Melee is a perfect example of a 4 way fighting game, which many have failed to do right, or have forgotten how to.
The character roster once unlocked are very good, ranging from Metwo to Mr Game & Watch, as well as Mario, Pikachu and the little Kirby. Zelda, Link and Ganondorf, along with Captain Falcon, Young Link and Pichu as well as many others are in this too, gives you a very good variety.
The maps are very fun to play on, although some either being plain and dull like the Pokemon Stadium or even the stage that mainly revovles round an old Nintendo machine (can't remember the name, but it's an unlockable).
Classic and Adventure mode are very fun, with the difficulty been able to change if you need it, along with how many lives you want or need. Adventure mode is alot more fun than the highly anticipated Brawl's, but this Adventure mode doesn't have a story either, but seeing as you can run through the weak enemies, and only having either 1 or 2 stops in the middle of that stage to fend of 10 Kirby's or a Red Link, it's overall plain fun.
The one major problem with this is the Pokemon, mainly because much like the Final Smash in Brawl, this can instantly turn the tide of battle, however this fairly rare for you to get like a really good Pokemon, but even when you do or get hit by them Melee doesn't become fun anymore. Instead you want to literally Melee your friend or your GameCube to death because of it.
Overall this is a great game for the GameCube, that any GameCube/Wii owner should have in their collection.