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Mega-Title lives up the the Mega-Hype

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 62 / 72
Date: March 09, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Even though I was Nintendo label die-hard and fan of their coin-op franchise from the beginning, Super Smash Bros or brawl titles in general haven't interested me too much.
So the most anticipated title of 2008 wasn't guaranteed to strike my electric fancy. But, when you add WI-FI play for free online brawling and custom controls in order to configure anything from the Wii controllers to the old school (4 variations on play) you've got me curious. Add to that the longest list of cross-title cross-era characters ever produced (Thirtysomethings: remember "Battle of the Network Stars" ). Characters from `87s' Kid Icarus (Pit) and Metal Gear's Snake, Pikachu and various Pokemon. Loads of Mario characters including the man himself: Diddy and Donkey Kong (Donkey Kong dating from Mario's 1981 coin-op premiere of the title of the same name), Wario, Yoshi, Princess Peach, Bowser, and more. Other melee cameos include the Ice Climbers, Metroids' Zero Suit Samus, Kirby, King Dedede and his Meta Knight, Sonic, LINK & Zelda (from '86 and on), Star Fox, Lucas & friends from Mother 3... and lots of other unlockables. Some noteable, but Non-playable, assist trophies include Devil from Devil World, Star Fox's Andross, Mr. Resetti from Animal Crossing, Little Mac from Tyson's Punch-Out and even Excitebike ('85) is on the scene. What is particularly cool about these appearances is the consistency of style for each character regardless of genre or era of the characters. Nintendo has outdone itself on graphics on this one, even when they are "dumbing" down the graphics for cross-game effect. The sound effects are true to this as well, with as many retro SFXs as cool new ones.

Options for play include Solo vs. PC, Multiplayer play vs. 3 friends or on-line options. Other options include the Classic game (you beat `em you advance) or a storyplay campaign which is surprisingly worthwhile. The variety of Brawl locations and is amazingly broad as are the detailing of each location gimmicks. From Yoshi's Island to a stadium to the exterior of a StarFox ship sailing the stratosphere, this alone will extend the life of BRAWL's replay longevity. Characters move satisfyingly fluid, and their variety per character is exciting.

The Mini-games are fun and nice samplings of other titles, both new and old. If fact, many of these made me ready to seek out some games I hadn't looked at before. If anything BRAWL is a great sampler title.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl is going to be top of the "4 player fighting" genre for some time to come, I think. Well worth the release push-back.

Smashing Good Time

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 54 / 67
Date: March 09, 2008
Author: Amazon User

During the past year, Nintendo really showed what it takes with the success of the Wii. Dominant games like The Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess and the definitive Super Mario Galaxy, really proved the Wii with its ultimate gameplay. But, that success has also been as a dominant question with Super Smash Brothers Brawl. While its prequel, Smash Brothers Melee was the biggest-selling title from Nintendo's last home console, the Gamecube, many still had wondered if Nintendo was going to be able to top that outrageous game of madness and excitement. Well, Nintendo has done it, and taken the brawl to a whole new level of fierceness. Its time to brawl!!

Super Smash Brothers Brawl for the Nintendo Wii, is one of the most anticipated games to be released this year, and it absolutely dominates the competition. The gameplay is very addictive as you play with all your favorite classics characters like Mario, the adorable Yoshi, Link, the fierce Bowser and many others. There are also a lot of new characters here to unlock too like Sonic The Hedgehog, Wario, King Dedede from Kirby's Dream Land, Diddy Kong and Olimar from the overlooked Pikmin series. There are also secondary characters which have been added as well, that come and assist you to the depth of the gameplay like the Nintendogs, which block the screen so you can't see where your opponents are during the game, and Andross from the Star Fox series. The graphics look great, and appeal to each and every level you can challenge on from the abstractism of Warioware, to the madness of racing along the Mario Raceway from Mario Kart. Each level is packed with excitement for gamers of all ages.

The control is also new to some gamers, and traditional for veterans too, as you can manuver your favorite characters 4 different ways: the Wii Remote alone, the Wii and Nunchuck controller, the Wii's classic controller and even the Nintendo Gamecube controller. The Wii controller and nunchuck take awhile to get used to, but the classic and Gamecube controllers work very well, making it simple and addictive gameplay. On top of that, you also can now challenge against others not just in the living room, but you can now also play against other Brawlers online through Nintendo's Wi-Fi connection, which makes the gameplay even more addictive for anyone who wants to brawl farther than they've ever done before.

All in all, Super Smash Brothers Brawl is a must buy for anyone who owns the Nintendo Wii. It is just great from start to finish and brings in every depth of excitment and gameplay for a super smash for anyone who has the need to smash the competition. It is definitely a great game all around and a great addition to your Wii video game library.

Graphics: A-

Sound: A-

Control: A for Gamecube and Classic Controller; B for Wii Remote & Nunchuck

Fun & Enjoyment: B+ for solo gamers; A for multiplayer action

Overall: A-

Spectacular, lives up to every bit of the hype

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 49 / 63
Date: March 09, 2008
Author: Amazon User

The highly anticipated Super Smash Bros. Brawl is here, and it lives up to every single ounce of the hype that has been surrounding it. Make no mistake, Super Smash Bros. Brawl is one of the best games ever made for the Wii at this time, and the absolute best multiplayer game available for the system as well. Starting off with a massive roster of fighters (some of whom have to be unlocked) including stalwarts like Mario, Link, Donkey Kong, Samus, Kirby, Pikachu, and Star Fox's Fox McCloud; to new characters to the series like Kid Icarus' Pit, Meta-Knight, Zero-Suit Samus, Fire Emblem's Ike, and to top it all off, Sega mascot Sonic the Hedgehog (!) and even Metal Gear Solid icon Solid Snake (double !). Even with such an unorthodox roster of fighters, Super Smash Bros. Brawl manages to have a wonderfully balanced roster, no matter how ridiculous the game can get. Graphically, the game has some flaws in terms of the details of the characters and environments, but these aren't all that noticeable thanks to the fact that the game is so insanely fun. No matter if you play Super Smash Bros. Brawl online or offline, this is one of the most fun video games you will play on the Wii, or possibly any other system to boot. Four-player mode is where the game really shines, as things just get even crazier. Not to mention that you can also share game replays, screenshots, and even customized levels with others, which is a great little bonus feature in itself. The only real other flaws here are that the game's Subspace Emissary stages, while fun, could have been better, and there are some long loading times to be found too. Small flaws aside though, you simply can't go wrong with Super Smash Bros. Brawl. There is a reason you got in a Wii in the first place, and it's because of nearly flawless, first party games like this. If you own a Wii, you need to own Super Smash Bros. Brawl, it's just that simple.

Solid title, but not the masterpiece it's been made out to be

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 45 / 77
Date: March 12, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Let me preface this by saying that I like "Smash Brothers." I don't love it, but the multiplayer goodness makes this one better than it otherwise would have been.

The Good:
1) I love the graphics in this. I mean, they are solid stuff. The attention is evident in every phase of the game, from the delightfully detailed main characters to the excellent backdrops. This is a joy to behold.
2) The mechanics you know and love are back, which makes for some excellent multiplayer madness. It remains very easy to pull off big moves, and with the handicapping, you can get balanced gaming every time. I really like the "final smashes" - while not necessary, it is incredibly satisfying to pummel your cohorts by throwing them in a giant pot and cooking them.
3) I really enjoyed the timeline and masterpiece sections. Of course, giving people trials of all the old NES and SNES games is just cheap advertising, but that's fine with me. I can't wait to get "Super Metroid" from the Wii shop channel.
4) Trophy collecting is back, and I love it. Moreover, you can now collect stickers as well. Finally, you collect either of them by blasting them in a silly asteroids-like shooter. Good stuff.

The bad:
1) Subspace emissary stinks. I had high hopes for this after hearing the hype, but it is vastly inferior to the adventure mode in "Melee". Why, you ask? Because it's just as pointless, but now takes an incredibly long time. Very unenjoyable, IMHO.
2) Control. The Wii has one of the most innovative controllers out there, and a game of this magnitude should utilize it to the fullest, right? Right?!? Wrong. In fact, this game is actually easier to play with the old GC controllers than the Wii nunchuk. I'm stunned that the developers didn't make an effort to incorporate the Wii goodness into the game. Well, stunned and disappointed. What a letdown.
3) What is all this "friend code" stuff? Do people really like this? Not me (although i do think that the Wifi has been underrated in these reviews - I like it a lot).
4) I agree with an early reviewer that there is something very fishy about Nintendo's insistence that the game read errors are the product of a "soiled lens". In any case, lenses get soiled. It shouldn't cause fatal errors in reading software. Thumbs down to Nintendo, who usually builds the most reliable product out there.

In short, this is not the game it could have been, which is a surprise, considering the number of delays in its production. I think it is an unfair criticism for the game that it hasn't changed the formula in all these years - if I wanted "Final Fantasy," I wouldn't buy "Smash". However, it is perfectly legitimate to ask why the gameplay hasn't improved since the original "Smash Brothers" for the N64 (which still remains my favorite of the bunch). As far as Wii games go, this one falls well short of the standard set my "Mario Galaxy" and "Metroid Prime 3". It's still fun, but it just isn't the game it could have been.

Addendum: Let's not forget
The ugly:
1) Reviewers who insist that any criticism of a Wii game is obviously an attempt by PS3 "fanboys" to subvert the Wii. If your life worth depends on someone liking or disliking a game you purchased, you should get out more.

Finally Finally Finally!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 16 / 20
Date: March 09, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I have been anxiously awaiting this game, ever since E3 2005 when it was announced. I personally wasn't a huge fan of Smash Bros Melee, as I never owned a Gamecube. I bought a copy when I got my wii, but really haven't played it much. The wii version, however, I couldn't wait for. I know for a fact that many people bought a wii specifically for this title. I waited in line last night to pick up my copy and subsequently play in a tournament at my local Game Stop. I had seen lots of info online and in the SSB Dojo, but was still anxious to see this game in action... and let me tell you: I WAS NOT DISAPPOINTED. This game has proven to be SO AWESOME that I wish that I had given other Wii game reviews that I did in the past fewer stars... since now a 5-star rating takes on new meaning with this title! Finally, a Wii game that got it right... all of it right! No doubt this game will get plenty of 5-star reviews, so I won't bore you telling you how awesome it is. Instead, here are some reasons I love it, and why you should buy it:

1 - FREE ONLINE MULTIPLAYER: This takes the game to a whole new arena. The online multiplayer is done wonderfully. Also, there are several game modes available. I was able to connect and begin playing right away. Also, you can choose to play with people locally, nationally, internationally, or in your friend list. Nicely done! Also, one really cool feature for the online system on this game that differs from the other wii online titles is that more than 2 people can play online from your console at a time, rather than only allowing a single player to play online per console (unlike MX vs ATV or Call of Duty).

2 - Multiple control options: I LOVE that the wii games are starting to incorporate this. Having to purchase 4 wiimotes and 4 nunchucks to play 4-player games would cost a hefty sum.... But if you are like me and own 2 wiimotes, 1 classic controller, 1 nunchuck, and several gamecube controllers, you are in the game! You can use ANY combo of controllers you would like. I personally opt for the wiimote+nunchuck, as I don't like the gamecube controllers. However, my friends can come over and play with my GC controllers, no problem. Also, when you create a profile, your control schema choice is saved, so you don't have to set it up each time.

3 - Special Brawl: This feature seems really cool, though I haven't had much time to play around with it. Basically you can customize your character and game type. Lot's of potential here. Not to mention there is also a STAGE BUILDER! I think this there is a lot of potential here. Again, since I am writing this early in the morning on the first day I picked my copy up, I haven't had much time to experiment. That being said, it also seems like you can save your stage, and SEND IT TO A FRIEND to play on his console! As if that isn't enough, the rumor is that Nintendo will also be allowing you to submit your stage to them via wiiconnect24, and will, in turn, send certain stages out to subscribers via updates so you will end up with loads of stages to play on! Better upgrade that SD card, eh?

4 - Finally! Co-Op Mode: Well done, period. Haven't had a chance to get much accomplished here, but it is simple and straight forward enough. For some reason, past Mario titles have been unable to fathom co-op. Even Galaxy has a weak co-op option at best, if it can even be called co-op. Smash Bros finally got it right.

5 - Rotation Mode: Basically, this looks like it was built for controller hogs (like me). You enter the number of controllers that are connected (4 in most cases) vs the total # of players in the room.... And then WAMMY! Instant tournament in my living room! We played this for HOURS already, and it is pretty cool.

Anyway, this game was obviously well done. It is simple enough to attract novice gamers and "button mashers", and content-rich enough to attract fans and more hardcore gamers. They have taken an already great game and made it even better. I plan to log COUNTLESS hours on this one. PLEASE DO YOURSELF A FAVOR: Buy it.

Smashing

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 14 / 18
Date: March 10, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Pros:
+Several New Characters
+Still fast paced, addictive gameplay
+Tons of levels to explore
+Tons of new items to mess around with
+Adventure Mode is more engrossing and structured
+Four ways to play
+Online Mode

Cons:
-Friend Codes make fighting with friends online a hassle
-Without voice acting or written dialog, it may be hard to grasp what the story in Adventure mode is for a while
-Long load times, especially in Adventure Mode

This review may be a little long.

After countless delays, Super Smash Brothers Brawl is finally here, and it goes above and beyond Super Smash Bros. Melee in almost every way possible.

The improvements over the previous Smash Brothers game are quite abundant. There are now thirty five characters. Fourteen of which must be unlocked first, either through several matches, classic mode or the games adventure mode. There are also a plethora of new stages as well as a few classic ones thrown in from Super Smash Bros. Melee. There are also new items and a whole new slew of extras to be found within this game. Simply put, this game is huge and won't keep you busy for just weeks, but months on end. Perhaps even years.

There are two big single player modes to trump through. First, there is classic mode which is not much different from the classic mode presented in Melee. You'll fight battles either one on one, two on two, three on one or a giant version of a character. There are also team battles and "Metal Menaces" to fight. You'll also see the return of Master Hand and Crazy Hand. Classic Mode can now be done with a friend instead of just by yourself as well.

However, the real deal in single player is easily the Subspace Emissary. Brawl's own adventure mode. The adventure mode here actually includes a story. The story is a little confusing at first. Mainly because there's no voice acting or even written dialog between the characters. You'll eventually grasp on to it, though, and even come to like it. The story even comes off as somewhat epic. The adventure mode here is much more fleshed out than in Melee. You'll fight an abundance of characters and have an abundance of characters join your ranks. You'll fight through chaotic boss fights and intricately designed levels. And you don't even have to go through adventure mode alone. A friend can fight alongside and many moments in the story call for more than one character to go through a certain level. The other good thing about going through Adventure Mode is that it can be a different experience on a subsequent play. Even better, however, is that the Adventure Mode is not that short. It will easily take you anywhere from nine to ten hours to complete it the first time, and you'll end up having to play a second time just to snag all the trophies.

Of course, the real treasure of any Smash Bros. game is the multiplayer aspect. Brawl doesn't disappoint. The matches are fierce and there are a ton of new things. As in the previous games, players go to a level where they battle against either other players or the computer. There are several new items added this time around. There's the sticky bomb, which sticks to a character until it detonates. There's the assist trophy which works a lot like the Pokeball and many more. The most important new item, though, is easily the Final Smash. The Final Smash is a devastating attack that usually serves as a one hit kill. You'll probably want to check out every character's Final Smash skill at least once. These aren't just the most powerful attacks in the game, they're some of the coolest looking as well.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl also supports four different controller functions. The Wii Remote by itself, the Wii Remote and Nunchuck, the Classic Controller and the Gamecube Controller. All of these controls are decent, but the Gamecube controller is easily the best of the lot. The controls are mapped out exactly like Super Smash Brothers Melee. Anyone who played Melee to no end will easily find comfort in the controls here. Regardless of what control function you use, the controls are tight and highly responsive.

The best part about Brawl, however, may very well be all the extras. You've got a series of trophies to collect and characters to unlock, but there's a lot more than just these things. You can also unlock soundtrack selections and new stages as well. In addition to all these things you can also save some matches and watch them again. Brawl also gives you the option of creating your own levels and saving screenshots. This is in addition to some of the things that returned from Melee such as Event Battles and the Homerun Contest. There's so much to be explored within this game. Brawl also goes online, and being able to fight people anywhere is amazing.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl also looks and sounds incredible. The graphics being the best the Wii has yet. The stages themselves look absolutely incredible. The backgrounds are highly detailed. The music here is some of the best to grace the gaming world. Nintendo got some of the most famous composers in the industry to contribute music and the soundtrack doesn't disappoint.

Is Brawl perfect? No. While it's nice to go online you'll still have to deal with friend codes and there's no way to voice chat or communicate with the people you're playing against online. When playing with friends, it'd be nice to be able to say something. The game also suffers from some fairly long load times. And while Adventure Mode is a treat, the last few hours of the run can become extremely repetitive.

Despite all this, Super Smash Brawl is a must buy for Super Smash Brothers fans. If you enjoyed Super Smash Brothers Melee and the original title that started it all, Super Smash Brothers Brawl is a real treat to own.

Brawl: Melee Evloved and much more

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: March 14, 2008
Author: Amazon User

*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS, SORRY

Super Smash Bros. Brawl is probably the most anticipated Nintendo game coming out this year and it delivers. Just like its predecessors on the Game Cube and Nintendo 64, it takes many of the Nintendo favorites and throws them into a solid fighting game, which each character having his/her/its own special moves. This time, the roster features 35 characters total with 21 starting and 14 unlockable. The basic idea hasn't changed from Melee, beat up your opponents until they have a high enough damage percentage and then knock them off the stage. However, what has changed is the different ways that you could achieve that goal. Of the 35 characters, almost everyone is unique. The three Star Fox characters do feel just slightly alike, and C. Falcon/Ganondorf, Link/Toon Link, Ness/Lucus have similar moves, but even those characters are different enough to offer their own strategy and have different advantages and weaknesses. Furthermore, none of the characters feel like an exact copy with different running/jumping stats like they did in Melee (Falco/Fox, Marth/Roy). All in all, all the fighters in Brawl are unique and you will sure find a style that suits your style. Each fighter is deadly if they are used correctly and none of them is overpowered (Meta Knight maybe.)

Now onto all the features in the game, first of all is the single player. The single player adventure, dubbed Subspace Emissary, is a much larger version of the adventure mode in Melee and it will take about 6 - 10 hours to finish, depending on the difficulty and the percent completion. The adventure doesn't take itself too seriously and the cut scenes are beautifully rendered. Don't try too hard to understand them and just sit back and enjoy its complete randomness. There were many times when I almost collapsed laughing at the silliness of the cut scenes and one left me with a gaping mouth because it was awesome. Although it could sometimes be tedious, the Subspace Emissary gives the player the ability to unlock all the characters, with Wolf, Jiggly and Toon Link requiring a little more work, without playing through hundreds of versus matches, but then again, it's not that hard to do. Although not the best single player game ever made, the Subspace Emissary keep the player occupied for a few hours, even just to see the next cut scene or battle the next boss. In addition, the game also features co-op play to alleviate the sometimes tedious or just plan out meanness, parts of the game.

All the goodness of even matches also makes their return. In addition, some of the events are now co-op, the last one being a co-op All-Star match with no recovery items. The event matches now also have their own difficulties settings, further increasing the replay value. Other stadium options include the return of the homerun contest and multi-man brawl, which can also be played co-op.

The part that is going to keep the player coming back for more is no doubt the multiplayer part. This was the reason why melee was so popular. Many reviews complain about how Brawl is the "more of the same," and "without any innovation." I did not find that to be the case. It is true that everything that made Melee great has returned, such as special attacks and chargeable smash attacks, but with the new characters and modifications to returning fighters, any old strategy must be at least modified to keep them effective. New features such as the footstool jump (using other people's head as a spring to jump higher), gliding (for certain winged characters), and wall clinging (grabbing to the wall) adds subtle new strategies and furthers the playing of mind games for the pros. Perhaps the most interesting addition is the Smash Ball, which breaks after repeated attack and gives the player the ability to unleash a Final Smash, a devastating attack that usually result in KOing an opponent. Once the Smash Ball appears, all actions seize and the focus shifts to obtaining the Ball. One of the major changes that Melee players will notice is the slower pace of Brawl but it is very easy to adjust after a few games.

The stages are awesome very unique and offer their own style of play. Unlike other fighting games where the stage plays no part in the fighting, almost all of the Brawl stages fight back with many different hazards. Just like Melee, the players need to keep track of the stages and try to avoid their hazards. In addition, some classic Melee stages make a glorious return, stages such as the Temple and Rainbow Cruise. There are a total of 41 stages, 31 new and 10 Melee stages. Plus the option to build your own stages, the option is almost limitless.

Although I haven't tried the online play yet, from the response of my friends and online reviews, it seems that it's nearly flawless with a stable connection.

The graphics of Brawl is one of the best on the Wii and it runs at a constant 60 fps. Although the graphic can't really be compared to those of 360 and PS3, given the capabilities of the Wii, the Brawl graphics is much better than that of Melee with more explosions, more action and more chaos in general.

The sound track of Brawl is probably one of the best in the history of video game. It includes original sound track as well as remakes of many of the classics. With over 150 different songs, all beautifully orchestrated, you will never be bored when you're fighting. The songs alone might be able justify for half of the cost of the game.

Now, there are a few aspects of the game that could be improved. First of them is the individual target smashes. Instead, there are five of the same levels for every character. The Melee target smash was unique which required different approach, but the Brawl target smash is all the same for everyone. It would be interesting to see different target smash stages for all 35 characters.

Another minor complaint is the loading time, but considering the large amount of content crammed into the game, it's a very small criticism.

Some people are experiencing a disc reading error due to dirty Wii lens and Nintendo is offering to repair the systems for free regardless of the warranty. It might delay your enjoyment of Brawl, but at least Nintendo is nice about it.

With new co-op play, new characters, new adventure, new items, assist trophies, new pokemons, new stages, Final Smash and all the extra contents, Brawl is everything that Melee was and much, much more. For the friendless, the game might not be that much fun, but with an almost perfect 4 player fighting game and solid online play, it can keep you and 3 of your best friends occupied for many months, if not years to come. I politely disagree with all the people who say that Brawl is just a Melee upgrade. The creator of Brawl, Masahiro Sakurai, clearly put a lot of thoughts into the game and improved on every aspect of Melee and made it into a unique game. All in all, Brawl lives up to every bit of the hype and it is the best entry in the series so far. With so much stuff crammed into a single disc, the game is worth every penny of its price and it will outlast many 360 and PS3 games.

Everything about this game screams "Epic Nintendo Game"

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: March 14, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I wasn't much of a console gamer for a long time after the N64, but one game that stood out on it was Super Smash Bros. Fast forward to 2008 and I broke down and got a Wii for the party-gaming potential. I have not been disappointed. Yesterday, this game arrived.

Oh boy. This is a heck of a lot of fun. The number of things to do is incredible. You can even practice your character's moves against your choice of inert or active opponents. Nintendo seems to have intended this game to be epic as they not only include an in-game retrospective of the entire line of Nintendo gaming products going back all the way to the NES, they include time-limited trial versions of the classic games.

Wifi works wonderfully. Online matches are frantic and fun.

One odd thing is that the wireless pointer feature of your wii controller is completely inert once you load the game. This is one area where they shouldn't have stuck to their roots- it feels silly to move a token with the analog joystick when I could theoretically just point at the character I want to use. But you get used to it.

If you have a kid, he will spend months getting all the unlocks (there are lots). If you have a kid inside you, you will rediscover some console joy.

The maps are pretty amusing/crazy. They touch on many themes/ideas from previous Nintendo works. Put it this way: There is a Pictochat map. The terrain is drawn as you play... Many maps have destructible terrain or areas you cannot jump up through, which adds a strategic element.

The characters are varied and seem very well-balanced against each other. (Aside: I love how the announcer says "KING DEDEDE" so seriously.)

If you are completely new to the game, you still have a pretty good shot at winning by button-mashing, which I consider a good feature. If you have mastered the combos and moves however, you still have the advantage.

I haven't played the adventure mode much but it is also fun.

You pretty much have to buy this game if you own a Wii. This is as much a Wii-defining game as Super Mario Galaxy or Wii Sports is.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl is more aptly named Melee 1.1

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 36 / 75
Date: March 09, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Super Smash Bros. Brawl, also known as Dairantou Smash Brothers X in Japan (which this review is based off of) is one of the most anticipated titles ever in the history of video games. It is often glorified to be Nintendo's representative game, the one masterpiece where all of its flagship characters and rich history all come together in one ultimate package. Unfortunately, beyond the shiny cover and massive hype, Brawl is a title that has evolved minimally in the past seven years, stripped away many good features, and taken several steps backwards from its predecessors.

The core of the game is what you've come to expect: a four-player brawl featuring your favorite Nintendo characters, as well as two third-party newcomers, Snake and Sonic. Each character has an array of regular attacks, B-button Smashes, and a special move known as a Final Smash. The Final Smash is, essentially, almost an assured one-hit K.O. to one's opponents. The only catch is that in order to use it, one must break a rainbow-colored item called the Smash Ball. The Smash Ball flies around the arena, is hard to capture, and takes quite a few beatings before its effects can be applied to a character. In most cases, the Final Smash is a cheap, extremely overpowered item, except it takes even less skill to use than, for example, the Hammer in the original Smash. It's almost impossible to dodge a Pokemon Trainer's Triple Finish on a flat stage, whereas with a hammer, one actually has to chase after his opponents and make contact with them to take advantage of it. Final Smashes aside, the game plays largely identically to its two predecessors, with minor differences due to the new physics engine. While some E for All game show attendees have expressed concerns about the game feeling slower-paced than Melee, players will get used to it, and this should not be a major issue to non-competitive players.

The Brawl character lineup features a total of 35 fighters, 21 of which are available from the start and 14 which need to be unlocked. The 20 veteran fighters have largely retained their original movesets, and clones still have not been done away with. While the lineup (which will not be spoiled here) has drawn massive criticism for its character selection, I will not dwell on that. My obsession over the lineup is actually quite limited, as I care more about what they have to bring to the table in terms of gameplay. Of these 35 fighters, only three have actually added any new strategic elements to the franchise: Zero Suit Samus, whose transformation adds a speed vs. power, long-range vs. short-range tradeoff; Pokemon Trainer, whose three rotating Pokemon, each with their own limited stamina, require thinking ahead to use effectively; and Captain Olimar, whose multicolored Pikmin all have their individual strengths and weaknesses. The rest, especially ones such as Sonic, were included in Brawl largely for fanservice and add little to the gameplay.

There are 41 arenas to fight on, ten of which were taken directly from Melee. Disappointingly, they are nothing you wouldn't have come to expect: there are vertically-scrolling stages; there are horizontally-scrolling stages; there are stages with environmental hazards; and there are stages that move around various spots in a larger area. All of these ideas have been done before. Rumble Falls feels like Icicle Mountain redux. There's Norfair with its rising and falling lava, similar to Brinstar in Melee. The Mute City stage in Melee that takes you on around a giant F-Zero racetrack with several stops is now back again in the form of Port City. While there is a stage editor, it is quite restrictive and does not allow you to make elaborate arenas like the official ones: you're limited to a static 10x12 grid with limited interactive elements.

The Wi-Fi battle options are far from flawless: searching for players can take up to minutes (though there is a Sandbag you can perform your moves on to alleviate the waiting time); tedious friend code-entering is required to battle your friends (though this is a global complaint for Nintendo's Wi-Fi titles, not just Brawl); and there is sometimes a bit of lag during battle.

Subspace Emissary, the highlight of Brawl's single-player modes, is little more than a glorified, extended Adventure Mode. The gameplay still consists of long, sidescrolling sections interleaved with occasional brawls and, at the end of each world, a boss battle. These boss battles are taken directly from the characters' representative franchises and include favorites such as Petey Piranha from Mario and Rayquaza from Pokemon. These boss battles are the high point of SSE, but outside of these battles, the gameplay is still very limited and similar to that of its predecessors. You defeat enemies in your way, jump over obstacles, and collect fallen items along your path. The plot, written by Nojima Kazushige of Final Fantasy fame, relies on cutscenes instead of dialogue and is often times confusing and ambiguous, especially the resolution (which, again, won't be spoiled here.) Subspace can take up to 6-10 hours for a first playthrough, depending on the difficulty level, and doing so unlocks most of the hidden characters. After beating it once to 100% completion, there is little incentive to play through it again, unless you want maximize your high score or fight against CPUs with more hit points.

Classic Mode may as well have been ported over directly from Melee. Once again, you have about 12 stages with bonus levels scattered once every few matches and culminating with the Master Hand's showdown. As you'd have come to expect, the stages are nothing new, consisting of the same old objectives: 1 vs. 1, 2 vs. 2, 1 vs. multiple, 1 vs. metal, and multiple vs. 1 giant character. Master Hand uses the exact same attacks as in Melee and even has the same hit points for each difficulty setting.

This time, the only bonus level is Target Smash. Snag the Trophies, Race to the Finish, and Board the Platforms are nowhere to be seen, and the few Target Smash stages are now shared amongst all characters, instead of each character having his/her own unique stage as in 64 and Melee. The varied, sometimes wacky bonuses that appear upon clearing each stage in Melee (and whose collection led to unlocking the most prized trophy, the Diskun) have also been removed: one's score is now entirely dependent on the time remaining and damage dealt.

Events are still largely the same old, with two notable changes. First, there are now 60 or so events, a third of which are designated as multiplayer "coop" events, which you complete with the assistance of your friend. Second, the events now have difficulty settings. Objectives include simply defeating one or more CPUs, defeating CPU(s) within a certain time, and racing to the end of a side-scrolling stage: in other words, nothing we haven't seen before. The coop seems tacked-on and unnecessary, and many of these 2P events could have easily been 1P events if you didn't care to do more fighting on your own.

Similarly, the Home Run Contest and Multi-Man Brawl options are the same as in Melee, except now with coop. While coop in Home Run Contest has allowed for strategic combos and even greater records, the coop in Multi-Man does not really add much to the gameplay for similar reasons as with Events. Multi-Man consists of the same modes: 10-man and 100-man, speed tests in which the player tries to defeat a set number of CPUs in the fastest time possible; 3-minute, 15-minute, and Endless Brawl, endurance tests in which the player tries to defeat as many CPUs as possible in the allotted time limit; and Cruel Brawl, a mode that features CPUs at the highest difficulty.

The rest of the Vault's features feel extremely tacked on. If you recall the weird trophy-unlocking requirements in Melee that no one would ever have thought of, they're now in their own Challenges section. The game now outlines the exact objectives you need to complete to unlock a certain trophy or collectible. Masterpieces, which are time-limited demos of Nintendo classics like Super Mario Bros. and Star Fox 64, serve little purpose except to advertise the Wii's Virtual Console. Chronicle is little more than a laundry list of titles Nintendo has released in its almost 30 year game-making history; you may as well head directly to Nintendo.com's game list for the most up-to-date and comprehensive database.

The quality of Brawl's soundtrack is quite varied. There is the main theme, complete with vocals, which truly gives the game an epic feel. It appears on the menu and at least a dozen remixes of it exist, including a dark, sinister version of it on Final Destination. While there are a lot of selections in My Music to choose from, about half are just taken directly from old games, while the other half consists of remixes of dubious quality. Simply put, many of the remixes, while arranged by famed composers, do not really do their originals justice. The fast-paced, cheery-sounding Ocarina of Time medley would have sounded out of place in the original game. The Song of Time in the medley lacks the ethereal, somewhat sorrowful mood within the Temple of Time. Saria's Song, which should evoke a melancholy feeling of a lost friend, is strikingly unfitting when played at such a fast tempo. In addition, the transitions between the various ocarina songs seem forced and do not flow well. The slow, sinister castle theme from Super Mario World was converted into an upbeat techno track. Nearly all of the music appears to be synthesized, not recorded by a live orchestra, as was the case in Super Mario Galaxy. Brawl's soundtrack is a prime example where nostalgia or quantity does not imply quality.

At the end of the day, it all boils down to one verdict: too much rehashing, and too little "new" content, filler aside. Of course, there's the old saying, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it," but personally, I couldn't help but feel a tinge of disappointment. Franchises are meant to evolve, especially a 10-year-old one like Smash Bros. For those who wanted a Melee 1.1, that's great, but I'd rather have stuck to the original instead of shelling out another $50 for a limited upgrade.

Lets Get Ready To Brawl!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 12 / 17
Date: March 09, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I have always been a fan of the Smash Bros. series, ever since the first installment of the game (you know, the one with only 12 characters and eight stages?). And I became an even bigger fan with the release of Melee, which completly upt the antee on the whole series, with tons of playable characters and stages, even bizzarer items, and an upgraded story mode. So after that, I began to wonder, how will Nintendo top this?

And so, nearly seven years after Melee, the creative team comes out swinging with Super Smash Bros. Brawl, one of the most addictive and enjoyable games since Melee. Forget Mario Galaxy or Metroid or any other flagship games, if you truley want to enjoy your Wii experience, you really need only two games. Twilight Princess and Smash Bros., thats all yuo need for hours of fun.

Like before, the character count has been umped, with returning fighters like Mario, Link, Pikachu, and Samus along with new comers Ike, Pit, Lucas, and many more joining the fray, even third party players like Solid Snake and Sonic have been added to the already impressive roster. As for stages, we're given even more diverese terrain ranging from a castle battle to an upgraded Pokemon Stadium to the biazzare world of Pictochat. It shows Nintendo went all out for this game by trying to stuff as much characters into the game, which adds to an endless array of fighting.

Now, there are a couple of new features added to this installment, the first notable being the Smash Ball. Once you grab this glowing orb of power, watch out for a devistating attack that can turn the tables of even the most hopeless fight. Also added is a new story mode, called the Subspace Emmissary. This surprisingly meaty game has you play as many of the characters as they fight to stop an evil Minister from taking over their world. Along the way, you can pick up trophies and stickers and a whole bunch of other cool collectibles for your gallery. Oh, I nearly forgot about stickers! Well, this little do-hicky's are much like trophies but unlike trophies, you can do a whole bunch of stuff with them like power up your player, make a scrapbook, even get a few added bonuses if your lucky.

As for Wi-Fi, this game has a surprisingly good connection (as long as its within the continental US, mind you) and being able to play others from across the land can really add to the whole fun.

So after you have experienced Brawl, there really is only one question left. How can they top this one?

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