I’m a non-gamer who hasn’t played video games for more than 10 years, but the one video game that highlights my memories of being a teenager is Super Smash Bros Melee from Nintendo’s GameCube.

HAL Laboratory, a Japanese video game developer, developed the Super Smash Bros series. Melee is the second installment, released in 2001. It still has a dedicated gaming community that holds regular online tournaments. In addition, there are other competitive Super Smash Bros groups for the Brawl and Ultimate series, as there are more characters and arenas.

Melee has 25 playable characters and 29 arenas from different notable video games in the Nintendo universe.

Kirby was one of my favourite characters to play. This character had some advantages, like floating and turning to stone. My group of friends liked playing the Hyrule: Temple arena as it was bigger. Some less skilled like me would run and avoid getting KO’d.

Not owning a gaming console, I missed out on unlocking each character but enjoyed the multiplayer mode gaming challenge with my friends. Juggling school and sports, I found the highlight of a school week was spending time with friends playing the crossover fighting video game.

As 2023 marks 22 years since the game’s release, gamers from all walks of life will recall good experiences playing this game.

Losing interest in playing video games during my late teens makes me wonder what I miss out on. I have yet to purchase a video game console but I am interested in owning my first game console.

Playing this game during my teen years was about spending time with good friends – and a gateway to staying out of trouble.