Super Smash Bros. Melee used the X and Y buttons on the Gamecube controller to change costumes.
Bowser
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Bowser's alternate costumes in SSBM
- Bowser's blue costume came from the international artwork for Super Mario Bros.
& looks like Iggy Koopa.
- Bowser's red costume resembles a spiny or red Koopa Troopa. It also resembles Wendy O. Koopa's early in-game sprites.
Bowser's Brown Outfit looks like Morton Jr. Koopa.
Captain Falcon
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Captain Falcon's alternate costumes in SSBM
- Captain Falcon's red costume is based off his rival Blood Falcon's outfit, even altering the logo on his back.
- Captain Falcon's white costume is based off the colors of Jody Summers's outfit.
- His black costume possibly came from the Japanese commercial for F-Zero X.
- Captain Falcon's green costume is based off the colors of Pico's outfit.
Donkey Kong
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Donkey Kong's alternate costumes in SSBM
- Two of his costumes came from Donkey Kong 64's "Monkey Smash".
The Darker Outfit Is Chunky Kongs
Dr. Mario
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Dr. Mario's alternate costumes in SSBM
- Dr. Mario's green clothes are possibly a reference to Rudy the Clown, Dr. Mario's main rival in the series.
Falco
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Falco's alternate costumes in SSBM
- Falco's green outfit is assumed to be what he wore when he was not a member of the Star Fox team.
Fox
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Fox's alternate costumes in SSBM
- Fox's red outfit is based off of his costume on the Japanese Star Fox box art.
- Fox's green outfit is possibly modeled after his father, James McCloud.
Ganondorf
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Ganondorf's alternate costumes in SSBM
- Ganondorf's purple costume possibly represents one of his beast forms' attire.
Ice Climbers
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The Ice Climbers' alternate costumes in SSBM
- The Ice Climbers' orange and red costumes will place Nana in the lead, making Popo follow. The voice samples are swapped to match up with the change.
Jigglypuff
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Jigglypuff's alternate costumes in SSBM
- Jigglypuff's yellow palette swap is that of a crown, which has the exact same design as Peach's.
- Jigglypuff's blue costume is a bow similar to the one from the original Super Smash Bros.
Kirby
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Kirby's alternate costumes in SSBM
- Kirby's yellow costume is Keeby. It is also the same as when he is Beam Kirby, sans the hat.
- Kirby's red costume is the same as when he is Fire Kirby, sans the hat.
- Kirby's blue costume is the same as when he is Ice Kirby, sans the hat.
- Kirby's green costume is likely an homage to his days on the green Game Boy screen. It also resembles Plasma Kirby, sans the hat.
- Kirby's white costume is a reference to his monochrome appearance from the original Kirby's Dream Land for Game Boy. Coincidentally, it is also similar to the colors of Kirby's depiction on the North American box cover of Kirby's Dream Land.
Link
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Link's alternate costumes in SSBM
- Link's red costume is based on the the Goron Tunic from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
- Link's blue costume is based on the the Zora Tunic from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
- Link's violet costume resembles the use of the Blue Ring in The Legend of Zelda, this color would later be used in The Four Swords series.
- Link's black costume is a homage to Dark Link. However, unlike the Brawl version, only his tunic is altered.
Luigi
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Luigi's alternate costumes in SSBM
- Luigi's white costume is a reference to Luigi from Super Mario Bros.
- His red costume comes from the game, Wrecking Crew, in which Luigi wears pink.
Mario
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Mario's alternate costumes in SSBM
- Mario's yellow costume is based on Wario, the same as his previous yellow costume.
- Mario's blue costume is a red/blue reversal of his traditional colors. This is seen as a partial reference to Mario's varying appearances in games prior to Nintendo's officially establishment of Mario's outfit of consisting of a red shirt, blue overalls and red hat. In various earlier games, Mario occasionally also appeared with sometimes a blue hat, red shirt with blue overalls or a red hat, blue shirt with red overalls. Interestingly however, Mario never appeared in any game with the particular combination of a blue hat, blue shirt, with red overalls as it appears here.
- Mario's brown and white costume is a reference to Foreman Spike from Wrecking Crew.
- Mario's green costume is a color inverse of his traditional colors. Contrary to popular belief it is not a reference to Luigi, however it does coincidentally resemble Luigi's colors from the arcade version of Mario Bros.
Marth
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Marth's alternate costumes in SSBM
- Marth's white costume is based on Leaf, the protagonist of Fire Emblem: Thracia 776.
Mewtwo
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Mewtwo's alternate costumes in SSBM
- Mewtwo's green costume is its "shiny" variation in from the Pokémon series but with its whole body green instead of just the tail..
- Mewtwo's blue costume resembles his in-game sprite colors for Pokemon Red & Blue.
- Mewtwo's Orange and Blue colors were used as Easter Eggs in Pokemon Stadium.
Mr. Game & Watch
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Mr. Game & Watch's alternate costumes in SSBM
- Some of his alternate costumes came from the colored LCD screens.
Ness
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Ness's alternate costumes in SSBM
- It is possible his blue costume came from the Devil Machine's eye for the color of Ness's hat.
Ness's Yellow Outfit Is His Bumble Bee Outfit
Peach
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Peach's alternate costumes in SSBM
- Peach's yellow costume changes nearly her entire appearance to that of Daisy, including her hair color, hair style, earrings, dress style, gloves, crown and even skin color.
- Her blue & green costumes imitate Mario & Luigi's caddies in NES Open Tournament Golf.
- Peach's white costume represents how she appeared in her first appearance in Super Mario Bros. Although Peach always has naked legs in her appearance in many games, she's wearing white tights with this costume, which doesn't happen with her other costumes.
Pichu
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Pichu's alternate costumes in SSBM
- Pichu's green costume gives it a backpack similar to the one worn by Pokémon Trainers throughout the Pokémon series.
- Pichu's blue costume gives it goggles similar to the "Swimmer" class of the Pokémon series.
Pikachu
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Pikachu's alternate costumes in SSBM
- Pikachu's red costume has it wearing the hat of Red, the protagonist of the original Pokémon installment. It's also based on a "shiny" Pikachu.
- Pikachu's blue costume is a party hat similar to the one from the original Super Smash Bros.
Roy
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Roy's alternate costumes in SSBM
- Roy's red, blue and green costume came from the colored units from Fire Emblem games.
Samus
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Samus's alternate costumes in SSBM
- Samus's default costume is her Varia Suit.
- Samus's pink costume is based off the appearance of the Varia Suit when missiles are selected in the original NES Metroid game.
- Samus's green costume is based off the appearance of the Power Suit in Super Metroid.
- Samus' purple costume is based on the Gravity Suit from Metroid Prime & subsequent games thereafter.
Yoshi
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Yoshi's alternate costumes in SSBM
- All of Yoshi's costumes appear as different variations of the Yoshi species in many of his games, such as Yoshi's Story and Super Mario World.
Young Link
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Young Link's alternate costumes in SSBM
- All of Young Link's colors are exactly the same as Link's, except ordered differently.
Zelda
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Zelda's alternate costumes in SSBM
- Zelda's red costume resembles her first appearance in The Legend of Zelda.
- Zelda's white costume resembles her appearance in The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.