Learn the Basics of Super Smash Bros Melee

Are you getting your butt kicked in Super Smash Brothers Melee? Here are a couple of tips and strategies that you can undertake to help improve your gameplay.

Steps

  1. Select a character that best suits your playing style. Do you prefer a slower, but much stronger character such as Ganondorf? Maybe you prefer a fast-moving, agile character, like Sheik or Fox? Are you a lightweight and hard-to-control but deadly character like Jigglypuff, or a slow-moving, long-ranged tank such as Samus? Or maybe you'd prefer a jack-of-all-trades, such as Link, Doc, or Luigi. Play with everyone, and play through the single player modes with every character to find out who you play best with.
  2. Learn how to jump. This can be done by quickly tilting UP on the control stick, or by pressing X or Y on the controller. X or Y tend to offer more control.
    • You can also double jump by pressing the jump button again in mid-air.
  3. Learn the basic ("A" button) attack maneuvers. While every character has a relatively different set of attacks from each other, all attacks are based from one simple set of controls.
    1. Basic Attack – Press A. Many characters will have a simple array of attacks that is achieved by pressing A many times in a row. For example, Link will repeatedly thrust his sword if you continuously press A.
      • You can also execute a basic air attack by jumping and pressing A.
    2. Directional Attack – Slowly tilt the control stick in a direction, and press A. This executes a basic moving attack.
      • Note that you can also execute different directional attacks by jumping and tilting the control stick in the appropriate direction while pressing A.
    3. Dash Attack – Quickly tilt the control stick in a direction to start your character off running, then press A to execute an attack.
    4. Smash Attack – While standing still, Press A and a direction at the same time [one of up, down, left, or right]. Each character has 3 unique smash attacks [up, down, and in a forward direction].
      • You can also hold down A to "charge up" your smash attack. Release A to execute the attack.
  4. Learn the special ("B" button) attack maneuvers. These attacks highly vary between characters, and reflect more on the character, compared to basic attack maneuvers, which are somewhat similar.
    • There are four executable moves with the B button:
      • B + UP
      • B + DOWN
      • B + LEFT/RIGHT
      • B, Alone
    • Most of the "B" attacks vary from character to character, but almost every character's "B + UP" acts as a third jump. This is an "attack" that is used to help get your character back onto the stage if you have been knocked off.
    • Note that, unlike A attacks, B attacks do not change, whether you are on the ground or in the air.
  5. Learn how to grab and throw. To grab a player, run up next to a player and press "Z" on the controller. To throw, tilt the control stick in any direction [UP, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT].
    • You can also execute a "running" grab by quickly tilting the control stick to run, and pressing "Z". This gives you a greater range for which to grab a player.
    • While having a player grabbed, you can press A to hit your opponent a few times before throwing.
    • Grabbing and throwing is a useful tactic to help set players up for combos and further attacks.
    • If you have your shield up (holding L or R), you can also grab a player by pressing "A". This is a good way to quickly grab a player that has just attacked you, who will be slightly fazed by hitting your shield [this article will discuss defensive capabilities later].
  6. Know the basic defensive maneuvers. It's important to know how to damage another player, but it's even more important to know how to fend off attacks.
    1. Use your shield barrier. This is achieved by pressing L or R. Don't rely heavily on it, though, as because it can break, leaving your character stunned and vulnerable to attack! Characters can also easily grab and throw you when you have your shield up. This is called sheild-grabbing, and it is done by holding r or l to shield and then pressing a which makes you grab. This technique can be used against a person who tries for example to hit you with their repeated basic 'a' attack. When they stop (figuring of course that they aren't hitting you) you immediately press A and you grab them. (Don't use repeated a, it doesn't work on anyone but beginners.
    2. Know how to roll. Rolling is a critical defensive technique that will help not only to evade oncoming attacks, but also to set yourself up to counter your opponent's attack. While your shield is up (pressing L/R), tilt your control stick LEFT or RIGHT.
    3. Know how to "spot dodge". Spot dodging is good for evading enemy attacks without moving out of place. This is done by putting up your shield (L/R) and tilting DOWN on the control stick.
      • You can spot dodge in the air ["air dodge"] by pressing L/R while in the air. You can influence movement in your character by pressing in any of the eight directions, or you can press L/R, alone. Remember though that this will disable your up-b move which is usually you main recovery move which brings us to...
    4. Be able to recover when knocked off the stage. This is done by properly timing your jumps back onto the stage, including your "third" jump [B + UP].
  7. Learn the ways to recover after grabbing onto an edge. The act of grabbing edges is useful because it provides your character with a brief "invincibility", per se. Every character can execute different techniques by pressing different buttons while hanging from an edge. Here are some examples:
    • UP – Your character will climb up the ledge.
    • DOWN – Your character will drop straight down. Note that you will only have your second jump when dropping from the ledge.
    • AWAY - Your character will move away from the ledge. Note that you will only have your second jump when dropping from the ledge.
    • A or B – Your character will climb up and attack.
    • X/Y – Your character will leap into the air.
    • L/R – Your character will climb up the ledge and roll forward a short distance.
    • Depending on the amount of damage your character has, they will attack weaker or stronger. If their damage is 100% or higher, then their edge-grabbing-attacks will be weaker than usual. Example: Normally, Mario does a mini-cartwheel for pressing A. When he has 100% damage, he only does a small kick.
    • Timing is also critical when pressing these buttons. Depending on how quickly or slowly you press the button, your character will react accordingly.
  8. Practice using your character alone. It's best to start in VS mode against a computer, so that you can get an easy feel for the gameplay. Adjust the skill of the computer accordingly, to a level that best suits you.
    • Even as a very talented player, you should limit your skill to a maximum of level 8. Level 9 computers are essentially the same as level 8, only with inhuman [hence, computer] reaction time, which is impractical to rely upon when playing with human players.
  9. Practice with other players. It's tough (try impossible) to get good at Super Smash Brothers Melee by only playing against the computer, since the computer can only do so much. Practice playing with your friends!
  10. Learn advanced techniques.
    • This is not necessary, but it makes the game a whole lot more fun. see the advanced how to play video on youtube, practice what you see slowly, and then you'll be able to kick your friends butts. Don't expect it to happen overnight though, practice practice practice, and watch professionals like Mango, ken, pc Chris, mew2king (m2k for short), Azen, Isai and others.

Tips

  • In VS mode, you can use the C-stick to execute quick smash attacks. Tilt the C-stick in the appropriate direction to attack.
  • Try playing several different characters. This helps not only to find a character that best suits you, but also to learn how others play their characters, so that you can broaden your knowledge.
  • If you are relatively new to Super Smash Brothers Melee, Sheik is an excellent starting character. She is very versatile, and is used by many pro players long after having played the game. She has a great, reliable projectile and has an awesome dash attack and c-stick moves. Marth, Ganondorf, and Link are also good starting characters, though the former two are more difficult to use and the last is simply limited in terms of attack speed.
  • If you are completely new to Super Smash Brothers Melee (or even its predecessor, Super Smash Brothers), there is a video available in the game that teaches the very basics of how to play. It can be found if you navigate the menu screen.
  • Be unpredictable! If you get caught using a stale pattern [e.g. flying up in the air with Kirby and using his B + DOWN rock attack], then you will quickly be defeated by most skilled players. Make sure that you vary it up.
  • Normally, tilting the c-stick will make the smash attack start immediately. You can charge it by holding down Z.
  • Try playing as the Top Tier characters, such as Fox, Falco, Sheik, Marth and Jigglypuff.

Warnings

  • This guide only covers the basics of Super Smash Brothers Melee. There are a multitude of advanced techniques that exist in the game including, but not limited to tech-ing, wave dashing, short-hopping, L-Canceling, edge-guarding, and chain-grabbing.

Things You'll Need

  • A Nintendo GameCube(or a Nintendo Wii, or the Dolphin emulator)
  • Super Smash Brothers Melee
  • A controller

Related Articles

Retrieved from "https://kipkis.com/index.php?title=Learn_the_Basics_of_Super_Smash_Bros_Melee&oldid=288248"