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Originally posted by: Bill Aurion
If I wanted to play "no items" then I would play a real fighting game...But I hate normal fighting games, so that'd be pointless... 
(Gah, this went completely off-topic...EVERYONE BACK ON MARIO!)
Ok. You have perfectly explained what I wanted to say.
I love Smash Brothers, and to take the items and level design out of the game, takes the enjoyment (for me) out of the game. But that doesn't mean that Melee didn't go too far. The super large levels with so much animation going on, zooming in/out, explosions, items flying all over the place. Its very hard in Melee to keep an eye on your character.
Its fun chaos in single player mode, and when you have friends that will play and enjoy it with you. But it was too chaotic for my friends, and I had to agree with them in many regards. In the original game skill was still a major factor in 4-player matches...it appears to be less a factor in Melee.
The original just felt better.
But that doesn't mean I want to play an ordinary fighting game. Far from it. I love Melee's concept, design, and characters. So I am hoping Brawl brings the game closer to the original with the added features that made Melee great as well.