Best Way to Transition from P:M to Melee?

[Fenriraga]

So I'm a pretty active Project M player. I've done well enough in my locals, whenever they exist, and it's bar none my favorite Smash game of the litter, mod or otherwise. I've been trying to get into standard Melee, as it and 4 are the only games my school runs understandably, but I just cannot get into the swing of things for the life of me. All the characters I play in P:M are either pretty bad in Melee (, ) Or literally don't exist (, ). I've tried my best to try someone in the top 8, but I really can't resonate with any of their styles. And as much as I consider myself sort of decent at P:M, it really doesn't guarantee a clean transition into Melee, for obvious reasons. Anyone got any tips?

 

[Bones0]

You could always play someone outside of the top 8. I think Roy and Kirby are kind of miserable, but Toon Link obviously shares some similarities with Young Link and he's good enough to actually compete with and fun to play as. As for Sonic, I'd say Falcon is a good fit if you like to go fast. You really just need to figure out what you like/don't like about Smash in general and find a character that suits that style (e.g. if you dislike being camped, don't choose a slow character; if you like having a projectile to control space, use that criteria to narrow down your options, etc).

 

[Jamisinon]

I have Marth bias so I'd suggest giving him a chance. I myself trimained Mewtwo, Roy and Fox in PM. So I have experience playing melee marth and pm roy. While they aren't the same it's prob the closest you will get in Melee. But as Bones stated you don't need a top 8 character. Your yoshi, young link, ganon, mario, doc tiers of characters are plenty viable for anyone not top 6 in the world. I'd suggest just trying out several characters and play them a fair amount not just a few games here or there to really get a feel for them. Puff is the closest to kirby but there are still samus and peach if you enjoy floaty characters. A ton of people struggle to find a main or switch mains or play several characters. It's really hard to give good suggestions bc people like the same characters for different reasons sometimes. Your playstyle within a given character will also vary compared to others.
Often times a pro player's particular style with a character inspires us and we want to play a particular character or a certain playstyle bc of that person. So you could always watch youtube highlights or matches of different characters to see what appeals to you. Hope you find a character bc melee is always worth the effort.

 

[Applebutter61]

Hey, can I ask what city you live in if there's PM tournaments around? I don't live even remotely close to any tournaments areas so I am wondering where you're at, if that's ok.

About your question, if you play Roy in PM, playing Marth and learning to space his moves as opposed to Roy's would be my first suggestion.
My next thought is Cap Falcon, seeing as you like Sonic. Their speed is obviously what they have in common, but this makes them have a very similar neutral game, if that is what you are good at. Otherwise, good luck!

 

[Fenriraga]

Hey, can I ask what city you live in if there's PM tournaments around? I don't live even remotely close to any tournaments areas so I am wondering where you're at, if that's ok.

About your question, if you play Roy in PM, playing Marth and learning to space his moves as opposed to Roy's would be my first suggestion.
My next thought is Cap Falcon, seeing as you like Sonic. Their speed is obviously what they have in common, but this makes them have a very similar neutral game, if that is what you are good at. Otherwise, good luck!

I had a local back in Colorado that ran P:M along side Melee every Wednesday, and a smaller crowd here at my college in Florida that gets together and plays now and then.

Also, appreciate the advice guys!

 

[Applebutter61]

I also want to say that I practice a lot of PM in my spare time, but Melee is still very hard for me. With PM I'm used to tight controls, while in Melee, it seems I walk when I try to dash and other misinputs occur. The transition isn't easy, as they just don't feel the same to me. My only recommendation is, if you're gonna play Melee, play Melee, and play a lot of Melee, not PM. This kind of stinks because PM is a great game, but you gotta practice what you want to get better at.

 

[Nohbl]

So I'm a pretty active Project M player. I've done well enough in my locals, whenever they exist, and it's bar none my favorite Smash game of the litter, mod or otherwise. I've been trying to get into standard Melee, as it and 4 are the only games my school runs understandably, but I just cannot get into the swing of things for the life of me. All the characters I play in P:M are either pretty bad in Melee (, ) Or literally don't exist (, ). I've tried my best to try someone in the top 8, but I really can't resonate with any of their styles. And as much as I consider myself sort of decent at P:M, it really doesn't guarantee a clean transition into Melee, for obvious reasons. Anyone got any tips?

Not that my "advice" is worth much, but I have a perspective on this.

Probably one of the easiest skills to transfer is your familiarity with the character's jumpsquat, useful for shorthopping and wavedashing, among other things. All the characters you mentioned except Roy (who has 4 frames) have 3 frame jumpsquats. Going off that alone, you could look at Fox, Sheik, Samus, Pikachu, and (I think?) Young Link. Toon Link -> Young Link is one *link* to Melee. Sonic -> Fox (decent player) is another. Roy -> Marth, Kirby -> Jigglypuff.

But you say that you don't like the Melee characters' playstyles. You should ask yourself what you actually try to accomplish with your Project M characters, and indeed what archetypes you gravitate toward in any fighting game you play. Do you NEED a projectile of some sort to enjoy the character? Do they gotta go fast? Must they have a functional teleport? Command grabs? Decent mixups? Long range attacks? And that's just fighting games in the abstract. Do you prefer floatier characters or fast fallers? Is survivability important to you? Are you a tech-chasing, chain-grabbing kind of guy? Do you prefer not needing to approach, and taking the role of responding to an aggressive opponent? All of these questions point you in the direction of what character would suit you from the Melee Top Ten.

Going off your PM main being Kirby, I'd say Sheik would probably be most similar. No hammer, but fair. Similar dash attack. Decent aerial mobility. You seem to have selected Mario anyway; going off who feels good is another way to do it I suppose, as an alternative to this more analytical method I like to employ.

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I totally forgot to mention Smash 2. No one talks about it. Try that out if you want an experience that really tries to be more Melee authentic. I heard from a friend that they even reverted Falco's short hop height to Melee's after PM kept it different, though I personally know nothing about it.