truly captivating piece. I love that you've included so much information about the Smash Bros Fist as it shows just how interactive with the community Sakurai had been even in those days. I remember reading forum posts containing speculation as to what there was going to be at only 10 years old, and this was a window to that past, framed quite nostalgic. Thank you for this work, David.
All-Star Mode is based on The Arena from Kirby Super Star, not The Great Cave Offensive. The Arena has you fight every boss in the game with a rest area in between, just like All-Star Mode having you fight every fighter in Smash.
This game is special because it was the first time we were able to see the world of nintendo with so much detail. 2001 was a great time to be a nintendo fan. Mario had the legendary Mario 64 along with many sports spinoffs, Zelda had amazing games for n64 and GBC, the second generation of pokemon was great, Rareware was still with nintendo, making games like DK64, starfox and f-zero were popular, and Kirby even got a girlfriend in Kirby 64 xD It was a great time for many of the company's franchises and we all dreamed about finally seeing our heroes without the limitations of other systems. As a kid i was a little bit sad to see all these franchises changing artstyles once they got to gamecube, but at the beggining of the generation, it was very promising. Melee feels like the final "goodbye" of the classic nintendo, the one from the 80s and 90s
@@davidvkimball Honestly this is a brilliant video Essay? Documentary? This is such a great homage to something so beloved to us. I've always wanted something nearly exactly like this, if not from the devs themselves. Visual presentation is stellar as well. Just an excellent piece of smash bros history online.
Very well made documentary, enjoyed every minute of it. Didn't realize at first that you were the same guy who uploaded the best quality version of the Melee intro last year, these are some fantastic contributions to the Melee fandom!
I can't express my love enough for this video. Your editing and research is absolute perfection. As someone who's favorite game of all time is Melee but doesn't care for the competitive scene, getting to see Melee discussed like this is a treat. Thank you so much for this video!
Easily the single best documentary for Super Smash Bros. Melee on this entire platform. Seriously, it doesn't get much better than this if you ask me. Outstanding work here!
Wow. Great video. I love when the development process is explained. It demystifies the process for those who are interested in creating content themselves and not just consume it. Interesting to note Sakurai's sleep schedule, which I find kinda sad, but I respect his grind - he made my all - time favorite game. I wish he didn't regret how much effort him and his team put in it, but I can acknowledge his feelings and sorta understand where he's coming from. It's definitely the sharpest in the series, maybe not the most accessible, but definitely the sharpest. Thank you, Masahiro!
Sakurai really put his essence into this game. Despite being on a strict schedule but imagine how much we would’ve gotten if the timing wasn’t horrendous. But despite everything he didn’t stop until he couldn’t go. This truly was his masterpiece
This was a fun video to watch! The presentation was extremely clean and the research effort was very obvious. My favorite section was the music; it was really cool to hear the beta versions of some of the songs in Melee. Great job on this!
Amazing video! You too should be proud of your production* team and process! I got emotional watching the cinematic when you played it after detailing all of the work that went into creating it, from its conception as the means of introducing the game to the world to the actual showcase. I could really envision the feelings that the team must have felt when it was so lovingly received by the audience. I have a lot of nice things to say but having put time into passion projects of my own, I know that the greatest reward is the satisfaction of creating something you're proud of and seeing the love for it shared by so many others. Just like the HAL team you've made something outstanding, and I hope that you feel all of the good feelings that should come with it.
Sequel Comment from the "What if Melee had 6 more Months" video God, this documentary makes me envy so many people that had the privilege to watch Melee in it's build-up to release. That must've been such a ride with a massive payout. Meanwhile, little me had never heard of the Smash Bros. games (and to this, the first one is the only one I never played) until I had gotten that GCN + Melee bundle as a gift for my 6th birthday. (and even then, the only series I knew of were Mario, Zelda, and Pokémon thanks to some relatives owning a N64) I had pretty much got into Melee completely blind of what game it was suppose to be and what I was in for along with it featuring so many series, be it with characters, items, or trophies. Even then, somehow, I caught on to what I had to do and learned most of the basics on my own. I suppose getting into a game like Smash Bros. completely blind has it's own unique charm, effect, and payout, enhanced even further that this is a crossover which, little would I realize, would have quite an effect on my creative side even to this day. It amuses me how Marth and Roy were included in the game's roster despite that proposed characters like Ayumi were turned down due to their series were lacking of international presence when the FE series had no international presence either, and with the two lords being originally intended to be in the JP version only, it gets even funnier for me to think about like "You could've just as easily rolled with that for characters like Ayumi since there's already some differences between JP and other regional versions", but ah well, it's not a complaint, it's really just me kinda pokin' fun of Sakurai's mindset back then. (Bless him still) (though why the hell am I so interested in Ayumi is certainly a question arising, perhaps an old memory of a character bearing similar resemblance is trying to resurface or somethin'. Weird how my brain likes to work sometimes) Wow, I knew before Hyrule Temple must've had some difference in it's build/design from the final product thanks to the Special Movie, but there were more stages with varying differences than I thought. (Both Yoshi stages were originally larger? Would've loved to play on those!) I would've never guessed Green Greens was a MIDI track, that is scarily impressive work on the team's part. Also, getting an entire orchestra to help with music? That's certainly a big step to take with your project. To this day, even though his boss fight in Ultimate makes him feel like a far cry from what he use to be, Giga Bowser is still one of my all-time favorite things to had come out of the Smash Bros. series, and Crazy Hand was such a spooky, sinister discovery to make during one of my runs in Classic Mode. Apart from Melee's version of Adventure Mode, though this mode has been virtually the same throughout all appearance, I do miss All-Star Mode. It feels like a sort of "Ultimate Gauntlet" that's like the ultimate test both on how well do you understand on playing the characters you use as well as how to fare against the entire roster. I also miss the way unlock conditions use to be. I certainly am fine with how they did it in Ultimate where everyone was unlocked through either acquiring them in World of Light, playing certain number of VS matches, or following the character routes in Classic Mode. Still, some of the more fun conditions such as clearing Mushroom Kingdom at a certain time to get Luigi to appear on the next stage then beating him again after clearing Adventure Mode have such a giddy feeling when you meet the criteria. These two videos have reminded me just how much I miss Melee and everything about it. Sadly, my old games and a lot of other things I owned over the years became lost/broken for various reasons and after some personal events sometime after highschool, I ended up losing most of the other stuff I had accumulated up to that point, so I was back to square one and well, there's no real way to replace all the things I lost, even if I were to somehow feasibly retrieve new copies of many things that could be replaced, the memories associated with my stuff is irreplaceable, especially when it comes to things like game save data and so much art I had made since I was 5. I miss practically everything about Melee, but among all the things about it I miss, it's the direction for the music and the visuals. Music such as Temple, Pollyanna, Fountain of Dreams, and especially the Fire Emblem Medley, feel so iconic for me, and the art direction for Melee was just... truly unique. While every Smash game has accomplished in making the environments and the characters feel very much like they all fit together without so much as one break in immersion, the way Melee took it's visuals in everything is just... there's nothing like it and there may never be anything like it ever again... (or at least maybe not in this lifetime or era lmao) Oh good lord, the way I'm splurging with this nostalgia makes me feel like I'm comin' off like a broken record, but I'm sure the point is across. This was a terrific documentary! Now if you'll excuse me, I think I have an old concept that started since Melee that I wanna attempt to revisit. And perhaps a certain Famicom game to try looking into.
Another gold comment. Thank you for sharing your impressions and your memories, you're capturing just how magical I always believed Melee was, up until the hype of its release, and the years following. No other Smash game has such a beautiful combination of cohesion and unique charm quite like it. When it comes to your good memories and the wonder you felt with the game, I hope my videos rekindle a little bit of that spark.
I just finished this and I'm absolutely in awe; after only watching it once I can already tell this is one of the greatest Melee fan-works ever made. I fully agree with what Samox said about this being the official unofficial prequel to The Smash Brothers, and I think that unless we someday get something from Sakurai or Nintendo themselves this will, both now and going forward, without a doubt prove to be the most complete, well-researched, and in-depth compilation work on Melee's development and birth period. Similarly, your coverage of the earliest Japanese tournaments especially is great historical preservation, as I can't think of anyone who's compiled/presented anywhere near the amount of info you did. I can't say thank you enough for all the work that you devoted to this masterpiece. I was even impressed by the smooth+clean use of backgrounds/graphics/footage/music and overall pacing, and I think that definitely helps this rise above a typical YT video game video essay or gaming news outlet piece because you can just tell how much love, research, time, professionalism, and attention to detail+flow was put into this. The decision to use recreation footage/visuals was absolutely genius. As an avid Melee fan even I can't think of any bit of relevant trivia, topic, or factoid that wasn't touched on, and I was surprised by how much I didn't know! I was also really excited to hear that you used Smashing Live for the bgm; I think it's definitely an underappreciated bit of Melee history. That said, I'd like to ask a small favor: would you be able to tell me where you located the beta/early versions of songs? I didn't see any mention of them in the description and I'd love for those to be collected/archived somewhere. Thanks a ton in advance (and thanks for taking the time to read this far lol) Lastly, I definitely don't want to come across as wanting to hijack or piggyback on this video, but I made a little "tribute to Melee" of my own a while ago (ruclips.net/video/YJR2njGs6rc/видео.html) and keeping with the celebratory mood of David's video I want to share it; if anybody's reading this and has made anything similar, please reply with a link because I'd really like to see it!
What a thoughtful comment. Thank you for your kind words, and I'm glad you appreciated the touches. The early Onett theme is linked to the description, and the early Temple theme was from one of the articles on Source Gaming I linked to. I'll check out your video!
This video is brilliant, all the fat has been trimmed and what you’re left with is engaging and thorough. Honestly man, I thought I knew this game inside and out til you dropped that ditto tournament mode reference. Actually blew my mind. Anyways nice work, definitely subscribed.
Thank you so much!! That was definitely the goal. I considered removing the items that had been done to death on RUclips, but decided to do quick mentions instead and have it be fully comprehensive.
I can't believe I just found this video now. The detail and effort that went to it really payed off. I am specially grateful that you mentioned the team of composers who worked on the beautiful OST and sound effects the game has. They usually barely get any recognition but you did them justice by showing all the love and passion they also put into the game to make it an even better experience beyond gameplay. Thank you so much for this amazing video.
I actually found myself tearing up through this whole experience, melee has been such a big part of my life since I was like 6. What a beautiful masterpiece. I love Melee, Melee is sick!
Thank you Jon. I'm so glad it moved you! It was definitely a journey. Took me back to seeing GameCube kiosks in stores and seeing Melee's opening, and just being absolutely awestruck.
Lovely video. Definitely feeling a sense of nostalgia watching this while remembering how highly I looked forward to the game’s release at the time while now reflecting on what the grassroots scene has grown into over 20 years.
I knew a bunch of this stuff, but it is really cool to see it all put together in chronological order. Im sure this took a long time to make! Awesome work!
Recently i have been checking your channel and saw that you had some HD assets and green screen tutorials, but when I decided to check your newest video i come to find this video knowing that you always deliver quality so here i am ready to check it out, i already know that this going to be good and it deserves even more views
@@davidvkimball Thank you for making such a good video on the history of melee, i always love this type of videos and even more when they are well done
this is a perfect documentary for melee, it shows the true masterpiece it is and how Sakurai worked so hard. AND I DIDNT KNOW SAKURAI FAINTED MAKING MELEE DAMN. WHAT A LEGEND
This better be gettin' more views. Absolutely insane how comprehensive this is, so much work was put into this (whether it be the editing, or just the information provided!). Thank you very much!! Obviously one of the best games ever.. And certainly one of the best soundtracks ever. It still saddens me that they haven't released a full soundtrack for this game (besides the Orchestral CD).
Best documentary I've seen so far on that game. A lot of childhhod memories came back since I got the game at the time of its release… Nostalgy hits hard. You even made me leave the training mode for playing the solo mode again, as we did when we were only casuals. What an incredible amount of work. Very good job, we can feel all the dedication and the live you have for that game.
Thank you so much for your kind comment. I'm glad it brought back some fond memories for you. And yes I had an absolute ball making this. Enjoy your games!
@@davidvkimball I know the final version still are ominous but the fact the we only have a simple glimpse of their early design makes it much more ominous. Sometimes I wonder if they used one of the early stages in the opening movie during the scene where the bowser trophy was struck with lightning. They might’ve used an early version of final destination during that scene but that’s just my observation
So many small things in this video from putting a face to the announcer to finding out Roy was purposely a weaker swordsman. All while keeping great pacing
Man, I'm so glad Sakurai went the extra (four) mile(s) to ensure melee is what it is. My eternal gratitude goes to that man for his work, and cheers to you too for this comprehensive look at the development of Melee
I didn't realize how much I'd enjoy the section on the intro. The intro is so important to me and never fails to give me chills. Cool to know Sakurai saw it as so important as well
I have a tremendous amount of respect for Sakurai even though I can't say I agree with the direction he took the Smash series after Melee I can see his reasoning. What has always stood out to me is the amount of passion put into Melee. Without a doubt I feel Sakurai put his all into this one game more than any other game he was behind. And it is why this game is still as loved as it is today. Every single part of this game from the music, animations, gameplay, character design and stages were meticulously catered around how the player would feel playing the game and it clearly shows. Its why even among the clones of Melee they still feel like unique characters because of how different each character is even with the same types of moveset. Its something that I find very lacking in Ultimate for instance where characters have extremely unique move sets yet still feel extremely similar to another in terms of playstyle and flow chart. I absolutely love this game and the creativity it gives to players to express themselves and truly I can say playing Slippi right now despite the hundreds of Falcos I keep playing I never once groan at having to play a specific MU like I did with Ultimate where I truly felt the game was just 'not fun' to play. I don't think any fighting game has ever come close to this for me personally. And even among competitive games this is extremely rare and is only seen after years of tuning as shown with Overwatch where it took them almost five years to finally get the characters at a sweet spot of unique and fun playstyles for both the player using them and the player facing them. The fact that Sakurai and his team were able to achieve this even with the ten or so viable characters in Melee in pretty much a year is just a testament to the masterpiece that is Melee.
5 months and I still come back to this video. This video is criminally underrated. Deserves octuple the amount of views it has. Great editing style as well.
Fantastic fantastic video man. Very well done I give my respect to you. I teared up in some sections from the amount of nostalgia I felt. I strongly feel that melee is probably the best game ever made.
The year is 2007. Everyone plays James Bond, the undisputed best character in the game. His Neutral-B, "gun", is a projectile that comes out on frame 1, and instantly kills whoever it touches. Because of this, the winner of a match depends solely on who clicks the B button fastest after the match starts.
For England, James?
No. For me.
So basically Melee's equivalent of Super Sonic in Sonic R. Interesting.
For his neutral special, he wields a gun.
And port selected, can't forget about that changing the bond mirror MU
That is, until Oddjob is added and Bond's gun attack goes over his head. Now all the neutral B players are toast. Finally, revenge.
I have never seen a game have more documentaries than this one.
For good reason.
The only other game with as many documentaries that I can think of is Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
I can definitely see the similarities.
Nintendo franchises with large, dedicated fanbases. The games provide a different experience than those in the rest of their franchise. Both were very impactful for their respective consoles. Both spawned large communities, such as Competitive Smash for Melee and the vast number of speedrun for BotW.
G.O.A.T.
What about Hello Neighbor?
DooM
"Didn't want to make Bowser too powerful" luuuuuuuuuul
Say psyche right now
To summarise, Lets make Bowser one of the worst characters in the game. Sakurai did the king of the koopas dirty
@@monochromemann8000 well he's one of the better characters in Ultimate, since mechanics like Jumpsquat were made universal, he's been massively buffed in terms of speed since the Melee/Brawl days
@@TheRedCap Yeah, he is way better in Ultimate, and feels more fun to play
@@monochromemann8000 Not just one of the worst, he's the actual worst according to the current tier list lol.
The SSBM community will never cease to amaze me with their passion. This is an amazing thing you've made David. Thank you for this.
You're so welcome! I entirely agree. Thank you.
When the game your community is dedicated to has a developer as passionate and dedicated as Sakurai, it kind of bleeds in to the fans and players.
The Smash community sucks now a days.
@@Player-jh4ko what makes you say that?
@@JulianTorres97 Well I was referring to the Ultimate community, it's so toxic but I don't know if all of the smash games community's are like Ultimate's and are connected. But if you just look into it, you'll find that the Ultimate community had alot of sexual misconduct, everywhere you turn you'll find false leaks and fights about what character will be included next in the fighter pass, unsatisfied people sending death threats to the director of the series and much more.😔
No video about Melee has ever made me appreciate it more than this.
That means a lot, thank you for saying that.
43:55
Everyone: I'M BLIND!
Mewtwo: Time to meditate
Hahaha
This is only a minor setback.
Velma looking for glasses like
i guess I'm kinda off topic but do anyone know of a good website to watch newly released movies online?
Egg man
I almost cried. Seeing Melee when it was new, as well as before it was released, fills me with a very personal sense of childlike wonder and awe that I haven't felt in years. I imagine that if I have any regrets in life, it's that I may never do for others what Sakurai and his team did for me in giving this game to the world. Thank you David for capturing all these treasured memories in such an excellent video.
That is so kind of you to say. And I couldn't agree more! "Childlike wonder" is really spot-on. Seeing this game coming out was like watching history unfold.
Sakurai was truly obsessed with getting Melee EXACTLY right. He was a genius crafting HIS masterpiece. What an absolute legend
No kidding, and man did it pay off.
I wish Nintendo gave him more time though
And then made useless sequels. He should've stopped after Melee. It's the perfect game.
@@BalboaBaggins This is so wrong.
@BalboaBaggins bro? You alright the other games may be more casual but atleast it doesn't take breaking your fingers to play. (No I'm not talking from personal experience(I play rivals of aether) but my cousin would always whine about his fingers hurting after playing and overall hearing about the problems it brings)
I need a VHS tape of this documentary so I can watch it on a CRT
Hahaha. Great idea
Not even lying i would buy that
@@Flip-a-dip-dip 👀
Just use an older graphics card with VGA out, and find a CRT monitor locally and there you go, haha
@@beszt95 booorrrinng
Man, the orchestra version of Melee's music sounds so good!
Right? The whole Smashing Live recording is phenomenal.
@@davidvkimball If there are more songs in the video, I can't wait to hear them!
You can listen to em all right now! ruclips.net/p/PL1997DEF556A617A7
As a Super Smash Bros fan I agree
57:13 Iwata is the most badass company executive ever
No question!
I know the story of him adding Kanto to Pokemon Gold, but I didnt know he also fixed Melee, what a legend. He is missed.
If I'm being completely honest, Melee has one of the best soundtracks across film, television, and gaming.
Totally agreed!
As a fan of Super Smash Bros I agree
47:50 i love how there was just that one guy who knew it was ice climbers
who then proceeded to get hyped about ness, further proving every earthbound fan is a nerd (source: im an earthbound fan)
@@Octobeann hahaha
This is just excellent man. Fantastic work, you should be really proud!
Thank you so much Walt. 😃
As a fan of competitive melee for the past 7 years, this is a fantastically comprehensive look into the thought process behind the game we know (and are continuing to discover) and love today. Thank you for your time and effort putting this piece together!
You're welcome! Thank you for the kind words.
I love that you used the orchestral concert CD to score this. I freaking love that CD.
Yay! Me too. I wanted to include the main Pokemon Stadium theme but it got claimed, so it's the only one I didn't use.
@@davidvkimball Stupid copyright laws....tsk.
@@SmashBroRazz you're telling me. Lol
This is just too special. I'm so thankful for this marvelous game in my life, there's never been a game that motivated me to improve more, or brought me closer to a community. Everyone share this marvelous video, more people deserve to watch
Thank you, thank you for saying this. Means a lot
Here we are 2 decades later and this game is still going strong and new metas being developed.
Impressive isn't it?
I really love how not only you mentioned but actually got to show recreations of myths and unreleased-unused content.
This is probably the greatest videogame documentary I've ever seen! Amazing work on this, can't imagine the ammount of effort and research this must have took to make, once again, amazing work!
Thank you so much! It was really fun to make the recreations. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
God imagine if James Bond had made it into the game
Would have been sick
Would of been okay I guess
@@aeroburger is that a joke because your profile picture is literally James Bond? Lol
Thank god it never happened.
@@Jdudec367 Lol why?
Hey everyone! Thanks for checking out this video. If you like it, please engage with it and help the algorithm lords bless this piece of content. 🙏
My Patreon is here if you'd like to support me: patreon.com/davidvkimball
A L G O R I T H M
@@Pslamist thanks😅
no problem, pal.
@@davidvkimball Can you make one for each Smash game?
@@fupalover sorry I can't haha.
12:43 "wanting to express his character but not make him too strong"
yeah
😅
I think it's great that Sakuri ended up including the personal requests he got from developers wanting their characters in, and actually ended up adding them in Brawl.
Yeah that's very special!
47:08 had me crying with joy
Right? It just takes you back.
@@davidvkimball Their reaction to seeing Ridley is the best.
glad to see i wasnt the only one, with the build up in this video it felt like a first watching again
I feel like I am forever indebted to Sakurai, man literally risked his life for my childhood.
Haha!! Right?
I'm a simple man, I see hour long melee doc asking for engagement, I comment. Have not even watched it yet, but I already know it's gonna be a gem.
Thank you so much! I hope you enjoy it.
“We can’t make bowser too strong!”
Well you passed that test with flying colors…
Hahaha.
This is really fascinating to see how much of a perfectionist Sakurai was and the degree to which his vision for the gameplay and aesthetics was integrated into the game.
I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Wow, this was outstanding. When the part of the E3 reveal started, I even teared up a bit because of how much this game has played in my life. Thank you David
Thank you so much!!
I find it funny how more people were cheering for Ness over Captain Falcon or Fox in the E3 footage.
I like how a Mario and a Kirby got first and second at the very first Melee tourney.
@@davidvkimball kirbys got jumps, of course he placed well
56:14 there it is. The first melee tournament. Mario and Kirby in grands. The meta's changed a bit since then
Just a tad! 😅
Sending my energy for the algorithm.
While I'm far from a competitive Melee player, it still holds a very special place in my heart for being my first video game. Melee got me into Kirby, which is one of my favorite franchises of all time. It got me into a medium that gave me so many friends I probably wouldn't have met otherwise.
Not to mention I was born in July 2001, a few months before Melee's release. It kinda feels like I literally grew up with the game.
So seeing this well made, heavily detailed video on how a game this personal for me and many others was made brings me an incredibly warm feeling.
Thank you so much for this video.
I'm so glad you enjoyed it. I was born in 1992 so Smash 64 was my childhood, I will never forget looking forward to this game's release, and all of the wonderful series Smash introduced me to.
Could you imagine if Marth and Noodle Boy were cut from NTSC?
It would be so sad.
Would be a blessing for spacies mains lol
Just seeing the first introduction to melee and the crowds reaction made me tear up.
I didn't grow up with melee or even play it that much in my life, but the intro will always make me very emotional everytime without fail.
Thank you for making this documentary
You're so welcome, thank you for sharing that. I get emotional seeing it, too.
Sakurai has more resolve than 99% of people combined
He's a madman.
@@davidvkimball he’s a god who we should all strive to be
he has the hopes and expectations of all the fans on his shoulders, that's why he'll spare no expenses to make sure he delivers with nothing but the best he and his team can do
Dude i never noticed the elevator jingle in the brinstar theme, thats so cool
Fun tie-in, right?
@@davidvkimball yeah definetly
I was going to say this, too! Somehow the song became more beautiful
I hope this video blows up.
This is one of the most comprehensive melee videos I've seen.
Thanks so much!
It never ceases to amaze me that Melee was developed in a mere 13 months, and uou did a phenomenal job documenting the work of Sakurai and his team at Hal. Well done!
Thank you so much!
Holy shit you found footage of Early Onett’s Theme.
Heck yeah.
this is just a wonderful documentary to watch in general, man.
everything is just so well-documented, well-edited, well-scripted, and well-spoken about this game.
it really does give me that glimpse of the past and envision how development of this game and the impact of its existence came through fruition.
genuinely wonderful stuff, man!
Thank you very much! That's very kind of you to say. I think part of it was I wanted to bring myself back to that time. So I'm glad I took you with me.
Having a newfound respect for sakurai. Even thou people may be mad for the direction he took the series moving forward. His work ethic and his passion resulted in a timeless masterpiece of gaming. That will forever be played and enjoyed.
Agreed!
That E3 reveal will probably always bring a bit of a tear to my eye.
Great video! And, btw, really killer audio mixing. Seriously excellent work here. A wonderful homage through and through
Thank you so much Swann!! I'm really glad you enjoyed it.
I always come back to this video and it’s amazing. I even watch all the ads. Keep it up my guy
Thank you so much!! That support means a lot, seriously
Imagine being in that e3 room and watching the cinematic for the first time.
Right? Would have been amazing.
A truly captivating piece. I love that you've included so much information about the Smash Bros Fist as it shows just how interactive with the community Sakurai had been even in those days. I remember reading forum posts containing speculation as to what there was going to be at only 10 years old, and this was a window to that past, framed quite nostalgic. Thank you for this work, David.
You're welcome! I'm so glad you enjoyed it, Lost. 😊 It was a nostalgia trip for myself too!
All-Star Mode is based on The Arena from Kirby Super Star, not The Great Cave Offensive. The Arena has you fight every boss in the game with a rest area in between, just like All-Star Mode having you fight every fighter in Smash.
Ah, thanks for the correction. I thought I read in an interview that Sakurai mentioned GCO, but maybe I misinterpreted it.
The Ganondorf pose when he got selected at 42:58 perfectly encapsulates how the announcer said his name. Perfection
True!!
What a fantastic video the amount of respect I have for Sakurai for taking risk making this game is unreal
Thank you!
@@davidvkimball you welcome
This game is special because it was the first time we were able to see the world of nintendo with so much detail. 2001 was a great time to be a nintendo fan. Mario had the legendary Mario 64 along with many sports spinoffs, Zelda had amazing games for n64 and GBC, the second generation of pokemon was great, Rareware was still with nintendo, making games like DK64, starfox and f-zero were popular, and Kirby even got a girlfriend in Kirby 64 xD It was a great time for many of the company's franchises and we all dreamed about finally seeing our heroes without the limitations of other systems. As a kid i was a little bit sad to see all these franchises changing artstyles once they got to gamecube, but at the beggining of the generation, it was very promising. Melee feels like the final "goodbye" of the classic nintendo, the one from the 80s and 90s
Well said! N64-era art styles are the best!
Who knew that when I popped Melee into my gamecube in 2001 I'd be obsessed with it for the rest of my life.
🥰
4:18 that music sync made me almost tear up
Ha! Thank you. I did my best with the timing of the music.
Love him or hate him, you cannot deny Sakurai’s PASSION
It's true!
algorithm hittin bossman. bout like 20 mins in and the nostalgia in the orchestral pieces is just hittin so hard
😭 Thank you I'm so glad!
@@davidvkimball Honestly this is a brilliant video Essay? Documentary? This is such a great homage to something so beloved to us. I've always wanted something nearly exactly like this, if not from the devs themselves. Visual presentation is stellar as well. Just an excellent piece of smash bros history online.
@@szion72 Thank you so much!! I felt like I was made to create this video LOL. I'm really glad you got something you really wanted.
Hearing Marth say “Let’s dance” is so poggers actually
Sad it went unused even in the later games.
Very well made documentary, enjoyed every minute of it. Didn't realize at first that you were the same guy who uploaded the best quality version of the Melee intro last year, these are some fantastic contributions to the Melee fandom!
Thank you so much! Yeah I did the opening upscale. 😊
Yea same
The nostalgia hearing the intro and orchestral ost sheds a tear in my eye.
Me too!! I'm so glad it moved you too
Aight, now THIS is hype! Consider me there for the premiere!
Thank you man! I can't wait!
I can't express my love enough for this video. Your editing and research is absolute perfection. As someone who's favorite game of all time is Melee but doesn't care for the competitive scene, getting to see Melee discussed like this is a treat. Thank you so much for this video!
I'm delighted to hear that!
Easily the single best documentary for Super Smash Bros. Melee on this entire platform. Seriously, it doesn't get much better than this if you ask me. Outstanding work here!
@@Poyostar thank you very much!
Wow. Great video. I love when the development process is explained. It demystifies the process for those who are interested in creating content themselves and not just consume it. Interesting to note Sakurai's sleep schedule, which I find kinda sad, but I respect his grind - he made my all - time favorite game. I wish he didn't regret how much effort him and his team put in it, but I can acknowledge his feelings and sorta understand where he's coming from. It's definitely the sharpest in the series, maybe not the most accessible, but definitely the sharpest. Thank you, Masahiro!
Well said. I'm really glad you enjoyed it!
The production value for this video is insane. One of the sickest videos I've seen about Melee. Can't wait for your future videos!
Thank you very much!
Sakurai really put his essence into this game. Despite being on a strict schedule but imagine how much we would’ve gotten if the timing wasn’t horrendous. But despite everything he didn’t stop until he couldn’t go. This truly was his masterpiece
Agreed!
This was a fun video to watch! The presentation was extremely clean and the research effort was very obvious. My favorite section was the music; it was really cool to hear the beta versions of some of the songs in Melee. Great job on this!
Thank you so much! I'm glad you liked the music part. It was very fun.
Amazing video! You too should be proud of your production* team and process!
I got emotional watching the cinematic when you played it after detailing all of the work that went into creating it, from its conception as the means of introducing the game to the world to the actual showcase. I could really envision the feelings that the team must have felt when it was so lovingly received by the audience.
I have a lot of nice things to say but having put time into passion projects of my own, I know that the greatest reward is the satisfaction of creating something you're proud of and seeing the love for it shared by so many others. Just like the HAL team you've made something outstanding, and I hope that you feel all of the good feelings that should come with it.
Thank you so much!! I really appreciate that.
such a great video :) thanks for putting in the time to make this; really enjoyed it
I'm so glad you enjoyed it!
If this doesn't get at least over 100.000 views I'll scream. AMAZING work!
Thank you so much!
Sequel Comment from the "What if Melee had 6 more Months" video
God, this documentary makes me envy so many people that had the privilege to watch Melee in it's build-up to release.
That must've been such a ride with a massive payout.
Meanwhile, little me had never heard of the Smash Bros. games (and to this, the first one is the only one I never played) until I had gotten that GCN + Melee bundle as a gift for my 6th birthday. (and even then, the only series I knew of were Mario, Zelda, and Pokémon thanks to some relatives owning a N64) I had pretty much got into Melee completely blind of what game it was suppose to be and what I was in for along with it featuring so many series, be it with characters, items, or trophies. Even then, somehow, I caught on to what I had to do and learned most of the basics on my own.
I suppose getting into a game like Smash Bros. completely blind has it's own unique charm, effect, and payout, enhanced even further that this is a crossover which, little would I realize, would have quite an effect on my creative side even to this day.
It amuses me how Marth and Roy were included in the game's roster despite that proposed characters like Ayumi were turned down due to their series were lacking of international presence when the FE series had no international presence either, and with the two lords being originally intended to be in the JP version only, it gets even funnier for me to think about like "You could've just as easily rolled with that for characters like Ayumi since there's already some differences between JP and other regional versions", but ah well, it's not a complaint, it's really just me kinda pokin' fun of Sakurai's mindset back then. (Bless him still)
(though why the hell am I so interested in Ayumi is certainly a question arising, perhaps an old memory of a character bearing similar resemblance is trying to resurface or somethin'. Weird how my brain likes to work sometimes)
Wow, I knew before Hyrule Temple must've had some difference in it's build/design from the final product thanks to the Special Movie, but there were more stages with varying differences than I thought. (Both Yoshi stages were originally larger? Would've loved to play on those!)
I would've never guessed Green Greens was a MIDI track, that is scarily impressive work on the team's part. Also, getting an entire orchestra to help with music? That's certainly a big step to take with your project.
To this day, even though his boss fight in Ultimate makes him feel like a far cry from what he use to be, Giga Bowser is still one of my all-time favorite things to had come out of the Smash Bros. series, and Crazy Hand was such a spooky, sinister discovery to make during one of my runs in Classic Mode.
Apart from Melee's version of Adventure Mode, though this mode has been virtually the same throughout all appearance, I do miss All-Star Mode. It feels like a sort of "Ultimate Gauntlet" that's like the ultimate test both on how well do you understand on playing the characters you use as well as how to fare against the entire roster.
I also miss the way unlock conditions use to be. I certainly am fine with how they did it in Ultimate where everyone was unlocked through either acquiring them in World of Light, playing certain number of VS matches, or following the character routes in Classic Mode. Still, some of the more fun conditions such as clearing Mushroom Kingdom at a certain time to get Luigi to appear on the next stage then beating him again after clearing Adventure Mode have such a giddy feeling when you meet the criteria.
These two videos have reminded me just how much I miss Melee and everything about it. Sadly, my old games and a lot of other things I owned over the years became lost/broken for various reasons and after some personal events sometime after highschool, I ended up losing most of the other stuff I had accumulated up to that point, so I was back to square one and well, there's no real way to replace all the things I lost, even if I were to somehow feasibly retrieve new copies of many things that could be replaced, the memories associated with my stuff is irreplaceable, especially when it comes to things like game save data and so much art I had made since I was 5.
I miss practically everything about Melee, but among all the things about it I miss, it's the direction for the music and the visuals. Music such as Temple, Pollyanna, Fountain of Dreams, and especially the Fire Emblem Medley, feel so iconic for me, and the art direction for Melee was just... truly unique.
While every Smash game has accomplished in making the environments and the characters feel very much like they all fit together without so much as one break in immersion, the way Melee took it's visuals in everything is just... there's nothing like it and there may never be anything like it ever again... (or at least maybe not in this lifetime or era lmao)
Oh good lord, the way I'm splurging with this nostalgia makes me feel like I'm comin' off like a broken record, but I'm sure the point is across.
This was a terrific documentary!
Now if you'll excuse me, I think I have an old concept that started since Melee that I wanna attempt to revisit. And perhaps a certain Famicom game to try looking into.
Another gold comment. Thank you for sharing your impressions and your memories, you're capturing just how magical I always believed Melee was, up until the hype of its release, and the years following. No other Smash game has such a beautiful combination of cohesion and unique charm quite like it. When it comes to your good memories and the wonder you felt with the game, I hope my videos rekindle a little bit of that spark.
I just finished this and I'm absolutely in awe; after only watching it once I can already tell this is one of the greatest Melee fan-works ever made. I fully agree with what Samox said about this being the official unofficial prequel to The Smash Brothers, and I think that unless we someday get something from Sakurai or Nintendo themselves this will, both now and going forward, without a doubt prove to be the most complete, well-researched, and in-depth compilation work on Melee's development and birth period. Similarly, your coverage of the earliest Japanese tournaments especially is great historical preservation, as I can't think of anyone who's compiled/presented anywhere near the amount of info you did. I can't say thank you enough for all the work that you devoted to this masterpiece.
I was even impressed by the smooth+clean use of backgrounds/graphics/footage/music and overall pacing, and I think that definitely helps this rise above a typical YT video game video essay or gaming news outlet piece because you can just tell how much love, research, time, professionalism, and attention to detail+flow was put into this. The decision to use recreation footage/visuals was absolutely genius. As an avid Melee fan even I can't think of any bit of relevant trivia, topic, or factoid that wasn't touched on, and I was surprised by how much I didn't know! I was also really excited to hear that you used Smashing Live for the bgm; I think it's definitely an underappreciated bit of Melee history.
That said, I'd like to ask a small favor: would you be able to tell me where you located the beta/early versions of songs? I didn't see any mention of them in the description and I'd love for those to be collected/archived somewhere. Thanks a ton in advance (and thanks for taking the time to read this far lol)
Lastly, I definitely don't want to come across as wanting to hijack or piggyback on this video, but I made a little "tribute to Melee" of my own a while ago (ruclips.net/video/YJR2njGs6rc/видео.html) and keeping with the celebratory mood of David's video I want to share it; if anybody's reading this and has made anything similar, please reply with a link because I'd really like to see it!
What a thoughtful comment. Thank you for your kind words, and I'm glad you appreciated the touches. The early Onett theme is linked to the description, and the early Temple theme was from one of the articles on Source Gaming I linked to. I'll check out your video!
This video is brilliant, all the fat has been trimmed and what you’re left with is engaging and thorough. Honestly man, I thought I knew this game inside and out til you dropped that ditto tournament mode reference. Actually blew my mind.
Anyways nice work, definitely subscribed.
Thank you so much!! That was definitely the goal. I considered removing the items that had been done to death on RUclips, but decided to do quick mentions instead and have it be fully comprehensive.
That bit about Nintendo giving all expenses paid trips to the tournament stung ...
Right? To be fair it was all national, I don't think anyone outside of the country was able to participate. But still.
I can't believe I just found this video now. The detail and effort that went to it really payed off. I am specially grateful that you mentioned the team of composers who worked on the beautiful OST and sound effects the game has. They usually barely get any recognition but you did them justice by showing all the love and passion they also put into the game to make it an even better experience beyond gameplay.
Thank you so much for this amazing video.
You're welcome! Thank you for your kind comments.
I actually found myself tearing up through this whole experience, melee has been such a big part of my life since I was like 6. What a beautiful masterpiece. I love Melee, Melee is sick!
Thank you Jon. I'm so glad it moved you! It was definitely a journey. Took me back to seeing GameCube kiosks in stores and seeing Melee's opening, and just being absolutely awestruck.
@@davidvkimball Your video was absolutely amazing too, extremely professional and very VERY well researched!
I still have the disc of "Smashing...Live!" to this day. My favorite OST of any game
Love it! It's sooo good!
Lovely video. Definitely feeling a sense of nostalgia watching this while remembering how highly I looked forward to the game’s release at the time while now reflecting on what the grassroots scene has grown into over 20 years.
Thank you so much. I'm really glad you enjoyed it.
I knew a bunch of this stuff, but it is really cool to see it all put together in chronological order. Im sure this took a long time to make! Awesome work!
Thank you so much! I put work into that haha
Recently i have been checking your channel and saw that you had some HD assets and green screen tutorials, but when I decided to check your newest video i come to find this video knowing that you always deliver quality so here i am ready to check it out, i already know that this going to be good and it deserves even more views
Thank you so much for saying that.
@@davidvkimball Thank you for making such a good video on the history of melee, i always love this type of videos and even more when they are well done
19:49 the music edit just after this point is so clean. Considering one uses synth music and the other’s a real orchestra.
@@Mrnotpib thank you!
Made me so hype for melee, and gave me a great respect for sakurai. Great video!
Thank you so much!
this is a perfect documentary for melee, it shows the true masterpiece it is and how Sakurai worked so hard. AND I DIDNT KNOW SAKURAI FAINTED MAKING MELEE DAMN. WHAT A LEGEND
Thank you!!
It is very clear that you LOVE Melee! Enjoyed every minute of it, here's to the future of your channel :) Cheers
Thank you so much!!
Everytime I see that Melee reveal video I can't help but wonder how the crowd would have reacted if the Title Call was at the end
Hahaha true!
This better be gettin' more views. Absolutely insane how comprehensive this is, so much work was put into this (whether it be the editing, or just the information provided!). Thank you very much!! Obviously one of the best games ever.. And certainly one of the best soundtracks ever. It still saddens me that they haven't released a full soundtrack for this game (besides the Orchestral CD).
Thank you!! And yeah I agree. Although I am very happy we got Smashing... Live! I too would like an standard OST also.
Best documentary I've seen so far on that game. A lot of childhhod memories came back since I got the game at the time of its release… Nostalgy hits hard. You even made me leave the training mode for playing the solo mode again, as we did when we were only casuals.
What an incredible amount of work. Very good job, we can feel all the dedication and the live you have for that game.
Thank you so much for your kind comment. I'm glad it brought back some fond memories for you. And yes I had an absolute ball making this. Enjoy your games!
I would’ve love to see the early version of battlefield and final destination in action. Hopefully one day a full version of it will be found
That'd be amazing
@@davidvkimball I know the final version still are ominous but the fact the we only have a simple glimpse of their early design makes it much more ominous. Sometimes I wonder if they used one of the early stages in the opening movie during the scene where the bowser trophy was struck with lightning. They might’ve used an early version of final destination during that scene but that’s just my observation
So many small things in this video from putting a face to the announcer to finding out Roy was purposely a weaker swordsman. All while keeping great pacing
Thank you!
Man, I'm so glad Sakurai went the extra (four) mile(s) to ensure melee is what it is. My eternal gratitude goes to that man for his work, and cheers to you too for this comprehensive look at the development of Melee
Agreed! And thank you!!
Dedication is an amazing thing. Salute the entire team for giving so many people so many great memories!
Well said!
Wtf this shit deserves to have so many more views with how high quality this video is
Sharrrreeee 😆
Thank you so much! I hope it continues to grow!
This NEEDS more views, this is such an amazing and well-put together video.
Thank you so much!!
whoaaa how have I never seen those ItemBlind animations before
Before I did this research, me neither!
I didn't realize how much I'd enjoy the section on the intro. The intro is so important to me and never fails to give me chills.
Cool to know Sakurai saw it as so important as well
Right? The Melee opening movie is probably the greatest intro in any video game ever.
I have a tremendous amount of respect for Sakurai even though I can't say I agree with the direction he took the Smash series after Melee I can see his reasoning. What has always stood out to me is the amount of passion put into Melee. Without a doubt I feel Sakurai put his all into this one game more than any other game he was behind. And it is why this game is still as loved as it is today. Every single part of this game from the music, animations, gameplay, character design and stages were meticulously catered around how the player would feel playing the game and it clearly shows. Its why even among the clones of Melee they still feel like unique characters because of how different each character is even with the same types of moveset. Its something that I find very lacking in Ultimate for instance where characters have extremely unique move sets yet still feel extremely similar to another in terms of playstyle and flow chart. I absolutely love this game and the creativity it gives to players to express themselves and truly I can say playing Slippi right now despite the hundreds of Falcos I keep playing I never once groan at having to play a specific MU like I did with Ultimate where I truly felt the game was just 'not fun' to play. I don't think any fighting game has ever come close to this for me personally. And even among competitive games this is extremely rare and is only seen after years of tuning as shown with Overwatch where it took them almost five years to finally get the characters at a sweet spot of unique and fun playstyles for both the player using them and the player facing them. The fact that Sakurai and his team were able to achieve this even with the ten or so viable characters in Melee in pretty much a year is just a testament to the masterpiece that is Melee.
Well said!!
5 months and I still come back to this video. This video is criminally underrated. Deserves octuple the amount of views it has. Great editing style as well.
Thank you so much, that means a lot. 💕
This is really well made, lots of interesting details I wasn't aware of despite being a huge melee fan since its release. Thanks for your hard work
Yeah you do much Alex. I've been a huge fan since release also, but learned so much for this video.
Thank you for making me realize how amazing the music / sound is in this game its really tear jerking
I'm so glad!
This video was insanely good. Good shit man.
Thank you!
I really like the beta onett song
Cheery, isn't it? I prefer the final one, though.
That Aw No at 54:15 was funny
Right? Seems like a justified response though!
I don’t have enough words to express how well put together this was. Thank you.
Very kind to say! I'm so glad you enjoyed it.
Fantastic fantastic video man. Very well done I give my respect to you. I teared up in some sections from the amount of nostalgia I felt. I strongly feel that melee is probably the best game ever made.
Thank you so much. I'm honored that it moved you.