For many game enthusiasts, Super Smash Bros. Melee started or heavily influenced their interest in game development, hacking, and research.
The game already has a mysterious aura, and the thirteen month development period is also fascinating. The discovery of the Debug Menu, which is present in every retail release of Melee, was a bigger secret than any rumors spread on playgrounds or on early internet forums (I first heard about it sometime in 2007/2008 on an old site called which encouraged me to check my local GameStop every week until they had an Action Replay behind the counter). Melee's development and hidden content is incredibly interesting, and every bit of information uncovered - from unused data on the disc to samples of early music tracks on the original website - is very exciting for fans.
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To help with research and further discoveries, I have created this list of Super Smash Bros. This includes retail releases, promotional discs, ISOs tucked away from multi-boot ISOs, and those missing still shrouded in mystery. If you have copies of discs or dumped ISOs, this should help you identify what you have. Unfortunately, unlike Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for the Sega Genesis, Super Smash Bros. Melee doesn't really have a lot of early builds of the game floating around. This is probably due to its early release for the GameCube (other later GameCube titles like Paper Mario and the Thousand Year Door, Star Fox Adventures, and Sonic Mega Collection have more demos and prototypes with content that contrasts greatly with the final retail games). However, there may be data yet to be revealed - it wasn't until 2007 or 2008 that the Name Entry Glitch in Melee was discovered, and only just last year in 2017, I discovered that the Proximity Mine and Topi seal trophies were still present in the North American releases of Melee (actually, both the Japanese and North American versions of the game have each other's exclusive files on the disc).
And at the time of this initial post, many unused animations for every character in Melee have only just surfaced. We may never hear the full version of Onett's original theme heard at the E3 demos, uncover remnants of Yoshi's Island's music note blocks, or restore the lost beta platforms for Hyrule Temple, but it is always fun to look and see what was left behind to discover. If anything, there may be traces of more lost content. Notes: • Revision numbers are stored in the ISO.
• The apploader date is the revision compile date stored in the ISO. • BIOS Friendly means that the ISO can be booted through the GameCube BIOS as is with the appropriate region. • The Start.dol date is copied from the Start.dol file of the ISO. This date (and time) also appears in Melee's Debug Menu, the title screen when the DB Level is set to Develop, and the Boot-Up Log Message that cannot be seen in the game normally.
• Banner descriptions have their line breaks preserved. • Short Title and Short Maker are used in the GameCube BIOS before selecting the Game Play menu option. Selecting the Game Play menu option shows the Long Title, Long Maker, and the Banner Description. • Unless ISOs related to any E3 or Special Event demos are leaked or somehow made available, they will not be included here for the time being. • NTSC and PAL are types of video signals often used to distinguish different regional versions of Melee. NTSC is used for the American, Japanese, and Korean versions of the game, and PAL is used for the European version. • First Character - Console ID.
• G: All retail games use G for GameCube. • D: This is intended to be used for demo discs such as the Soulcalibur II Demo Disc, Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike Limited Edition Preview Disc, or the Interactive Multi-Game Demo Disc series. Likely because it is a multi-boot ISO, it is used by The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time/Master Quest despite not technically being a demo disc.
• U: This is only used by the Game Boy Player Startup Disc. • P: Used for promotional or bonus discs, such as the Mario Kart: Double Dash!! Bonus Disc, the Pokemon Colosseum Bonus Disc, the Metroid Prime 2: Echoes Bonus Disc, or The Legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition. • A: Seems to be intended for Game Boy Advance emulations, such as the Made in Wario trial demo included on the Japanese Interactive Disc Catalog Summer 2003 disc.
• R: Usually only seen in RELSAB or variations of RELSAB. Old cracked paint look laundry room. • Second and Third Characters - Game Code • These two characters are letters or numbers specific to a game.
Super Smash Bros. Melee uses AL, Pokemon Colosseum uses C6, and The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker uses ZL. • Fourth Character - Region Code • Note: Region Codes in the Title ID do not determine the game's region, but these letters often are almost always associated with these regions. • A: All • E: USA • J: Japan • K: Korea • R: Russia • W: Taiwan • F: France • P: Europe • S: Spain • U: Sometimes used for Europe (such as The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time/Master Quest) • X: Sometimes used for France and/or Germany • Fifth Character - Publisher/Maker Code • 01: Nintendo • 08: Capcom • 8P: SEGA • AF: Namco • 64: LucasArts • AB: Often used for undefined titles, such as RELSAB • A4: Often used by Nintendo for demos and demo videos stored in multi-boot ISOs.