Remember the games you played before smartphones and flappy bird, back before the graphics made you question whether you were playing a video game or simply watching a live action movie. We all had our favourites that we never thought we’d stop playing, but here we are in 2021, with more forgotten games than we can count. ‘Smash’ hit multiplayer combat game, Super Smash Bros. Melee (SSBM) could be considered one of these many forgotten games, being released in late 2001, some of us may have forgotten about this blast from the past.
In order to explore and analyse SSBM, I would initially research the game itself and such factors as to why the developers chose to curate this game in particular, also establishing which pre-existing games they took influence from and why. Additionally, I would explore those similar to SSBM, thus building a foundation of knowledge to further compare and relate to whilst conducting the analysis of the game itself.
Possible games to investigate for the purpose of analysing SSBM include those which were developed in the same time period, such as games like:
- Grand Theft Auto III
- Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy
- Silent Hill 2
- Sonic Adventure 2
Following these games, I could further explore the developers of SSBM and the other games which they have established, such as:
- The Kirby’s Series
- Pokémon Snap
- Hyper Zone
- Face Raiders
Lastly, I could compare games of the same genre as SSBM, other fighting or platform games, much like:
- Sonic Mania
- Hollow Knight
- Limbo
- Mortal Kombat
- Street Fighter
Once I have conducted some secondary research around related games and genres, I will be able to use these paratexts to refer back to throughout the analysis of SSBM. This information will give me further ground to build off and reiterate why SSBM was so popular for its time. I will focus my analysis on the nostalgia SSBM holds to those who played the game when it was first released, and why it is considered so nostalgic at present, what makes its audience want to relieve the experience that SSBM provided and how this game has aged over time, does it still hold up to present fighting and platform based games?
In order to conduct and in-depth analysis of SSBM and the reason behind the game’s popularity, I would develop a framework for my analysis which begun by looking at what influenced the development of SSBM and what developers hoped to achieve from the production of the game. After conducting some secondary research on the game, I would draw on comparisons as well as dissimilarities between related games within that genre, time of development, etc. Finally, I would further explore the relationship between the game itself and the audience’s response to the games initial release, along with how audience respond to the game at present date.
WHAT AM I DOING? 