Super Smash Brothers Melee has a very simple and intuitive control scheme. A and B attack, X and Y jump, and the R and L triggers are used for defense. Pretty much anyone can pick up the controller and know what they're doing in a matter of minutes. However, there are a wealth of complicated techniques hidden beneath this simplistic facade. Only by knowing how to execute all of these more advanced moves can you ever hope to become a SSBM master. Let's look at what these fighters can do, shall we?
The Basics
"So what am I trying to do in this bloody game?"
Well it's simple, really. You face off against a bunch of Nintendo characters, either human or CPU controlled, and try to beat the living snot out of them. Your main goal is to knock someone off the edge of the screen, which either takes away one of their lives or gives you a point. In order to do this, you have to raise that person's damage percentage, which is displayed at the bottom of the screen. The more you beat up on a person, the higher their percentage gets. The higher their percentage gets, the farther they fly after you wallop them. And once you get their percentage high enough, you can knock them all the way off the screen.
Depending upon what particular battle mode you're playing in, your objectives may vary. Sometimes you may be trying to get more coins than your opponents, or sometimes you're battling against many smaller enemies in a single-player mode. In the end, though, every mode is going to require you to know how to beat the crud out of someone quickly and effectively.
Button Configuration
Mockup layout courtesy of the official Japanese SSBM site
Moving Around
You use the joystick to move your character around in SSBM. Left and right on the stick will make your character walk left and right. If you "tap" the joystick left or right, your character will run. Tapping is a very important concept in SSBM, as it's involved in many attacks. All it means is that you press the joystick all the way in a particular direction very quickly.
Pressing either X, Y, or tapping up on the joystick will cause your character to jump. While in mid-air, you can press any of these buttons again to perform a "double jump". These are the only two normal jumps you can execute in the air before touching the ground again. While in the air, you can move to the left or right with the joystick, or fall down quickly by tapping the joystick down. Certain characters can also jump off of walls by pressing the joystick in the opposite direction the instant they touch the wall. The only characters who can do this are the ones who could originally do so in their own games (Mario, Samus), and the very quick characters (Fox, Pikachu).
Pressing down while on the ground causes you to duck. You can also drop down through certain platforms by tapping down while you are standing on them.
Physical Attacks
The big green A button is used for all of your primary physical attacks. Pressing it will cause your character to punch, kick, or whatever. For some characters, pressing it rapidly will result in a little mini-combo that hits opponents multiple times. Pressing the joystick in a direction while attacking with A will result in an attack that does a bit more damage than a normal attack, and that knocks your opponent in the direction that you pressed the stick. All characters have side, up, and down directional A attacks.
If you tap the stick while you attack with A, you perform a "smash attack". Smash attacks take a little longer to execute, but they are significantly stronger than normal attacks. The main benefit of a smash attack, however, is distance. You can knock a properly primed enemy into the stratosphere with a well-timed up-smash. Which brings up the directions. You can perform a smash attack upwards, downwards, or to the side. Just like a regular directional attack. Some characters, however, have diagonal smashes as well. Mario and Samus, for example. These smashes are a compromise between the others, and split their power between two directions. If you hold the A button longer, the smash attack will be even stronger.
You also have a variety of A attacks that you can use in the air. If you jump and press A with the joystick in the neutral position, you'll do a generic punch or kick. While this attack is very good for canceling out other incoming attacks, it doesn't attack in any particular direction. If you press up and A while in the air, you'll perform an upward air attack. This attack is very useful for juggling enemies, as you can usually get a few of them in before they hit the ground. If you press in the direction that you're facing along with A, you'll do a forward air attack. If you press in the direction that you aren't facing along with A, you'll perform what is commonly referred to as a "mule kick". You lash out behind you with either a punch or kick that usually knocks the enemy a significant distance away. Lastly, if you press down and A at the same time while in the air, you'll attack below yourself. For some characters, this is called a "meteor smash". It can knock an opponent downwards at fantastic speeds that they can rarely recover from.
Special Attacks
The B button is used for special attacks. They differ from normal physical attacks in that they have your character perform some ability that is unique to themselves, and usually very powerful. For example, Mario can shoot fireballs. And Link can spin his sword around him in a circle of flying death. Often times they involve some sort of projectile, and other times they turn YOU into a projectile. There are many different things that can be done, all highlighted in the "Characters" section of this feature.
Every character has four specific special attacks. B by itself, Up-B, Side-B, and Down-B. You achieve the last three by pushing the joystick in the appropriate position for each one. Normal B attacks are usually pretty basic, involving things like special punches or projectiles. Side-B attacks usually attack horizontally and at close range, while Down-B attacks can do a variety of different things. Up-B attacks almost always push your character up in the air. As such, they're often referred to as your "third jump". When coming back from the edge of a level, you'll usually find yourself using your third jump in order to make it.
Items
Throughout the game you'll find yourself working with many offensive and defensive weapons. They either come out of some sort of container, or just drop from the sky. Either way, you either pick them up or activate them with the A button. Some that you hold in your hand, like the beam sword, enhance many of your normal physical attacks with the item. Pressing A while holding the sword will cause you to swing it, causing much more damage than a simple punch. You can also do things with the R and L triggers. If you tap either of them while holding an item, you'll drop it. If you press in a direction at the same time as you press a trigger, you'll throw the item in that direction. Also, if someone throws an item at you, you can catch it in the air and not be damaged by pressing L/R and A together.
There are also fake items. For example, you could try and pick up a hammer, and it's head might fall off, leaving you vulnerable to attacks. That should make for some very stressful situations, don't you think?
Grabbing and Throwing
In order to throw someone, you have to grab them. By pressing either the Z button or L/R + A while right next to an opponent, you can grab hold of them. If you're running, pressing any of these combinations will cause your character to dive at the enemy in an attempt to grab them. Once you have them, it's simply a matter of pressing the joystick in one of the four directions that you want to throw them. Depending upon how high their percentage is and where you are on the stage, certain directions have certain benefits. For example, if you're on the far left of a stage, you might want to throw them to the left in an attempt to knock them out. If you're near the top of a stage, you might want to throw them upwards. Or you might want to throw them at another opponent, hitting them both in the process.
Right after you grab someone, you have the option of either throwing them, or hitting them without them having the opportunity to retaliate. While they're in your grasp, you can press the A button to hit them physically a few times. If you do it too much, however, they will break free. So it's usually a good idea to hit the enemy a couple times and then throw them before they can escape. Hitting the enemy beforehand will weaken the power of the throw, however, so you have to decide what's more important - damage dealt or distance thrown.
Most characters need to be adjacent to the enemy that they want to throw, but some other characters can grab you from a distance. Link and Samus can use their Hookshot and Grappling Beam respectively to reach out and grab someone that's relatively far away. In addition to being able to grab people with these accessories, Link and Samus can use them to grab onto the edges of some levels while in the air. This effectively gives them a fourth jump, as it can grapple them back to the course from some distance away.
There has also been talk of being able to grab and throw a person in the air, but this hasn't been completely confirmed as of yet.
Defense and Evasion
If you press one of the L/R triggers while your character is on the ground, they'll generate a shield that can defend against pretty much anything other than a throw. Depending upon how far you press the trigger in, the density of the shield will differ. For example, if you press the trigger in all the way, the shield will be very resistant to attacks, but relatively small. Press the trigger lightly, and the inverse will be true. If you press in one of the triggers very quickly, as if performing a smash attack, the shield won't come up right away. You will manage to defend against the attack, however, saving your shield for another time. Also, if you pull up your shield right before being hit with a projectile, you can use it to reflect the projectile back at your enemy.
You can also use the L/R triggers to recover from an attack that launched you into a surface. If you tap the trigger right when you hit the ground, a wall, or a ceiling, you will land softly and right yourself immediately. This is very useful when you need to be on your feet as soon as possible.
By pressing left or right on the joystick in conjunction with a trigger, you can make your character roll to the side. Rolling is very important, as it can be used to evade many attacks and place you in a position of advantage. Like described in the previous paragraph, you can use the trigger buttons to soften a landing. If you press either left or right at the same time, you will land softly and roll to the side as well.
If you press down on the joystick while holding one of the triggers, your character will sidestep. This allows your character to evade projectiles and certain attacks without defending against them. Especially useful if you want the projectile to hit someone standing directly behind you. You can sidestep in the air as well, and you only need to press a trigger to do it.
Taunting
Taunting doesn't really accomplish anything practical, but it's quite satisfying to do right after you knock an enemy into oblivion. By pressing up on the D-Pad, your character of choice will quickly strike an appropriate pose. It's yet to be seen if additional taunts will be mapped to the additional directions on the D-Pad.