It feels like it was yesterday.
Christmas morning, opening up gifts, and getting a Gamecube with Super Smash Bros. Melee. I'm sure other kids felt this joy as well. There was nothing like it at the time. This game was such a massive improvement over the first, and even now it still holds up. Some even rate it higher than Brawl.
But this is not this time for that, this precious time is for Japanese studies. And lucky for us, this game comes plenty of Japanese. And even better, there is a Japanese language setting on the game.
The only Smash bros. game to have this handy feature, a new game with a Japanese Gamecube is not needed (although, I do recommend a Japanese system to play your other Japanese games). Simply start your game, head to the options menu, and there you have it.
Both the Japanese and first US release are nearly identical anyways. Check here for a complete list of changes.
Changed internationally for fear of an animal cruelty outcry.
So now you've either bought Smash Bros. DX or changed your language. Is this game completely impossible to navigate?
Nope, not at all.
If you have even a small grasp on kanji and katakana, you'll see right away a few menu items are different. 1P Game > ひとりゲーム(Hitori Game), Classic > シンプル(Simple)，Vs. Mode > 対戦ゲーム(Taisen Game), Melee > 大乱闘(Dairantou), etc...
If the kanji readings are a bit confusing, get Rikaichan (or a variant) for your browser and look at the Japanese Smash Bros. DX wikipedia article here. You'll be able to get correct readings on some jukugo that may come off as confusing.
Since this is a fighting game, there isn't a lot of text needed to navigate through the game. Events are an exception here and you'll find their descriptions all in Japanese, and most events have a different title compared to their English one. While not all of them have kanji, most do. Using a similar method from above, here is a list of all events in Japanese, with descriptions.
Next to events, the most text heavy section of the game comes in the form of Figure (Trophies internationally) descriptions. These are loaded with kanji as well. Some harder than others. To get a grasp on what is written here, higher intermediate level is where you need to be.
Japanese exclusive (Similar to seal Topy), English version available in Japanese game as well.
So do you need to rush out and buy the Japanese version of Melee right away? I would say no, but only if you have the English version already. Nintendo games run expensive on online retailers (eBay, Amazon Japan), and all you're missing out on is a few small changes.
Purin and Koopa? What's that?
With that being said, if you don't already own this game (I feel like everyone does at this point), and it looks interesting enough, go ahead and buy the Japanese version. It'll most likely be the same amount as the English version anyways. It's still extremely fun and very much playable even today. If you like it enough, hopefully you'll stick around for Smash 4 coming this winter.
Wrapping Up;
-Japanese language option on US release. PAL version lacks this option.
-Ranging from complicated to simple, a dictionary is definitely needed for beginners, while intermediate and higher should get a grasp of things.
-Roy and Marth speak Japanese across all settings, but Mewtwo, Falco and Fox only speak Japanese when Japanese language setting is on.
-Stick to using your old copy if you have it, the game can be expensive.
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