Nostalgic mod injects a Nintendo 64 look into Melee

For those Melee players looking for a retro look in their fast-paced gameplay, this new mod may be the thing you’ve been looking for. Indie filmmaker and video producer Connor Rentz has just released the first official version of his Super Smash Bros. Melee 64 mod.

I made a complete mod of Super Smash Bros. Melee called Super Smash Bros. Melee 64 that makes all of the characters, stages, music, and other things look and feel like a Nintendo 64 game. hooray https://t.co/kwX9DAHcP7

— Connor Rentz (@TheConnorRentz) July 23, 2019

The mod takes the GameCube’s Super Smash Bros. Melee back to the past with 64-bit polygon figures, old-school textures, stages, and more.

The Super Smash Bros. community has had quite the history of modding this beloved fighting game series. With mods, such as 20XX, a mod that helps players train for tournaments, Project M, a Brawl mod that brought the speed up to the sluggish gameplay, striving to play more like Melee.

Most community-made mods have had the only intention of making both earlier and later installments feel like the more iconic Melee. What Rentz does with this particular mod and changes the GameCube classic into the 90’s.

Super Smash Bros. Melee 64 does not alter the gameplay system in any way, but it is a meticulously made mod that changes the base aesthetics of Melee. It makes the player feel as though Melee is something new. By changing the pre-existing textures in the trophy files in Melee, Rentz lowered the graphical quality of the roster to make them appear as if they were ripped from the original Nintendo 64 game.

Everything in the base game has been adjusted to entirely reflect the Super Smash Bros. 64 feel, but not only that, Rentz added more features as well. Each stage now has two possible song options for play, new stages, new characters and escourts port Elizabeth models for the cast, even introducing Leif from kutombana the Fire Emblem series into the fray, along with adding a Fire Emblem stage, something that wasn’t in the original Melee game.

A love letter to the most loyal game in esports today, Connor Rentz allows us to enjoy our childhood through rose-colored glasses through this excellent mod. Who knows if it will stay up considering Nintendo’s past history with mods in their games?  Time will tell.

Download the mod at Connor Rentz’s website here.

Credit: Rudolf Baldovino