Editing Demo

A '''demo''', a shortened term for "demonstration", is a special playable teaser for a video game distributed to players typically for free to give them a chance to try a game before they buy it. Developers may also bring demos to conventions in order to promote and garner interest in the game. Prior to the popularization of digital downloads, demos were distributed through "demo discs" either to other retailers or as bonuses in gaming magazines. Demos typically would be a largely complete version of a game, but some contained content that was changed or removed entirely. Generally, a demo of a game has many features limited or removed entirely, but some will contain the full game and block it off with the use of a timer or other means.

In Japan, two demo discs were distributed for ''Super Smash Bros. Melee''. One was a standard demo disc and the other was a special event disc that was used for unknown purposes. Unlike the standard disc, the event disc limited players to only 2, 3, or 5 minute matches and four players were required in order to play. While not much information on these discs exist online, most claims are generally in agreement that the discs are just the final build of ''Melee'' on a different disc. On the standard demo disc, all unlockable characters are unavailable and cannot be unlocked.

In America and Europe, a demo for ''Melee'' was available alongside other games and previews through the March 2002 edition of the Interactive Multi-Game Demo Disk for [[GameCube]] kiosks at several retailers. The disc also included a movie of the game that served as a preview. The demo was restricted to one battle per play.

Another playable demo was featured at the {{Trn|Super Smash Bros. Brawl American Circuit}}. [[Versus mode]] and [[The Subspace Emissary]] were confirmed to be accessible in the demo. As no known recordings, photos, nor text have surfaced about this demo, further details about it, including playable characters, are unknown.

*While a demo build for ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]'' was never officially released, [https://tcrf.net/Super_Smash_Bros._for_Wii_U#Unused_Masterpieces unused text] in {{forwiiu}} implies that the game was meant to appear as a [[Masterpiece]], but was ultimately scrapped.