Despite the age of the game, many people still love the innovations and competitive play nature ofSuper Smash Bros. Melee. It also has a strong competitive scene that is still being maintained and kept alive by professional players for the past 20 years. While the games afterSuper Smash Bros. Meleehave prominent modding scenes, adding fan favorite or obscure characters and skins to the game,Meleestill has modders adding playable characters to the roster. This includes Cloud Strife from the ever-popularFinal Fantasy 7.
Cloud Strife’s appearance in theSmash Bros.franchise was a pipe dream back in 2001, when the mainline consoleFinal Fantasygames at the time were being released on for the PlayStation, Nintendo’s competition. Still, sinceFinal Fantasy 7was a massive hit that popularized the series in the eyes of many, demands for Cloud to be a part of the roster ofSmash Bros.was high. It wasn’t until the DLC ofSuper Smash Bros. 3DS and Wii Uwhere the series would get its first playableFinal Fantasyrepresentative. Since his addition,Cloud has been a popular pickamongst the playable cast - so much so that one fan decided to mod him into the playable roster ofSuper Smash Bros. Melee.
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This mod was created by GhostsPumpkinSoup, a prominent member of theSmash Bros.modding community. According to him, this backport of Cloud fromUltimatetoMeleetook a lot of work, requiring the help of other modders to create the model and rigging. Cloud himself looks like if the models used inFinal Fantasy 7’s CGI cutscenes were the basis for his design in the game. While the first preview footage shows that he seems to be cloned using Marth as a base,Cloud’s techniques fromSmash Ultimatewere also ported over intoMeleewith some appropriate visuals.
With early footage seen here, most of the things like hitboxes andCloud’s Limit Break Specialswere retained fromUltimate, but only in this preview. GhostsPumpkinSoup said that everything will be adjusted and changed to fit how he sees Cloud inMelee’s competitive context, which means the removal of certain mechanics like Cloud’s Limit gauge. He included it in the preview to demonstrate that such a mechanic is possible, however.
DespiteSmash Ultimate’s success, mods like these show that the love forMeleeis long-standing. Fans of this game in particular are still adding characters into the game, such as when one modder addedWolf as a playable character. It will be exciting to see not only the completion of Cloud, but whatever other playable fighters come toMeleeas well.
Super Smash Bros. Meleeis available now on GameCube.
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