Examples of regional differences as demonstrated in the Collection mode; the image on the left is from the American version, while the image on the right uses the Japanese language setting.
There are many differences between the NTSC versions and PAL version of Super Smash Bros. Melee, which are listed here.
Game disc
The text found near the center of the back of the Melee game disc indicates the version of the game.
| Version | Text |
|---|---|
| 1.0 NTSC | DOL-GALE 0-00 |
| 1.1 NTSC | DOL-GALE 0-01 |
| 1.2 NTSC | DOL-GALE 0-02 |
| PAL | DOL-GALP 0-00 |
MD5 hash
The version of a .gcm or .iso file of Melee can be determined by checking its MD5 hash.
| Version | MD5 hash |
|---|---|
| 1.0 NTSC | 3a62f8d10fd210d4928ad37e3816e33c |
| 1.1 NTSC | 67136bd167b471e0ad72e98d10cf4356 |
| 1.2 NTSC | 0e63d4223b01d9aba596259dc155a174 |
| PAL | 5e118fc2d85350b7b092d0192bfb0f1a |
| 1.2 NTSC-J | dc07abd4b6a5e1517da575274ceefcf8 |
General
Version 1.0
- All glitches exist, including one that can overwrite Multi-Man Melee scores.
- If the player plays as one of the clone characters, lower scores can overwrite higher ones, and if the player plays a clone and then a regular character, the score can duplicate itself on other characters.
- In the Home-Run Contest, the track ends at 1521.0 m (4990.0 ft), and if Sandbag isn’t already on the track when the player strikes it with the final attack and it goes over 1389.0 m (4556.9 ft), it will result in No Distance. In the Japanese version, it will start to say No Distance from about 890.0 m (2920.0 ft).
Version 1.1
- Home Run Contest track was changed to 4990.0 m (16371.0 ft) long, but the bag can’t land anywhere past 3458.5 m (11347.2 ft).
- The All Floats Glitch can no longer be performed.
Version 1.2
- Moves that do less than 1% are now Smash DI able
- The Multi-Man Melee glitch was fixed, the Superjump Glitch was removed, and many other glitches were corrected.
- The announcer now says “A New Record” if a new record is achieved in Multi-Man Melee.
- The game is now able to record and store negative scores in the single player modes; finishing with a negative score will count as 0 instead of the maximum of 999,999,999.
- The turnip glitch can no longer be performed.
- Many methods of freezing the games no longer cause freezing.
PAL version
- Lag and loading times have been reduced.
- Character stock icons shown at the bottom part of the screen during a match are considerably smaller.
- The progressive scan query shown during the booting of the game if B is held is replaced by a 60 Hz query, which lets the player select between PAL50 (576i50) and PAL60 (480i60).
- The "Special Movie" was removed, as was the Archives section in the Data menu. A dedicated menu selection for the How to Play video replaces the Archives submenu.
- In the Home-Run Contest, the platform is longer and the invisible backwall is a bit farther.
- The Tamagon trophy has been completely removed from the game.
Character-specific differences
Bowser
| 1.0 NTSC | 1.1 NTSC | 1.2 NTSC | PAL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight | 117 |  118
| ||
| Down throw | Dependent on enemy weight, so it does not hit Jigglypuff or Mr. Game & Watch | Independent of enemy weight, so it will hit Jigglypuff or Mr. Game & Watch.
| ||
| Flame cancel | Can perform |  Cannot perform
| ||
Captain Falcon
| All NTSC | PAL | |
|---|---|---|
| Rapid jab | Automatically initiates after three presses of the A button unless cancelled | Initiates only after four presses of the A button
|
| Knee Smash | Sourspot deals 6% damage and has 35 base knockback | Sourspot deals 3% damage and has 30 base knockback
|
Donkey Kong
| All NTSC | PAL | |
|---|---|---|
| Giant Punch | Donkey Kong will lose his charge if he is hit out of Spinning Kong | Being hit out of Spinning Kong does not affect Giant Punch's charge.
|
Falco
| All NTSC | PAL | |
|---|---|---|
| Down aerial | Has spike angle of 290 for clean and late hit | Has spike angle of 290 for clean hit and Sakurai angle for late hit.
|
| Down throw | Fox cannot tech out | Fox can tech out.
|
Fox
| All NTSC | PAL | |
|---|---|---|
| Weight | 75 | 73
|
| Dash attack | Late hit has angle of 72 and lasts 10 frames | Late hit has angle of 55 and lasts 9 frames
|
| Up smash | Clean hit deals 18% with 30 base knockback and 112 knockback scaling | Clean hit deals 17% with 26 base knockback and 108 knockback scaling
|
| Down smash | Sweetspot deals 15% with an angle of 25 | Sweetspot deals 13% with an angle of 30
|
| Fire Fox | Strong hitbox deals 14% | Strong hitbox deals 12% and is 0.75x the radius; covers less distance than NTSC Fire Fox but more than Fire Bird
|
| Reflector | Does not knock Marth down |  Knocks Marth down, due to his changed weight
|
| Falco's down throw | Cannot tech out due to unlucky math involving throw's weight-based animation speed | Can tech out due to new weight
|
Ganondorf
| NTSC 1.0 | NTSC 1.1 | NTSC 1.2 | PAL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neutral aerial | Hits on frames 7-8 then 16-17 | Hits on frames 7-8 then 20-21
| ||
| Forward aerial | Base knockback is 60 | Base knockback is 40
| ||
| Down aerial | Deals 22%, base knockback is 50 | Deals 21%, base knockback is 40
| ||
| Bunnyhood Double Jab | Can be performed | Cannot be performed
| ||
- In version 1.0, the second hit of the neutral aerial has the hitbox active too early, when Ganondorf's leg is still beneath him.[1]
Ice Climbers
| All NTSC | PAL | |
|---|---|---|
| Freeze glitch | Can perform | Cannot perform
|
Jigglypuff
| All NTSC | PAL | |
|---|---|---|
| Bowser's down throw | Undamaged by it | Will take damage from it
|
Kirby
| All NTSC | PAL | |
|---|---|---|
| Weight | 70 | 74
|
| Dash speed | 1.4 | 1.5
|
| Dash attack | Deals 8% and has 66 knockback growth | Deals 9% and has 50 knockback growth
|
| Forward aerial | Landing lag is 20 frames (10 if l-cancelled) | Landing lag is 18 frames (9 if l-cancelled)
|
Link
| 1.0 NTSC | 1.1 NTSC | 1.2 NTSC | PAL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boomerang superjump | Can perform | Cannot perform
| ||
| Boomerang | Catching the boomerang while airborne cancels the grapple animation, allowing Link to use Spin Attack | Catching the boomerang does not cancel the grapple animation
| ||
| Spin Attack | Has a lingering semi-spike with a trajectory of 0 degrees | Sends opponents at the same angle as a strong hit (trajectory: scales up to 45 dependent on enemy %)
| ||
Mario
| 1.0 NTSC | 1.1 NTSC | 1.2 NTSC | PAL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight | 100 | 98
| ||
| Fireball | Increases speed when banking off certain angles on Yoshi's Island (SSBM) | No longer increases speed
| ||
Marth
| All NTSC | PAL | |
|---|---|---|
| Weight | 87 | 85
|
| Maximum aerial velocity | 0.90 | 0.85
|
| Down aerial | Tipper spikes opponents (tip has angle of 290) | Tipper meteor smashes opponents (tip has angle of 270)
|
Mewtwo
| 1.0 NTSC | 1.1 NTSC | 1.2 NTSC | PAL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shadow glitch | Can perform | Cannot perform
| ||
Mr. Game & Watch
| All NTSC | PAL | |
|---|---|---|
| Bowser's down throw | Undamaged by it | Will take damage from it
|
Ness
| 1.0 NTSC | 1.1 NTSC | 1.2 NTSC | PAL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PK Thunder | Stays active when Ness is hit | Despawns if Ness is hit while PK Thunder is being turned |
Despawns if Ness is hit
| |
| PSI Magnet | Heals by two times the damage of the incoming attack after that damage has been rounded down to the nearest whole number | Rounds up to the nearest whole number instead of down
| ||
- There is a long standing rumor that Ness can charge his Yo-Yo smash attacks over an edge in one of the versions and not others. This rumor is false; in all versions of Melee, Ness can charge his smash attacks over an edge, but only to a specific distance before it stops working.
Samus
| All NTSC | PAL | |
|---|---|---|
| Grapple Beam | Can use Extended Grapple and can bomb jump after grapple is used in midair | Cannot use Extended Grapple and cannot bomb jump out of grapple beam
|
Sheik
| All NTSC | PAL | |
|---|---|---|
| Up smash | Deals 17% with 105 knockback scaling | Deals 16% with 102 knockback scaling
|
| Up aerial | Clean hit deals 12% and late hit deals 9%, both with 120 knockback scaling | Clean hit deals 10% and late hit deals 8%, both with 110 knockback scaling
|
| Down throw | Trajectory is 80 degrees, allowing guaranteed followup into many other moves, and first hit has fixed knockback value of 98 | Trajectory is 60 degrees, only allowing guaranteed followup into dash attack, and first hit has fixed knockback value of 196
|
Yoshi
| All NTSC | PAL | |
|---|---|---|
| Weight | 108 | 111
|
| Forward smash | Deals 16% | Deals 17%
|
| Up smash | Deals 14% | Deals 15%
|
| Down aerial | Deals 51% (all hits) | Deals 38% (all hits)
|
Young Link
| 1.0 NTSC | 1.1 NTSC | 1.2 NTSC | PAL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boomerang superjump | Can perform | Cannot perform
| ||
| Boomerang | Catching the boomerang while airborne cancels the grapple animation, allowing Link to use Spin Attack | Catching the boomerang does not cancel the grapple animation
| ||
Language
- PAL
- The NTSC version allows changing between English and Japanese, while the PAL covers five languages: English, French, German, Spanish and Italian.
- Also in the Language selection, English is represented by the Union Jack instead of the American flag.
- Names can now include upper and lower case letters and with diacritics; Japanese characters, however, are no longer usable.
- The Motion Sensor Bomb is called the Proximity Mine.
- Distances are always measured in metres, as is customary in most European countries.
- Snag trophies! is called "Grab a Trophy".
- Rainbow Cruise changed to "Rainbow Ride".
- In the NTSC version, the text at the top of the Lottery screen reads "Chance of getting a new trophy"; in the PAL version, it simply reads "New trophy chance".
Trophies
- PAL
- None of the trophies have release dates.
- Kirby Super Star is referred to as Kirby's Fun Pak.
- Star Fox is referred to as Starwing; Star Fox 64 is referred to as Lylat Wars
- The NES game Yoshi is referred to as Mario & Yoshi..
- Helirin is erronously referred to as Heririn in NTSC games. This is fixed in the PAL version.
- The EarthBound trophies have "Not released in Europe".
- The GameCube's trophy has May 3, 2002, its release date in the PAL region.
- The Tamagon trophy is completely removed and unobtainable altogether.
Character names
All the characters' names are the same in English, Italian and Spanish. Characters not mentioned are the same as in English.
| English | French | German |
|---|---|---|
| Young Link | Link Enfant | Junger Link |
| Mewtwo | MEWTWO | Mewtu |
| Jigglypuff | RONDOUDOU | Pummeluff |
| Pikachu | PIKACHU | Pikachu |
| Pichu | PICHU | Pichu |
| Sheik | Sheik | Shiek |
When selecting Jigglypuff in German or French, its name is said by another announcer, and it has separate voice clips. The crowd, however, shouts something sounding like "Dong dong" in both languages, for some reason.
Of course, Japanese character names reflect the original Japanese names of those characters: Bowser is Koopa, and Jigglypuff is Purin. In addition, Ice Climbers are referred to as Ice Climber, and "DK" is displayed as "D.KONG". The first three use appropriate voice clips, while the latter is "Donkey Kong" in both English and Japanese anyway.
The French and German versions have a unique announcer for Jigglypuff.
Stage names
All stages' names are the same in English and Italian. Stages not mentioned have the same name in all languages.
| English | French | German | Spanish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Princess Peach's Castle | Château de Peach | Prinzessin Peachs Schloss | Castillo de Peach |
| Rainbow Ride | Rainbow Ride | Regenbogen Raserei | Rainbow Ride |
| Kongo Jungle (SSBM) | Jungle Kongo | Tiefster Kongo | Selva Kongo |
| Jungle Japes | Jungle Japes | Tropen Trubel | Jungla Jocosa |
| Great Bay | Grande Baie | Schädelbucht | Gran Bahía |
| Temple | Temple | Tempel | Templo |
| Yoshi's Island | Île des Yoshi | Yoshi's Island | Yoshi's Island |
| Fountain of Dreams | Fontaine des Rêves | Traumbrunnen | Fuente de los Sueños |
| Icicle Mountain | Montagne Icicle | Icicle Mountain | Montaña Carámbano |
| Flat Zone | Espace 2D | 2D-Welt | Zona extraplana |
| Mushroom Kingdom | Royaume Champignon | Pilz-Königreich | Reino Champiñón |
| Mushroom Kingdom II | Royaume Champignon II | Pilz-Königreich II | Reino Champiñón II |
| Brinstar Depths | Profondeurs de Brinstar | Die Tiefen von Brinstar | Abismo de Brinstar |
| Mute City | Mute City | Mute City | Circuito Mute City |
| Big Blue | Big Blue | Big Blue | Circuito Big Blue |
| Pokémon Stadium | Stade Pokémon | Pokémon Stadium | Estadio Pokémon |
| Poké Floats | Poké Flotte | Poké-Flug | Poké Globos |
| Battlefield | Champ de Bataille | Battlefield | Campo de batalla |
| Final Destination | Destination Finale | Final Destination | Destino final |
| Kongo Jungle N64 | Jungle Kongo N64 | Tiefster Kongo | Selva Kongo N64 |
| Yoshi's Island N64 | Île des Yoshi N64 | Yoshi's Island | Isla de Yoshi N64 |
Notes
- The Japanese discs also have three different known versions, although there are some aesthetic differences exclusive to the Japanese release. This includes graphical changes such as the title screen, certain videos, seal Topis rather than yeti, and some references to Perfect Dark (such as the Proximity Mine design). In addition, the language is set to Japanese on default with only minor alterations in the English setting's text, and the Tamagon Trophy was originally available in-game. Switching languages between English and Japanese will not effect these changes.
- In the French versions of both Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Pokémon names are in all caps, as well as being changed. In the PAL version of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the names of the Pokémon are in all caps in all languages.