Except, no.

Hideo Kojima begged Sakurai to put Snake in Melee, but the game was already too far in production, and besides, they were rushed. Melee came out in '01, Twin Snakes came out in '04. So unless Twin Snakes was in development for three years (which might mean that 3d Realms had a hand in making it, amirite?), that probably didn't happen.

To be fair, though, Kojima's pretty wierd, and begging for Snake to appear in a kid-friendly fighting/party game for a company he's vanished from the console of for around eight years sounds right up his alley.

if you look at the 'plot' of MGS 2, no one would ever argue that Kojima isn't wierd.

But sonic had better be in it. How many people wasted hours on that fake cheat to unlock him?

i think it was more fron the NES games Metal Gear, and Metal Gear 2

Amazing how hype for one game can possibly stretch into post limit in only a few days.

because how can you dislike a game that lets you take a star wand and make a pikachu-cicle

I find it funny that all of you are talking about being great at Melee when you're also using items. Any pro tournament you go to, items are off. It's just straight up skill with using your character.

And really, any character in melee can be used properly. The only characters I've seen that you can't use all that grand are Pichu/Pikachu, (though Pikachu is decent) G&W, Mewtwo and Bowser (though I have seen a few damn good Bowsers.)

All the other characters can be used effectively. There are great Marios, great Luigis, great Falcos, greay Jigglypuffs, yada yada yada.

Most people in tournaments stick to Falco, Falcon, Fox, Ganon, Shiek, and Marth. Peach is also popular at tournaments, but those are usually the main ones. Samus is very versatile and can be really good. Link isn't as good as Young Link, but Link can still be a pain in the ass.

And someone mentioned earlier I think that Ness is good at throwing. The best characters for throws are the Mario Bros. Peach has the best forward throw, and Peach is just downright nasty. Throw turnips non-stop, down smash racks up tons of damage, and float slightly above the floor to mess with people, and she's floaty as hell.

I personally am a fan of Ganon and Luigi. Luigi cause he's floaty, has mad air priority, and has a great wave dash that covers like half the stage.

As to be completely on topic: I can't wait for SSBB. It looks amazing. Metaknight will be the first character that I try out, then Wario cause wario amuses me most of the time.

I might wish to add that I never said anything about items, and I shall do so now.

Items really add too much random elements to the game. When you have two really good Smashers, items can be what makes or breaks a conflict, and I don't like it. I prefer my Smash as a fighting game, skill vs skill.

Interestingly enough, even though Young Link is alot better than regular Link (For speed, priority, etc), most Smash tourneys usually have regular Link. His attacks - forward air, downtilt, upthrust and downthrust, and the second slash of his Fsmash - have alot more sheer finishing power. That, I think, is one of Young Link's main downsides. He's got like no raw impact power to make the finishing strike with.

I mostly main Zelda (not Shiek), but I enjoy screwing around with Bowser. He's just so much fun, because that one minute when you land his infamous forward smash headbutt, and your opponent goes "aw SHIT!" right before the impact...it's just gold.

EDIT: That, and the startup power on Whirling Fortress is terrific.

There isn't a pointto playing Smash Bros without items except that its those characters in a fighter setting like every other fighter set up like Street Fighter/SNK. The items are what make it unique, good or bad.

What you do is you fix the items, not just 'turn them off'. Items can also be used skillfully and are sometimes quite a nessesity (see MewTwo, Link, Peach and various other characters depending on the level and which other character they are playing). And others have an advantage when not playing with items on (anyone who benefits from not having to worry about items mainly someone who doesn't now have to worry about either a bom-omb or thrown itemstopping their continuous momentum or wave dashing ie fox, falco or sheik).

Sorry, Items = Smash Bros. Just like Items = Mario Kart. Just one game allowed you to take them out while the other didn't and a bunch of people exploited that. The game was designed around the items being on and so those who keep saying that just by turning off all items, suddenly that makes the game totally even, that makes 100% no sense. Seeing as how the game designers balanced the characters around a game where items were also a part of it. Granted the flower is weaker than before, the fan is annoying and the bom-ombs are a hazard to some, but guess what. The flower can also stun people, the fan is great for breaking shields and knocking people into the air (and a throwing weapon) AND you can turn off just bom-ombs instead of turning off ALL items. That way you don't totally NERF every character except 3 in the game.

There is no excuse for these people ruining Smash Bros Melee as they have turning tournaments into Fox/Sheik with Final Destination/No Item wars time and Time again. Its like you're a world class SF2 champion and you travel the country and everywhere you go, all the tournaments you see everyone keeps telling you 'you can only play Ryu or E Honda. That's it. And you can't use throws or trips.' When Brawl comes out, I am going to be so happy because I am going to host my own games.

Even if they included one of Square's early RPG characters I doubt they'd give them the signature attack that character has in a company-independent webcomic.

Street Fighter characters, on the other hand...

I turned items off for one reason, fox/falco shield. All throwing items become useless and althogh melee items are still effective when you ditch them they become a hazard to you.

Hmm I didn't know sheik was so popular, though sheik is the best anti-falco/fox character since she is forcused on melee and has slightly greater speed. At the tournament I went to I was the only sheik player. Most were falco or fox, and a few mario