Super Smash Bros. Melee Is Finally Making Its Long-Awaited Return

In recent years, it would seem as though retro gaming is making a major comeback. With Nintendo introducing its Nintendo Classics collection, and rumors of older titles such as The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time finally receiving a much-needed remake, fans are forever searching for that nostalgia, whilst getting to experience some of their favorite childhood games on next-gen hardware.

One such retro title that has found itself receiving the next-gen treatment in recent weeks has been Super Smash Bros. Melee, the 2001 crossover fighting game developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the GameCube. As the second installment in the Super Smash Bros. series, Super Smash Bros. Melee features characters from some other hit Nintendo franchises such as Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Star Fox, Pokémon, and Donkey Kong, and allows players to quite literally fight it out to come out on top.

Donkey Kong wondering why in Super Smash Bros. Melee.

As you can imagine from such a character-packed entry, Super Smash Bros. Melee was met with critical acclaim, with praise for its visuals, gameplay, and soundtrack. As such, it is now considered one of the greatest video games of all time and became the GameCube’s best-selling title.

Now, 25 years on, and Super Smash Bros. Melee is back, albeit unofficially, as one YouTuber has recently uploaded a video to their channel showcasing their work on a project to bring the beloved fighting game back to life.

The YouTuber in question is Video Game Esoterica, who has been working on decompiling Super Smash Bros. Melee and turning it into a stunning PC port. Not only will this mean that Super Smash Bros. Melee will no longer be tied to Nintendo consoles, but it also means that it will receive the improvements that it so desperately deserves.

In the video, we can see the current progress of the project, and it is hard to believe that a 2001 title looks as good as this, and I don’t know about you, but it takes me right back to my childhood of sitting around the GameCube thinking it was the best thing since sliced bread. We have come so far, but it is games like Super Smash Bros. Melee that still manage to capture our hearts and imagination.

As you can imagine, fellow fans were overjoyed to see Super Smash Bros. Melee back in action, and took to the comments to share their thoughts.

Image shows Super Smash Bros. Melee PC port

“Imagine all the mods we can get now!” One user expressed. “Getting ready for the Brawl port too! Let’s see if someone manages to do decomps of the Wii U games.” Another said, “I can’t believe the speed of the cultural shift towards full-on PC ports. It’s actually insane how, like, 10 years ago, we had a PC port of Mario 64, and it was an incredible, unique thing. And now it feels like every hit game up to the 6th Gen has a PC port or a decomp underway.”

It is indeed a magical thing, and will only make for some of our favorite retro titles to receive the same love as Super Smash Bros. Melee in the future. Well, if Nintendo does not stop them in the meantime.