How Not to Clone a Classic: A Deep Dive into Post-Melee Platform Fighters

Super Smash Bros. Melee remains a highly popular competitive game even two decades after its release, with an unmatched legacy and consistent community engagement. Its influence extends to various forms of media and inspired numerous games to emulate its mechanics including fast-paced movement, combo systems, and punishing gameplay.

Rushdown Revolt, formerly Icons Combat Arena, is presented as a prime example of how not to clone Melee. Despite significant funding and efforts to appeal to the Melee community during its early development, the game suffered from a sterile art style, rough animations, poor sound design, and a lack of identity. Its characters were largely uninspired clones of Smash characters, and the game was plagued by technical issues like crashes. Icons' attempts to monetize through loot boxes and microtransactions further alienated players. Even after rebranding and mechanical changes in Rushdown Revolt, the game struggled with wonkiness, visual clarity issues during fast gameplay, and frequent desyncs/crashes. Its post-release development was largely driven by a small team of passionate volunteers, shifting its focus from an esports ambition to a niche passion project.

Slap City stands as a stark contrast to Icons, demonstrating how to successfully take inspiration from Melee while forging its own identity. Developed by Ludosity, this platform fighter features a zany cast of original characters, solid sound effects, crisp movement, and a design philosophy prioritizing fun alongside competitive depth. It incorporates Melee-like mechanics like wave dashing and shield dropping but refines them for accessibility. Slap City's robust single-player content, including unique story modes for each character, and diverse stages, contributed to a more engaging experience. Its charming aesthetic and focus on original ideas, rather than mere imitation, allowed it to resonate despite not aiming to be an esport. While its active player base has dwindled, it remains a highly regarded example of a successful Melee-inspired game.

Project M, initially a mod for Super Smash Bros. Brawl, aimed to make Brawl's characters play more like their Melee counterparts. It gained significant traction and a competitive scene but faced pressure from Nintendo, leading to its official discontinuation. Project+ emerged as a spiritual successor, continuing Project M's balancing adjustments and bug fixes, even adding new characters like Knuckles. These mods are praised for being true passion projects, free to play, and offering a fully functional roster with improved visuals and additional content (like Brawl's Subspace Emissary) while retaining Melee's core gameplay feel. The video contrasts these community-driven efforts with the commercial, profit-driven approach of Icons, highlighting the authenticity and dedication of Project M/P+ developers.

Rivals of Aether 2 (Rivals 2) launched with a successful marketing push and strong initial player numbers, leveraging its connection to internet personalities. While its predecessor aimed for more originality, Rivals 2 leaned more explicitly into Melee inspirations. However, it succeeded in creating original, mechanically deep, and visually appealing characters with elemental affinities, setting it apart from mere clones. The game's animations, polished gameplay, impactful sound design, and innovative mechanics like 'Hitfall' and a unique grab-break system are highly praised. Rivals 2 has a transparent monetization model, offering all gameplay content for a one-time fee and making battle passes accessible indefinitely. The main drawback is a relative lack of casual content at launch, which led to player retention issues and alienated a broader audience. This was largely due to financial pressures forcing an early release, with developers hoping to expand casual features in future updates.

The video concludes by summarizing key lessons for creating platform fighters inspired by Melee. It emphasizes the importance of respecting the source material and community, avoiding cynical monetization schemes like locking characters behind loot boxes, and offering genuinely original and interesting gameplay. Attempting to draw players away from an established game with a mere clone that is inferior in every way is a recipe for failure. Success hinges on creating a good, interesting game with fresh ideas and catering to both competitive and casual audiences, rather than solely relying on marketing or making 'tribute characters' to appeal to an existing fanbase.