Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - A Tribute to Melee 2

There are two ways to pay homage to Super Smash Bros. Melee, and both were done duing the first days of April 2022. One way to do so is through its mechanics, and that was demonstrated through the reveal trailer for Rivals of Aether 2. The other way is something only a Smash Bros. game can do, which is via stuff introduced into the series through Melee. This video is, of course, the latter.
(For the record, I have no plans on playing Rivals of Aether, either 1 or 2. It's not my sort of platform fighter, which you might have figured with my preferences for playing a Smash Bros. game.)
Just as "Original Class of '64" got a second run in January 2022, we now have a second run of "A Tribute to Melee," which was previously held on the first weekend of January 2020. This Event Tourney features characters, stages, and items that debuted in Super Smash Bros. Melee. That means the roster here consists of Peach, Bowser, Ice Climbers, Sheik, Zelda, Dr. Mario, Pichu, Falco, Marth, Young Link, Ganondorf, Mewtwo, Roy (Fire Emblem), and Mr. Game & Watch. (These players use some characters much more frequently than others.)
The stages are Battlefield (though available for the Polygon Fighters and Metal Mario battles in the first Super Smash Bros., it was not officially part of the stage list until Melee), Princess Peach's Castle, Rainbow Cruise, Kongo Falls, Jungle Japes, Great Bay, Temple, Brinstar, Yoshi's Island (Melee), Yoshi's Story, Fountain of Dreams, Green Greens, Corneria, Venom, Pokémon Stadium, Onett, Mushroom Kingdom II, Brinstar Depths, Big Blue, and Fourside. Final Destination was not included despite it, like Battlefield, getting its selectable debut; this is most likely due to a general ban on Final Destination for Event Tourneys.
The items are the Smash Ball (found in nearly every Event Tourney with items on, regardless of theme), Poké Ball (likely due to some Poké Ball Pokémon debuting in Melee, like Staryu), Containers (Crates, Barrels, and Capsules), Food, Maxim Tomato, Heart Container, Super Mushroom, Poison Mushroom, Super Star, Warp Star, Metal Box, Bunny Hood, Beam Sword, Star Rod, Home-Run Bat, Hammer, Lip's Stick, Ray Gun, Fire Flower, Super Scope, Bob-omb, Motion-Sensor Bomb, Green Shell, Freezie, and Mr. Saturn.
And, of course, we have the usual Event Tourney settings: Time (2:30), up to 4 players per match, items are on Medium, FS Meter is on, and stages are in Normal form.
Match #1
Rainbow Cruise
Time (2 Minutes 30 Seconds)
I AM PLAYER 1 (Peach)
Opponents:
Player 2: pressDownB (Ganondorf)
Player 3: Hahli Nuva (Peach)
Player 4: Dylan (Mr. Game & Watch)
Music: "Mario Paint Medley"
Honestly, I was pretty pleased to keep finding players this late into the night, around midnight Pacific Daylight Time on Saturday night/Sunday morning. It was kind of confusing to have someone else with the same character as me, but I have no control over either of those factors.
Match #2
Corneria
Time (2 Minutes 30 Seconds)
I AM PLAYER 1 (Falco)
Opponents:
Player 2: Hahli Nuva (Peach)
Player 3: Violet (Sheik)
Player 4: Aaron (Falco)
Music: "Star Fox Medley"
Honestly, I was quite surprised I was able to sneak past Scizor and grab that Poké Ball containing Pyukumuku. Scizor was a Pokémon around during Melee (though not in a Poké Ball in that game). Pyukumuku, of course, is not. This was another case of someone with the same character as me...
Match #3
Mushroom Kingdom II
Time (2 Minutes 30 Seconds)
I AM PLAYER 1 (Falco)
Opponents:
Player 2: RIcorico77 (Bowser)
Music: "Brain Cleaner"
And this one was not. There were some very good Bowsers out that night. I didn't even know you could escape from that spinning rapid attack of Falco's so easily. This was also one of those players who could deflect a thrown item and make it theirs.
Match #4
Big Blue
Time (2 Minutes 30 Seconds)
I AM PLAYER 1 (Dro. Mario)
Opponents:
Player 2: Dj-Teddi (Bowser)
Player 4: Colton (Peach)
Music: "Sand Ocean"
Plater 3 wound up getting disconnected before the match began, it seems, so there are only three players in this. I got the Doctor Finale twice with someone with high damage, but it seems it doesn't work quite as well on a high incline. That Peach Blossom also caused the most roundabout KO I've ever seen.
Match #5
Big Blue (again)
Time (2 Minutes 30 Seconds)
I AM PLAYER 1 (Dr. Mario)
Opponents:
Player 2: Jackson (Ice Climbers)
Music: "Port Town"
Jackson plays Ice Climbers in a very slippery way (no pun intended), with a lot of air time making them hard to hit. (Why was Nana by herself on the results screen?)

[@justinjyeung]

Actually, Scizor was a Poké Ball Pokémon in Melee, but it acted slightly differently from how it does now. It kind of jumped around and would damage you if touched it :o

[@Overhazard]

Oh yeah, I remember that. So it works out anyway!

[@randomyoshi]

Match 1- Somehow, I had a feeling that Ganondorf would win the match thanks to his sheer strength.
Match 2- Wow. Everyone had -1 or -2 at the end of the match, while you were the only fighter in the positive +/-. And you didn't get KO'd, either. Seems like you were focused on surviving while the other fighters were busy attacking each other.
Match 3- Oof. What a lopsided match.
Match 4- Bowser would've won if it wasn't for the SD. I do like the fact that all three fighters are from the Mario games, however.
Match 5- It seemed like your opponent was spending most of their time trying to stay on the stage.

[@Overhazard]

Bowser and Peach in particular seemed to be very popular in this event, and to a lesser extent Ganondorf and Marth. I hardly saw any of the other characters. No doubt it's due to their reputations in the past and because of the villains' sheer power working well in 4-player free-for-alls.
Not sure if this audience was different than other Event Tourneys, but the overall style of my opponents did seem different from before. You mentioned a lot of playing to survive, especially in the more hectic stages; I have to wonder if this Event Tourney's theme brought in a bunch of Final Destinationers who found themselves in for a surprise when stages like Big Blue and Rainbow Cruise came up.

[@dylanwant1634]

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