Poke Press Digest Podcast: Episode 44-Discussing the music of Super Smash Bros. 64 & Melee

In this between-generations discussion, Anne from Pikapi Podcast drops by to analyze the music of Super Smash Bros. for the N64 and Melee for the GameCube. While these early entries don't have the sheer volume of content featured in later iterations, there's still plenty to cover, even if we did have to include a "wish list" song. As usual, we discuss the games themselves after the outro:

Links:

Pikapi Podcast

Poke Casters Network

Anime Milwaukee 2018: Super Smash Bros. Melee Tournament Winner

Isaiah Tipton

The following is an interview with Isaiah Tipton, winner of a Super Smash Bros. Melee tournament at Anime Milwaukee 2018.

Where are you from, and how did you get into competitive Smash?

I'm from Milwaukee, WI. I started playing competitively due to a tournament series here called “The Construct”. The organizers are a group called Event Horizon and they started hosting tournaments (which go on every week) about four years ago. A friend of mine went to their first event and invited me to their second, so I became a regular from then on.

Which character did you use the most in this tournament? Why?

My main is Marth and I use him because of his ability to lock down an opponent due to his long range.

You had to fight through the losers' bracket to make it to the finals. What happened in the match you lost in the main bracket?

During my first match against Flash Burn (the opponent I beat during the grand finals), we played a very close set and it came down to the last stock of the last game. He was able to edge me out by taking advantage of a stage transition.

In the second finals set, you switched from Falco to Marth. Why did you make that change?

In the first part of the finals, I chose Falco first because I wanted to get a gauge of how my opponent played while being locked down. Falco has a strong zoning tool in his lasers which can reveal how a player wants to approach a match, whether aggressive or defensive. That first set was very close, and since we had essentially exhausted each other's tricks with those particular characters, I switched to Marth to mix him up while I still had the information I gained from the first set on how he wanted to play Fox.

For the Switch, would you rather they port Smash 4 over, or build a new game from the ground up? Why?

I would rather they build a new game from the ground up. I’m not a fan of the mechanics of Smash 4 at all, so I'd like to see something different, though I don't expect them to cater to the competitive audience because it would be a bad move to do so business-wise. Also, I find that ports are usually cop outs to developing great new games.

What else did you do at this year's Anime Milwaukee?

I also cosplayed (as Khal Drogo from Game of Thrones) for most of the weekend and attended multiple events like the rave on Friday and the karaoke on Saturday. Other than that, I just enjoyed being in the atmosphere and hanging out with friends.

Anime Central 2014: Super Smash Bros. Melee Tournament Winner

Christopher “Toast” Woodson

The following is an interview with Christopher “Toast” Woodson, winner of a Super Smash Bros. Melee tournament at Anime Central 2014.

Where are you from? 
I was born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee.

How did you get into competitive Smash Bros.? 
Well, I’ve always been a fan of Super Smash Bros., and one day when I was looking up YouTube videos of Melee, I saw some players doing things I’d never seen before like Wavedashing (a special way of moving following a dodge). It looked really amazing and I wanted to be able to do that too. That’s when I got into competitive play.

What were the rules for the tournament?
This tournament went by the standard rule setup-all items off, four stock, eight-minute time limit, double elimination (winners and losers bracket) and Stage Strike (1) unless players agreed on a stage. I don’t remember if wobbling (an Ice Climbers technique) was or wasn’t allowed though.

What made you choose Falco for this tournament? 
Falco has always been my main character since Melee came out. I feel that if one can win a tourney with such a technical character, that person really earned the win. I play other characters competitively as well, but Falco will always be my prime choice for tournaments.

In the finals, your opponent used Fox, a similar character to Falco. How are the two characters different? 
Well, without getting too technical, Fox and Falco are different mainly because of the way they combo. Fox is stronger with up smashes while Falco is stronger with forward smashes. Fox is also faster overall and falls more quickly than Falco. Additionally, simple things like Fox’s shine spike (used to prevent players from getting back to the stage) making a character go downward and Falco’s shine making them go up makes them very different characters to play with.

The finals were a best-of-five match, and at one point you were down 0-2. What did you do to turn it around?
When I played the first game, my hands weren’t really doing what I wanted and I even killed myself once. This upset me, and because of that I started playing more angrily than normal, and by the next match I was a wreck. My opponent even noticed this and said, “Your Falco is too salty. You need to calm down.” That was the turning point. I took a few deep breaths, relaxed a bit (it is a game after all) and played much smarter and better than I had the previous two rounds.

Of what you’ve seen so far of Smash Bros. for 3DS and Wii U, what are you most excited about?
I’m definitely looking forward to seeing what the new Smash Bros. brings to the table and I’m really excited about seeing how awesome Mega Man is. I’ve been a huge fan of that character since I first played his games on the Super Nintendo and watched the show on TV.

What else did you do at the convention?
I spent a great deal of my time in the game room and in the dealer’s room. I did walk around for a bit and wanted to cosplay, but my cold kept me from doing too much of that. Between the arcade room, the game room, and the dealer’s room, I was pretty much set and had a great weekend. I can’t wait for next year.

1. “Stage Strike” is a system by which players alternate removing stages from a list until there is only one left, which is the stage the match is played on.