A group of modders known as Team Akaneia have introduced lots of new content into Super Smash Bros. Melee. Most notably, the Akaneia Build adds Wolf O’Donnell from the Star Fox series into Melee as a playable character.
The Akaneia Build became available for download on Jan. 20. While Team Akaneia has not finished developing Wolf, he already appears in a playable state in their Melee build. As a result, fans can go ahead and get a taste for the playstyle of the currently unfinished character.
Unsurprisingly, Wolf’s moveset borrows elements from his fellow Star Fox characters, Fox and Falco. In addition, several of Wolf’s moves are inspired by his later appearances in Brawl and Ultimate. Of course, all of these moves were adapted to function within Melee’s unique gameplay engine.
Many top players in various Smash games have responded positively to Wolf’s inclusion in Melee. William “Leffen” Hjelte has claimed that Wolf is now the best character in the game by a substantial margin. In fact, Leffen is so confident in the character that he challenged Zain Naghmi’s Marth to a money match with his Wolf.
100 money match me in 3 days
wolf vs marth— TSM Leffen (@TSM_Leffen) January 21, 2021
https://twitter.com/Pandarianssb/status/1352137621976170497
Wolf in melee you say?? 👀👀👀 Def gonna stream that tomorrow night 🙂
— Video Game Enjoyer 🙂 (@SwitchSSB) January 21, 2021
Wolf in Melee and more from the Akaneia Build
The Akaneia Build did much more besides just putting Wolf in Melee. Another popular feature has been its new volleyball mode. This minigame allows players to challenge others to an online volleyball match in either a Singles or Doubles format.
Melee Volleyball doubles is a thing and it's absolutely great. We played it on V7 and it ran without a hitch. It also leads to some… interesting strats pic.twitter.com/dG03ciIlo9
— Anees 🇵🇸 انيس (@FreePalestineRN) January 21, 2021
The Akaneia Build gave each fighter one additional alternate costume. It also reintroduced some Smash 64 stages, including Peach’s Castle, Hyrule Castle, Saffron City, Planet Zebes, and Mushroom Kingdom. Perhaps the most notable of these past stages is Metal Cavern, which was exclusive to Smash 64’s single-player Classic Mode.
Melee fans can try out Wolf and all the other new content in the Akaneia Build right now. The mod is compatible with Slippi, so players can easily try out the new features with friends online. They can even use the new custom skins against other players who aren’t using the Akaneia Build.
