This was Mario's first appearance in a game with an ESRB rating higher than E (Everyone) and the first game in the Super Smash Bros. series to be rated T (Teen).
There is a glitch in which you can play as Master Hand. Only player 3 can control him.
The "Monkey Rap" background music for the Kongo Jungle stage contains the lyrics, "This Kong's one heck of a guy." This is changed from the original version of the rap featured in the game Donkey Kong 64 (1999) for the Nintendo 64. The original lyrics were "This Kong's one hell of a guy." Ironically, Super Smash Bros. Melee received a harsher T rating compared to Donkey Kong 64's E rating.
Prior to this game's release, no game in Nintendo's Fire Emblem series had ever received an official North American release, which caused some confusion among western gamers who were introduced to Marth and Roy (two Fire Emblem characters) via Super Smash Bros. Melee.
Hideo Kojima had requested that Metal Gear Solid's Solid Snake be in the game, but due to time constraints he couldn't be added to the game's roster. Sonic the Hedgehog also nearly made it into the game. Sonic's creator Yuji Naka stated that Sonic was going to be in Melee, but he also was cut due to time constraints. Both characters later made it into future installments.